The Requisite Cat (Kitty) Photo thread

[Luke]

I'm a sucker for cat photos....not sure if you all have met Oscar. He's one of two cats that get along with our two dogs.

My friend, my enemy by Lukinosity (not around much..... too much work), on Flickr

[Isoterica]

Helly Oscar!

[kyteflyer]

I'm a sucker for cat photos....not sure if you all have met Oscar. He's one of two cats that get along with our two dogs.

My friend, my enemy by Lukinosity (not around much..... too much work), on Flickr

Hey Oscar!! You're a cutie!

[TraamisVOS]

Saw this cat on a ground floor city apartment window when a colleague and I stepped outside for lunch today. I had to stop and take a photo.

[BillN]

Cats - not my favourite - Sorry

It is estimated that domestic cats kill around 50 million birds per year in the UK and this number is actually around 10% of the total prey items that cats needlessly kill each year based on some conservative calculations.............I think in the US it is 10 times, or more that figure

obviously not all 500 million are birds, they kill small mammals, amphibians and reptiles too.

I've not counted them but just search the internet to find out what damage cats do to native wildlife

They kill everything that they can get just for the sake of it


The French still shoot or trap about 25 million and the Italians maybe 18 millions. Malta, Greece and Cyprus are even worse

(your cat is not safe in rural France in the hunting season)

[Luke]

Bill, I understand your position. Our two cats are indoor cats who sometimes don't even have the skills to kill the occasional mouse that finds it way inside. I have to catch it and release it in a field.

I think the main problem is not the domesticated cats we live with, but the feral cats that are a result of overbreeding, lack of neutering and people wanting kittens without thinking about the massive overpopulation problem.

Here's a passage from an article on the Feral cat problem in the U.S....it's a couple years old, so one can assume that the figures have only gotten worse..... "Britain has an estimated 7 million pet cats and 1 million ferals. By comparison, the United States has approximately 60 million pet cats and 60 million ferals. Feral populations are swollen by breeding and the dumping of unwanted pets; 5 million cats and dogs are "dumped" annually, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while American surveys suggest that between 36% and 60% of unneutered pet cats go feral within 3 years."

Now back to pictures of our feline friends.......

Kiki says, "Bill, give me a hug....I don't kill birdies"

Kiki perspective by Lukinosity (not around much..... too much work), on Flickr

[Lili]

All my cats are rescued Ferals. They are "fixed", vaccinated, and stay indoors.
Again like most things, the problem is with careless Humans. just as Luke points out.

[Will]

Mice are very territorial. Unless you know exactly where the cat caught the mouse and put it back there it will almost always get killed by other mice defending their patch. :(

[Luke]

Mice are very territorial. Unless you know exactly where the cat caught the mouse and put it back there it will almost always get killed by other mice defending their patch. :(

It's the only way to keep my wife happy. I say once they come in the house, they either pay rent or get out. She says we don't need to kill them, but she agrees that even though they are cute, we are not living with them. It usually only happens once or twice in fall when the weather gets cold and they're looking for shelter.

[Isoterica]

My cat has always been an indoor cat. My neighbors don't practice the same. Their cats are mostly outside, even in below zero weather, even though they kill the local birds, baby rabbits, baby ducks etc.. I have gone so many times to the animal shelter with wounded animals due to cats and I no longer feel comfortable feeding the birds etc. And we had such beautiful birds visiting. My cat, born to a wild mother but I have had her since a day old. When I first picked her up, with eyes closed, she actually spat at me. She didn't even have her eyes opened yet! The instinct is there and yet she has zero desire to go outside. I take her out and she hovers a door mewling. If it gets dark, she might consider it. I don't allow it. She does mouse though. A few times mice have gotten into the house via an attached garage, probably when the door was opened who knows. I find them heavily played with and dead wherever she lost interest in them. She doesn't eat them at all. The one time we found a mother and nest in the garage and had already disturbed it, we gathered all babies careful not to touch them but lifted them with the mouses bedding, and put them into an open door cage. Eventually the nervous mother managed to get into the cage. We then trapped her, let her raise them and dumped them all outside. I tell myself they did well as we put them in a lot of brush but.. again the neighbors cats..