Stray cat - advice
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To be honest I don't really understand laws relating to cats. I would guess for example, if your neighbour had an expensive cat that they planned to breed from you couldn't take it to the vet to be steralised.
I have also seen schemes to get strays done but would assume there would need to be some evidence of it being a stray? Hence my plan to feed it, if it is fed for a month then it would seem to not have a regular home.
I did read cats will need to be chipped by June this year, so if it's still about then and not chipped that would be another sign.
It appears you can, although not for me. But we're back to what is a feral, what is a stray and what is a pet cat.
Cats can be a pest we had Quails dissappear or maimed found out it was a local moggy taking them. Not a hater of cats but if a dog was let loose for instance by your next door neighbour and it dumped all over your garden etc you would expect a visit from the police or complaints from neighbours. Regarding the stray is it doing anygood keeping vermin down etc if so keep it around.
Not quite true about dogs. I've been a witness to dogs attacks on sheep but because I didn't actually see the dogs bite the sheep not much was done by the police. Fox hounds also run through private property without permission round here and nothing can be done. Stray dogs are also not uncommon.
If the cat would only go for rats then it would be welcome, I expect it'll go for easier prey such our red list ground nesting birds.
Trap it in a humane trap, take it to the vet, see if it's chipped, if it is, they can trace the owner and return it.
If it's not tagged, do you want a cat and all that it entails, vets fees etc?
Do you want it on your property?( I have awful problems with my neighbours cats pooing in my raised beds, and killing birds in my garden, leaving ravaged carcases in the grass...not pleasant!)
I like cats, but not enough to have one around the place. I'd rather have a cat hating dog! At least I wouldn't have my veg garden used as a litter tray.
It's realy disgusting.
If it's not tagged, do you want a cat and all that it entails, vets fees etc?
Do you want it on your property?( I have awful problems with my neighbours cats pooing in my raised beds, and killing birds in my garden, leaving ravaged carcases in the grass...not pleasant!)
I like cats, but not enough to have one around the place. I'd rather have a cat hating dog! At least I wouldn't have my veg garden used as a litter tray.
It's realy disgusting.
You are correct regarding dog attacks of course. My comments were focused on cats in an urban environment. In my opinion it's not right cats are let out to toilet in other people gardens.
I agree with that, especially as I know a few people with cats that seem fine and stay mostly indoors.
I don't have any close neighbours and the nearest don't garden so less of an issue.
This one seems to go in grass rather than soil, I wonder if that indicates if it is a stray or feral.
We had a moggy when I was a kid she would wonder and go missing for days we found out she had a 2nd home an old lady would feed her and she thought she was a stray not sure how you would know. Maybe let the cat decide feed it and see what happens.
Cat Action Trust is our local go-to for things like this. They will come and assess, remove the cat and take it to a vet. It will be neutered, but their usual modus opperandi is to return feral cats to the area they came from, to just live out their lives.
I did a quick google, and the one in your area is
I know there are huge issues with cats, but, on the whole, having a decent mouser around a rural property is a good thing. If it's eating what you put out for it, then it's tame enough to be kept at arms length....they do pick up ticks and fleas. Eating what you put out will stop it making any great effort to hunt birds. Rodents however, that twitches the whiskers and you might find yourself with 'presents' on the door step.
Usually cats wil prefer easy digging soil for their toileting, and they are easy to train.
Give it a patch of sand, or old compost, in a quiet bit away from the house, or anywhere kids will be, and it'll use that.
I did a quick google, and the one in your area is
I know there are huge issues with cats, but, on the whole, having a decent mouser around a rural property is a good thing. If it's eating what you put out for it, then it's tame enough to be kept at arms length....they do pick up ticks and fleas. Eating what you put out will stop it making any great effort to hunt birds. Rodents however, that twitches the whiskers and you might find yourself with 'presents' on the door step.
Usually cats wil prefer easy digging soil for their toileting, and they are easy to train.
Give it a patch of sand, or old compost, in a quiet bit away from the house, or anywhere kids will be, and it'll use that.
Cat Action Trust is our local go-to for things like this. They will come and assess, remove the cat and take it to a vet. It will be neutered, but their usual modus opperandi is to return feral cats to the area they came from, to just live out their lives.
I did a quick google, and the one in your area is
I know there are huge issues with cats, but, on the whole, having a decent mouser around a rural property is a good thing. If it's eating what you put out for it, then it's tame enough to be kept at arms length....they do pick up ticks and fleas. Eating what you put out will stop it making any great effort to hunt birds. Rodents however, that twitches the whiskers and you might find yourself with 'presents' on the door step.
Usually cats wil prefer easy digging soil for their toileting, and they are easy to train.
Give it a patch of sand, or old compost, in a quiet bit away from the house, or anywhere kids will be, and it'll use that.
In rural areas the mice are not house mice (generally) they are field and bank voles, yellow-necked mice, and wood mice - I haven't seen a house mouse in thirty years of living here. The rural mice (and voles) will come into houses but prefer outbuildings. I have to trap them in our studio (a separate stone and wood clad small building) to protect our supplies but I rarely get anything in the house itself.
If there's a farm nearby, with feed, there may well be rats and a cat may be useful but probably not that effective based on my experience on a farm.
This year we've had a large number of voles in the house for some reason, and a few shrews. Can't see how they are getting in but the voles are easy to humanely trap and release. It may have just been a good year for them as it's quite common to see them in the garden and fields if you stand still for a minute or two.
We have all sorts outside, even harvest mice. The odd rat which in my experience does not need a farm or feed, they seem to exist on snails and other garden foodstuffs. Saw one the other day that was huge and I doubt the cat would take it on.
We have all sorts outside, even harvest mice. The odd rat which in my experience does not need a farm or feed, they seem to exist on snails and other garden foodstuffs. Saw one the other day that was huge and I doubt the cat would take it on.
No, you're right about rats - we get the odd one on the camera trap in the wood which is over 1km from the nearest dwelling - you just don't get an infestation of them away from feed. Some people get them to the bird feeders though. I've actually seen a cat turn away from a rat
I've never yet come across a farmyard/barn that didn't have mice and rats.
The best kept ones have folks handy with a ferret or terrier, and sometimes barn mousers.
Rats like human built; they like their tunnels running along our walls, and given any easily available food source their numbers explode.
A cat that is living around human built will rarely bother to wander into fields and woods to hunt, they'll take the rodents around the buildings.....pretty much like a terrier will.
The best kept ones have folks handy with a ferret or terrier, and sometimes barn mousers.
Rats like human built; they like their tunnels running along our walls, and given any easily available food source their numbers explode.
A cat that is living around human built will rarely bother to wander into fields and woods to hunt, they'll take the rodents around the buildings.....pretty much like a terrier will.
No, you're right about rats - we get the odd one on the camera trap in the wood which is over 1km from the nearest dwelling - you just don't get an infestation of them away from feed. Some people get them to the bird feeders though. I've actually seen a cat turn away from a rat
My Tom cat regularly took on and killed rats, but he was a big cat. A cat will take out the young ones though, and keep at it. If you're seeing rats in the daytime then that's just the tip of the iceberg, they're the hungry ones, they're young looking for territory, etc., Good time for a moggie to nip that in the bud so to speak.
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The local farmers are the worse for uncontrolled cat breeding - most have half a dozen or more
A free-ranging urban cat will cover around 30 hectares on average
A free-ranging rural cat will cover over 140 hectares
They wander
Some branches of Cats Protection will do "trap, neuter, return" and some also do re-homing for feral cats- "working cats."
As for keeping other cats out: several years ago we "adopted" a large ginger tom (got him snipped) who just "arrived" one day (no luck tracing any previous "owner"). He lived in a small dog kennel in the garden initially, eventually became an indoor cat. He was cantankerous had an amazing vocabulary of growls, but he loved cuddles. He kept the back garden free of other cats (and used a litter tray inside himself). He finally succumbed to his many medical conditions, and is sorely missed.
It's easy to blame cats for lack of wildlife in gardens rather than pointing to the real culprit- people. As gardens are paved over for driveways, trees removed and even (shudder) astroturf put in, there's place for bugs/worms/grubs so no food for birds.
GC
As for keeping other cats out: several years ago we "adopted" a large ginger tom (got him snipped) who just "arrived" one day (no luck tracing any previous "owner"). He lived in a small dog kennel in the garden initially, eventually became an indoor cat. He was cantankerous had an amazing vocabulary of growls, but he loved cuddles. He kept the back garden free of other cats (and used a litter tray inside himself). He finally succumbed to his many medical conditions, and is sorely missed.
It's easy to blame cats for lack of wildlife in gardens rather than pointing to the real culprit- people. As gardens are paved over for driveways, trees removed and even (shudder) astroturf put in, there's place for bugs/worms/grubs so no food for birds.
GC
