Hunt for the cat poisoner who has killed 20 beloved pets with anti-freeze | Mail Online

just saw this and having a mixed reaction.

I dont want to start the whole indoor/outdoor debate again. This story shocked me though for 2 reasons.. 1 being someone could be killing cats ( i say could as they havent determined what poison it is, therefore may not be deliberate) but the owners are still letting their cats out despite the amount of deaths ?

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As someone who's cat, Beckett, was one of many to fall victim to a local pigeon fancier who's *solution* to cats pestering his birds was exactly the same, do I regret letting him have total freedom?

The answer in short is no as I encouraged him to be a outdoor cat from getting him as a kitten, tho' while I was aware of other risks in this, I freely admit the idea of him being deliberately poisoned had never crossed my mind. I wasn't aware there was a cat poisoner at large till later and while it was a short life for such a fabulous cat, I'd do the same again.

He was only 18 months old, but had enjoyed himself doing what comes naturally in that time.

Ian

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RIP Black Tom and Beckett, not just cats, they were my cats and the best ever.

thats the thing though, you were not aware.

I have an indoor cat atm, but thats not really through choice. My last cat was an outdoor and he loved doing what cats do best. He went missing and i have to live with that, its so hard to think that if i had had an outdoor cat run it could have been avoided but I do like to see cats out climbing trees etc.

So sorry about your cat, so young too

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One of my adoptees, Buddy, went missing, never to be seen again, about 12 months ago. I was used to not seeing him for days on end as he had at least 3 homes, tho' mine was the main one/feeding station and he wasn't neutered as ensuring he'd be here to take to the vets would have been impossible.

Even tho' I was used to not seeing him, after he'd gone out at 11pm one Friday night, I just knew *something* was wrong when he wasn't around when I got downstairs the following morning. I was right as he'd vanished. He was wearing ID on his collar but that didn't help at all. I still think to this day if I'd only called him back or even let him out a few seconds later, assuming he was a rta victim, the car would have missed him.

Like Beckett, he was around 18 months old, perhaps a bit younger and I suspect he was the victim of a rta, but I'll never find out for sure as the council don't check for ID nor keep records of dead cats they find/pick up and dispose of.

Ian

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RIP Black Tom and Beckett, not just cats, they were my cats and the best ever.

I used to let my cats out, because that's what one does. I insisted that they came indoors at night, though. However, easier said than done, and there were countless nights when my OH and I were out long after midnight with flashlights calling for my boy (Girly always came straight in at 6 pm). I spent a lot of time worrying and weeping about my cat. One night Nunu came home with a nasty scratch in his eye, vet said he was very lucky and his third eyelid had only been slightly damaged. But he was in severe discomfort and pain and cried like a baby the whole night. Two days later he was back at the vet in pain and with a fever: a huge abscess that the vet had missed. The vet bills were huge. Then my neighbour (a cat hater)complained that Nunu was pooing in his garden and that was it: I had my small garden catproofed. I can't tell you what a huge difference it has made to our lives. I always know where my babies are, safe and tucked in with us at night. The catproofing cost less than the vet bill after one cat fight. I never want to have to go through something like that again.
You weigh the risks and benefits and you choose the option that suits you and your cat the best. And that is the best you can do.

These are horrible and depressing stories, I hate hearing about them. The problem is that anti-freeze actually has a pleasant taste for cats, which is why they are so easy to poison in this way.

What must be done to stop this happening is to force the makers of anti-freeze to add a compound that makes it repellent to cats; this can be done very easily without affecting how the anti-freeze works. Write to your local MP - I have done three times without response, but your MP might be more sympathetic to cats. All that's needed is a simple and straightforward law, but an MP needs to put forward a motion to make it happen.

i'm sure a quite word in this pigeon fancier's ear from the right people would make im stop

Maybe the police have not leafleted all houses so they don't still know about it?

The thing is, it would be so hard to keep an outdoor cat inside because of these attacks, especially if you are out all day and don't have a garden that can be cat-proofed or can't afford the cost of cat proofing. It may get depressed and restricted which is horrible, but obviously that depends on the nature of the cat.

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He no longer keeps pigeons after defaulting on his mortgage and losing the house. The only *proof* people had that he was responsible was one of his kids telling a girl at school who'd mentioned her cat being poisoned, that his father put antifreeze down to stop them pestering his birds at night. There'd been a spate of unexplained poisonings over a number of years, and here was the answer to them in my eyes, but it wasn't proof.

Seemingly he was challenged over this by one person but just laughed in their face and told them to "Prove it"

Ian

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RIP Black Tom and Beckett, not just cats, they were my cats and the best ever.

Whilst I don't agree with his methods, were his birds actually been killed by the cats? If so, or distressed to the point of illness, then he should be able to protect his birds.

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