Yes. I don't understand why the law is different for cats anyway. You chose to get the cat, you should be responsible for its behaviour 24/7. Not a popular view but it my feelings on it.

 

I think the laws should be tough. I have all my cats neutered and am sick of the hassle my cats get from Toms. Also they come into my house when we have the dryer on and spray the kitchen.

My neighbours brother moved in next door for a while with three un neutred male cats. They attacked three of my cats over a four day period and each cat had to go to the vets as the cat bites we really bad. One cat was screaming so much he couldn't be exmained after a few days I finally managed to see the bites. He had three puncture wounds in his belly.

I originally thought after taking the thrid cat to the vet that it was my cats must have had a big fight until Fats went out Sunday monring and came back within 10 minutes. He had skin ripped from above his eye and was limping. By the end of the day his arm had swelled up.

When he allowed vet to examine he had three really deep puncture wounds in this arm. I've never seen anything like this before in cat fights. There's normally one of two claw marks or one puncture wound but to have three bites and they were REALLY deep ones. These were really visous attacks.

If someones dog had inflicted the same sort of wounds on another dog the owner would be prosecuted.

Think it cost me around £140 in vet bills in just five days as I took each in seperatly cause the attacks were on different days. The vets were nice and gave me a disscount one of the cat though.

I'm not really bothered about the money but more on the effect it had on my cats. Two of them became really nevrous and Jessy even refused to leave the house without me being there with him for a few months.

Sorry this reply turned into a bit of a rant.

 

Yes. I don't understand why the law is different for cats anyway. You chose to get the cat, you should be responsible for its behaviour 24/7. Not a popular view but it my feelings on it.

I'm share your opinion, athough I do feel a bit hypocritical at the moment as we've taken a stray under our wing while we try to find him a home.

.

 

Oh by the way, what is that funky looking white feathered thing in your signiture? I checked your members page a few weeks back and coulnd't see any more photos.

It's kinda been bugging me as to what it is?

 

Is it time the law got tough on cat owners?

Why? What've we done???

 

I think it's a silkie chicken

 

Ah right, thanks.

 

Here we go again, attack the owners of free roaming cats... I do wish people would not compare a cats behaviour to a dogs. They are a completely different species.
A dog is a pack animal and is led by his 'human' and therefore is generally happy to stay close to his owner.A cat is a solitary animal and does not look for leadership from anyone.They tend to have a territory that they like to defend.They also hunt, yes its not nice but if it offends you so much, its simple don't have a cat! They are born killers and whether you let them out or not they have a strong urge to kill, even if its only a Daddy long legs they will kill it given the chance.
The law recognises the difference between a cat and a dog and therefore does not try to lump them in the same category.
I do not attack you prowl for having an indoor cat, I respect your choice.So please don't start thinly veiled critical threads of people who allow their cats to roam. Which by the way is the majority of the British cat owning public, even if it is not majority on here..

 

Here we go again, attack the owners of free roaming cats... I do wish people would not compare a cats behaviour to a dogs. They are a completely different species.
A dog is a pack animal and is led by his 'human' and therefore is generally happy to stay close to his owner.A cat is a solitary animal and does not look for leadership from anyone.They tend to have a territory that they like to defend.They also hunt, yes its not nice but if it offends you so much, its simple don't have a cat! They are born killers and whether you let them out or not they have a strong urge to kill, even if its only a Daddy long legs they will kill it given the chance.
The law recognises the difference between a cat and a dog and therefore does not try to lump them in the same category.
I do not attack you prowl for having an indoor cat, I respect your choice.So please don't start thinly veiled critical threads of people who allow their cats to roam. Which by the way is the majority of the British cat owning public, even if it is not majority on here..

I don't think prowl is attacking outdoor cat owners, just saying that the owners should be held responsible for what they get up to which is fair enough.

Personally I think you should be made to have a special license to be able to keep a cat un neutered, otherwise all cat owners should have to have their cats sorted because a lot don't bother, don't care and don't know what goes on outside of the house.

 

Why should the law be different cats any pet comes with reponsibility, owner should be responsible for their animals 100% of the time. I love cats, but free roaming cats can be a nuisance, we had to renew our back door as it was repeatedly getting sprayed on by toms as was our shed. Also I believe the risks far out way the benifits, they can be poisoned, ran over or have injury inflicted on them, people can be very cruel. I understand many free roaming cats survive without being run over, poisoned or injured but I couldn't live with the guilt should it happen to mine.

 

owner should be responsible for their animals 100% of the time.

I agree. But being responsible for cats shouldn't mean being in control of cats. Unless we're all to be obliged to keep them indoors 24/7, which is unlikely.

I think Marycat's central point is important. There are laws controlling dogs (and horses) because they are fully domesticated and trainable animals who obey us and work for us and that we can and should be expected to control. Cats are different. But despite the cat's independence and autonomy, owners or keepers of cats should always be prepared to make restitution for their moggies' misdemeanours where necessary. That's just part of the responsibility of having a cat.

Do any insurance companies offer third party insurance for damage caused by cats? Is it even an issue? Do cats ever cause significant damage, or is it just that they poo in the flowerbed without understanding who the flowerbed belongs to?

Cat owners should have the understanding of their neighbours. We should all try to understand one another. I mean if my neighbour expects me to deny my cat his need to roam by confining him 24/7, I might justifiably expect him to muzzle his dog at all times and never to let it run off the leash. Seems fair, no?

Or we could just cut each other a little slack and decide there are more important things in life to worry about.

 

I think the laws should be tough. I have all my cats neutered and am sick of the hassle my cats get from Toms. Also they come into my house when we have the dryer on and spray the kitchen.

My neighbours brother moved in next door for a while with three un neutred male cats. They attacked three of my cats over a four day period and each cat had to go to the vets as the cat bites we really bad. One cat was screaming so much he couldn't be exmained after a few days I finally managed to see the bites. He had three puncture wounds in his belly.

I originally thought after taking the thrid cat to the vet that it was my cats must have had a big fight until Fats went out Sunday monring and came back within 10 minutes. He had skin ripped from above his eye and was limping. By the end of the day his arm had swelled up.

When he allowed vet to examine he had three really deep puncture wounds in this arm. I've never seen anything like this before in cat fights. There's normally one of two claw marks or one puncture wound but to have three bites and they were REALLY deep ones. These were really visous attacks.

If someones dog had inflicted the same sort of wounds on another dog the owner would be prosecuted.

Think it cost me around £140 in vet bills in just five days as I took each in seperatly cause the attacks were on different days. The vets were nice and gave me a disscount one of the cat though.

I'm not really bothered about the money but more on the effect it had on my cats. Two of them became really nevrous and Jessy even refused to leave the house without me being there with him for a few months.

Sorry this reply turned into a bit of a rant.

I have the same problem with my neighbour cats fighting with my two boys...For some reason they dont pick on Tipsy so much I think its because he is big and very street wise, whereas Nemo is smaller and younger and they are always attacking him, Tipsy is often around and chases the cats away from Nemo, but he isnt always around where Nemo is..both my cats are neutered.

One of the cats looks very beaten up it only has half an ear. I feel sorry for it..

 

Cat proofing gardens and runs allow controlled out door access.

 

No it's not just pooping it's the damage done by spraying and scratching which isn't covered by insurance neither is the cost of paint for sheds etc. we are proofing our back garden but unfortunately nothing can be done to the front.

 

I have the same problem with my neighbour cats fighting with my two boys...For some reason they dont pick on Tipsy so much I think its because he is big and very street wise, whereas Nemo is smaller and younger and they are always attacking him, Tipsy is often around and chases the cats away from Nemo, but he isnt always around where Nemo is..both my cats are neutered.

One of the cats looks very beaten up it only has half an ear. I feel sorry for it..

Birds do that sort of thing too. Fighting each other to establish the pecking order (no pun intended ). I guess it's part of nature, which I suppose is a good thing.

But if so, maybe J. Bradshaw is right after all (http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-chat/327154-cat-sense-not.html): all cats need their own exclusive territory to roam and patrol and will migrate if they don't have it? If so it must be very tough on those kept indoors against their will, especially with other cats. :crazy:

 

The funky feathered thing is Blondie she is a Polish chicken they have these amazing hair doo's

She's young in that photo I have now had her around 8 years.Blondie has a ginger friend of the same breed called Betty.

 

I think the laws should be tough. I have all my cats neutered and am sick of the hassle my cats get from Toms. Also they come into my house when we have the dryer on and spray the kitchen.

presuming your dryer is vented? My dad cut a hole in the door just for the dryer tube, very simple job. I had a similar problem with a tom coming in when the cat flap was open as I used to stick the dryer tube through it but he just shoved it aside.

 

I think the laws should be tough. I have all my cats neutered and am sick of the hassle my cats get from Toms. Also they come into my house when we have the dryer on and spray the kitchen.

My neighbours brother moved in next door for a while with three un neutred male cats. They attacked three of my cats over a four day period and each cat had to go to the vets as the cat bites we really bad. One cat was screaming so much he couldn't be exmained after a few days I finally managed to see the bites. He had three puncture wounds in his belly.

I originally thought after taking the thrid cat to the vet that it was my cats must have had a big fight until Fats went out Sunday monring and came back within 10 minutes. He had skin ripped from above his eye and was limping. By the end of the day his arm had swelled up.

When he allowed vet to examine he had three really deep puncture wounds in this arm. I've never seen anything like this before in cat fights. There's normally one of two claw marks or one puncture wound but to have three bites and they were REALLY deep ones. These were really visous attacks.

If someones dog had inflicted the same sort of wounds on another dog the owner would be prosecuted.

Think it cost me around £140 in vet bills in just five days as I took each in seperatly cause the attacks were on different days. The vets were nice and gave me a disscount one of the cat though.

I'm not really bothered about the money but more on the effect it had on my cats. Two of them became really nevrous and Jessy even refused to leave the house without me being there with him for a few months.

Sorry this reply turned into a bit of a rant.

you know you can get special cat flaps which only allow your cat in and not others? There the ones with the chip in the collar. The chips which unlock the flap are quite ugly but we had the same issue as you lots of toms getting in our house and spraying on our stairs, doors ect so we got this cat flap and problem solved no more toms :>

 

Why should the law be different cats any pet comes with reponsibility, owner should be responsible for their animals 100% of the time. I love cats, but free roaming cats can be a nuisance, we had to renew our back door as it was repeatedly getting sprayed on by toms as was our shed. Also I believe the risks far out way the benifits, they can be poisoned, ran over or have injury inflicted on them, people can be very cruel. I understand many free roaming cats survive without being run over, poisoned or injured but I couldn't live with the guilt should it happen to mine.

I get what you're saying, but I've held up my part of responsibility as much as I can by neutering and I know getting run over is a possibility, but my cats need a bit of freedom to go outside otherwise there will be more fights between them. It depends on the areas you live in really as to the risk of injury.

 

Location is a factor, but runs are relatively cheap to build as is proofing. The two toms that are the worst sprayers are neutered and belong to two neighbours both are kept well, but we have a poisoner in our area, is it worth the risk? Where I stay is the worst in Scotland for poisonings over 25 cats in one residential area alone and over 10 in another. I've been told by an elderly lady that she has drowned cats for fowling in her garden. There was a cat set on fire last year not far from us. Cats are being hunted by dogs, the police were involved but can do nothing as it was an abandoned cat. I personally wouldn't risk it.

 

Cat proofing gardens and runs allow controlled out door access.

Exactly! Most cats do like to have a 'territory' but with a cat-run or cat-proofed garden, you can provide them with exactly that
It may be a slightly smaller territory than they would naturally try to create, but if they've never known anything else, then it should be fine.
And cats often learn as they go through life to stay away from certain areas which are the territories of other cats or humans, for example, Jumpy is learning to stay away from our next-door neighbours (they're not very nice...)

Different cats do have different needs, for example some love hunting more than others, it's a very strong instinct, so the cat-proof area would have to include grass and bushes etc to provide ample hunting possibilities.

 

Exactly! Most cats do like to have a 'territory' but with a cat-run or cat-proofed garden, you can provide them with exactly that
It may be a slightly smaller territory than they would naturally try to create, but if they've never known anything else, then it should be fine.

Exactly! :thumbsup: That's the CRUCIAL issue regarding confinement, imo.

 

Birds do that sort of thing too. Fighting each other to establish the pecking order (no pun intended ). I guess it's part of nature, which I suppose is a good thing.

But if so, maybe J. Bradshaw is right after all (http://www.petforums.co.uk/cat-chat/327154-cat-sense-not.html): all cats need their own exclusive territory to roam and patrol and will migrate if they don't have it? If so it must be very tough on those kept indoors against their will, especially with other cats. :crazy:

I watched a documentry a while back that put trackers on i think 40 or so domestiacted cats in a small village.

Where they shared the same territy as other cats they would simply time share it so they weren't there at the same time. They'd enter and leave the territory around the same time each day.

 

presuming your dryer is vented? My dad cut a hole in the door just for the dryer tube, very simple job. I had a similar problem with a tom coming in when the cat flap was open as I used to stick the dryer tube through it but he just shoved it aside.

Unforatualy we live in a rented house and the doors metal plated. We are moving soon though and was going to put a vent through the wall. Didn't think about doing it through the door, I might do that, thanks.

 

you know you can get special cat flaps which only allow your cat in and not others? There the ones with the chip in the collar. The chips which unlock the flap are quite ugly but we had the same issue as you lots of toms getting in our house and spraying on our stairs, doors ect so we got this cat flap and problem solved no more toms :>

I found out about them recently, am planning to buy one when I move house. Hope it works on all my cats, I've read some people have problems when the chip slips, even though you can change the scanning range.