Greetings Porgers

I stay behind a large property that has been declared a bird sanctuary. Its
absolutely beautiful, many trees and lush growth from other flora and loads
of Bird life. This weekend my cat dissapeared for longer than usual and we
(my GF and I) were pretty worried. When we came back from our usual Saturday
morning shopping spree the cat had returned, albeit in a 'state'. She had a
small copper wire sticking out of her neck!!!!!!!!

After rushing her off to the local emergency vet it was discovered that she
had been caught in a snare!!!!!!!! The vet told us that these types of
snares were usually used for catching guinea fowl!!!!! Needless to say I was
completely devastated, how bloody disgusting can you get? In a Bird
Sanctuary of all places!!!!!

Anyway, we phoned the police and they raided the area late last night (for
vagrants). All of this in quite an upmarket area of Johannesburg's Northern
Suburbs. I simply cannot get my head around this and every time I think
about my poor baby struggling to free herself I get so wound up. Anyway, she
(the cat) is fine and on her way to a quick recovery.

Do you think after all that trauma that she would from now on possibly avoid
that particular area? (I've only been keeping cats for 2 years and am still
recognising their habits and quirks). Sorry this is off topic but I know
that alot of you have cats.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

Happy'Cam'per wrote:

After rushing her off to the local emergency vet it was discovered that
she had been caught in a snare!!!!!!!! The vet told us that these types of
snares were usually used for catching guinea fowl!!!!! Needless to say I
was completely devastated, how bloody disgusting can you get? In a Bird
Sanctuary of all places!!!!!

Awful as it is when it happens to your pet, it's not as if they were
actually trying to kill your cat. I'd even say that its a case of the pot
calling the kettle black if you let your cat roam loose in a bird sanctuary
and then get upset that people snare birds there. Here in Canada, the
single thing most threatening songbirds is roaming house cats. Are Guinea
fowl even native? If not, you could even say that people catching them
were doing a service - if they could guarantee not to kill anything else.

Do you think after all that trauma that she would from now on possibly
avoid that particular area? (I've only been keeping cats for 2 years and
am still recognising their habits and quirks). Sorry this is off topic but
I know that alot of you have cats.

It's a bird sanctuary. There's no way she's learned a lesson that would
teach her to "stay out". She is, though, a cat. She might be less likely
to be snared. The only way to keep a cat safe, is to keep it indoors.
--
derek

Ruth,
I'm glad you like kittie-cats! My cats were always indoor-outdoor cats
until several years
ago when one of them caught a horrible unknown disease. Two separate vets
took blood samples,etc and in general tried to help Sammy. He was beyond
help and
died in my arms a week after becoming sick - he was the best cat I have ever
known. Coal Black and Huge! Since that happened I vowed I would never ever
let a cat roam free.
I have lots of traffic now so it is just as well my two are indoor cats.
As for keeping screens on the windows, etc.... we couldn't live in Missouri
without
screens! Same goes for sliders.... they all have screens. When my little
Siamese
Snowshoe gets rambanctious and climbs the screen door I walk up to him and
tell
him "Sweetie, someone will steal you!" He either knows what I'm saying or
recognizes
the tone of voice... at any rate he backs down and lays in front of the
door.
So, I guess it just depends upon where your coming from - - -
Nedra

"rtk" wrote in message
...
I don't have a cat now, but I've had 6 adults and countless kittens, for
all of whom I found homes when I gave them away free. I did let them go
out all the time, but I know they didn't go after birds because all of
them very kindly brought their game home, usually half a mouse. Most of
my cats were female, so I didn't feel guilty about any cat explosion.

Now I have a visitor cat. I don't know whose he is, but he's deathly
afraid of my fish and comes running into my house and hiding in the
basement. He doesn't have a collar, but he has to belong to someone.
He doesn't accept friendliness from me, but we have a standoffish
understanding. He's not the only animal afraid of my fish; the
chipmunks squeak and hop straight up if one comes near when he's
drinking. I have several bird feeders, but the birds just ignore the
cat. The poor little cat doesn't seem able to instill fear in anything.

I understand the kind advice being given here about keeping cats
indoors, but I would miss the occasional visitor. Keeping my own cats
indoors would necessitate closing my doors and windows or putting
screens all over the place even though I don't have many bugs. I would
feel trapped as much as the cats would.

Ruth Kazez


Nedra wrote:

What to do? Surely you jest Cameron ;-) What you do is - You keep
kitty
Indoors.
Make a house cat out of her. Believe me she will thank you in the long
run!

Nedra

"Happy'Cam'per" wrote in message
...

Thanks everyone for your comments, this is indeed going to be a problem!
I don't want to sound 2 faced by being upset that ppl are snaring birds
while my cat is galavanting in the same area stalking those exact
birds!!!
,,,Sheesh, what to do, what to do :|

Sorry Ruth for Hijacking your thread, it was not intended, slip of the
finger 8|

Regards
Cameron
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

I'm certainly glad your story has a happy ending.... in defense of myself
in keeping
the cats indoors.... they don't ever attempt to go outside. I'm going in
and out all day
long and they lay by door to the deck.... not even attempting to slide
through.
They had their fill of the
outdoors when they lived with their cat families on the corner from me.
Finally got
the 25 cats placed - These two little guys I kept - as indoor kitties.
Whatever works
for you is what you should do. No one will ever convince me that outdoor
cats is the way
to go for everyone though ;-)

Nedra

"rtk" wrote in message
...


Nedra wrote:

Snowshoe gets rambanctious and climbs the screen door I walk up to him
and
tell

My family in Texas have two cats, named Snownose and Snowchin, who had
been kept exclusively indoors, necessitating that everyone, including
little kids, slide out the doors fast, in the narrowest possible space,
and quickly slam the door behind them. Then one day the inevitable
happened: the twin children were a bit too slow escaping to the backyard
and the twin kittens slid out with them. They leaped and hopped to the
stream below and there was no way they could be caught. The family went
sadly back indoors, closing the door out of habit, and there immediately
appeared two abandoned black kitties, one with a white nose and one with
a white chin, mewing to be let in. Now, the cats go out whenever the
the people do and go back in with them. Happy ending.

Ruth Kazez

I'm being completely serious, I'm sure that you look after your kitties as
best you can and in your eyes keeping them inside is fine. I just can't
bring myself to do this, I find it cruel and unreasonable (this is IMHO, I'm
not attacking you personally) to keep 2 cats inside every day. Flowers in
the Attic by Julie Andrews comes to mind........my cats NEED the good old
South African sunshine I'll let you know how it goes, and thanks alot for
your concern

The coolest thing I ever saw for having the both of best worlds was an
enclosed play yard for cats. These people had made an outside room for
their cats, 2 stories high, enclosed around a tree, with lots of toys and
claw trees, kitty boxes, etc. Roofed to keep the weather off, lattice on
the real sunny sides. Best of all, the kitty box could be outside. They
just opened a window for the kitties to have open access during the day.
Sure is something I'd highly consider if we ever get a cat or two again (or
should I say can afford?) ;o) ~ jan


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

wrote in message
...
dont let your cats outside. there isnt any vaccine for Feline AIDS. your
cat is a
threat to birds in the sanctuary. Ingrid
snip

Ingrid, actually there is now! We just spoke to our vet last month about
this, after a family member's cat died of feline AIDS. We chose not to get
the vaccine, as the vet informed us it is usually younger cats that fall
prey to this disease, and our cat is no longer young.

BV.

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...

Awful as it is when it happens to your pet, it's not as if they were
actually trying to kill your cat. I'd even say that its a case of the pot
calling the kettle black if you let your cat roam loose in a bird
sanctuary
and then get upset that people snare birds there. Here in Canada, the
single thing most threatening songbirds is roaming house cats. Are Guinea
fowl even native? If not, you could even say that people catching them
were doing a service - if they could guarantee not to kill anything else.

Derek, yes, I absolutely agree with you, you make many valid points. Here in
South Africa in the 'gardening scene' cats are a mighty contentious issue.
In some of the local gardening magazines ppl have even gone as far to label
cats as 'serial killers', a tad heavy but their view nonetheless. You either
LOVE cats or hate them, no grey areas there.

Derek, this is a third world country, and although we don't have Lions and
Giraffes roaming our back gardens (as many foreigners think) its pretty damn
wild here in Africa, who's to say that they WERE'NT hunting for cats?
Possibly they were, you never know. You have to see it to believe it!


It's a bird sanctuary. There's no way she's learned a lesson that would
teach her to "stay out". She is, though, a cat. She might be less likely
to be snared. The only way to keep a cat safe, is to keep it indoors.
--
derek

Indeed, Nedra's advice aswell. The GF and I have decided that the cats can
have the best of both worlds. They are free to roam during the day (when its
so hot they mostly laze around anyway, then at perhaps 6-7 o clock we will
lock them in for the night, this at least will give them some sort of outlet
to do their 'business' and at night when the hunter in them awakens they
will be indoors. Perhaps not the most perfect strategy but i just could'nt
keep them locked up all day long. Thanks for your insightful comments. May
you have a well deserved weekend.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...

Awful as it is when it happens to your pet, it's not as if they were
actually trying to kill your cat. I'd even say that its a case of the pot
calling the kettle black if you let your cat roam loose in a bird
sanctuary
and then get upset that people snare birds there. Here in Canada, the
single thing most threatening songbirds is roaming house cats. Are Guinea
fowl even native? If not, you could even say that people catching them
were doing a service - if they could guarantee not to kill anything else.

Derek, yes, I absolutely agree with you, you make many valid points. Here in
South Africa in the 'gardening scene' cats are a mighty contentious issue.
In some of the local gardening magazines ppl have even gone as far to label
cats as 'serial killers', a tad heavy but their view nonetheless. You either
LOVE cats or hate them, no grey areas there.

Derek, this is a third world country, and although we don't have Lions and
Giraffes roaming our back gardens (as many foreigners think) its pretty damn
wild here in Africa, who's to say that they WERE'NT hunting for cats?
Possibly they were, you never know. You have to see it to believe it!


It's a bird sanctuary. There's no way she's learned a lesson that would
teach her to "stay out". She is, though, a cat. She might be less likely
to be snared. The only way to keep a cat safe, is to keep it indoors.
--
derek

Indeed, Nedra's advice aswell. The GF and I have decided that the cats can
have the best of both worlds. They are free to roam during the day (when its
so hot they mostly laze around anyway, then at perhaps 6-7 o clock we will
lock them in for the night, this at least will give them some sort of outlet
to do their 'business' and at night when the hunter in them awakens they
will be indoors. Perhaps not the most perfect strategy but i just could'nt
keep them locked up all day long. Thanks for your insightful comments. May
you have a well deserved weekend.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

Happy'Cam'per wrote:

They are free to roam during the day (when
its so hot they mostly laze around anyway,

LOL. They're just little tiny lions :-)

then at perhaps 6-7 o clock we
will lock them in for the night, this at least will give them some sort of
outlet to do their 'business' and at night when the hunter in them awakens
they will be indoors. Perhaps not the most perfect strategy but i just
could'nt keep them locked up all day long. Thanks for your insightful
comments. May you have a well deserved weekend.

To be fair to you, I never kept my one and only cat indoors, either (though,
in a Canadian winter, you couldn't _make_ her go outside). She didn't, to
my knowledge, catch birds, but she loved to catch moles - which made her
quite popular with the local gardeners.
--
derek

Happy'Cam'per wrote:

They are free to roam during the day (when
its so hot they mostly laze around anyway,

LOL. They're just little tiny lions :-)

then at perhaps 6-7 o clock we
will lock them in for the night, this at least will give them some sort of
outlet to do their 'business' and at night when the hunter in them awakens
they will be indoors. Perhaps not the most perfect strategy but i just
could'nt keep them locked up all day long. Thanks for your insightful
comments. May you have a well deserved weekend.

To be fair to you, I never kept my one and only cat indoors, either (though,
in a Canadian winter, you couldn't _make_ her go outside). She didn't, to
my knowledge, catch birds, but she loved to catch moles - which made her
quite popular with the local gardeners.
--
derek

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
To be fair to you, I never kept my one and only cat indoors, either
(though,
in a Canadian winter, you couldn't _make_ her go outside). She didn't, to
my knowledge, catch birds, but she loved to catch moles - which made her
quite popular with the local gardeners.
--

....Cats....gotta love em!
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

"Derek Broughton" wrote in message
...
To be fair to you, I never kept my one and only cat indoors, either
(though,
in a Canadian winter, you couldn't _make_ her go outside). She didn't, to
my knowledge, catch birds, but she loved to catch moles - which made her
quite popular with the local gardeners.
--

....Cats....gotta love em!
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**

"Happy'Cam'per" wrote in message
...
snip
Derek, yes, I absolutely agree with you, you make many valid points. Here
in
South Africa in the 'gardening scene' cats are a mighty contentious issue.
In some of the local gardening magazines ppl have even gone as far to
label
cats as 'serial killers', a tad heavy but their view nonetheless. You
either
LOVE cats or hate them, no grey areas there.

Derek, this is a third world country, and although we don't have Lions and
Giraffes roaming our back gardens (as many foreigners think) its pretty
damn
wild here in Africa, who's to say that they WERE'NT hunting for cats?
Possibly they were, you never know. You have to see it to believe it!
snip

Years ago, in the U.S., many laws were passed to curb dogs, as dogs roaming
around neighborhoods became dangerous to people. I recently heard a news
story on the radio that said, many counties are talking about putting laws
into place for feral cats, because the population of small critters is being
devastated by domesticated outdoor cats.

BV.

"Happy'Cam'per" wrote in message
...
snip
Derek, yes, I absolutely agree with you, you make many valid points. Here
in
South Africa in the 'gardening scene' cats are a mighty contentious issue.
In some of the local gardening magazines ppl have even gone as far to
label
cats as 'serial killers', a tad heavy but their view nonetheless. You
either
LOVE cats or hate them, no grey areas there.

Derek, this is a third world country, and although we don't have Lions and
Giraffes roaming our back gardens (as many foreigners think) its pretty
damn
wild here in Africa, who's to say that they WERE'NT hunting for cats?
Possibly they were, you never know. You have to see it to believe it!
snip

Years ago, in the U.S., many laws were passed to curb dogs, as dogs roaming
around neighborhoods became dangerous to people. I recently heard a news
story on the radio that said, many counties are talking about putting laws
into place for feral cats, because the population of small critters is being
devastated by domesticated outdoor cats.

BV.

"Happy'Cam'per" wrote in message
...
snip
Derek, yes, I absolutely agree with you, you make many valid points. Here
in
South Africa in the 'gardening scene' cats are a mighty contentious issue.
In some of the local gardening magazines ppl have even gone as far to
label
cats as 'serial killers', a tad heavy but their view nonetheless. You
either
LOVE cats or hate them, no grey areas there.

Derek, this is a third world country, and although we don't have Lions and
Giraffes roaming our back gardens (as many foreigners think) its pretty
damn
wild here in Africa, who's to say that they WERE'NT hunting for cats?
Possibly they were, you never know. You have to see it to believe it!
snip

Years ago, in the U.S., many laws were passed to curb dogs, as dogs roaming
around neighborhoods became dangerous to people. I recently heard a news
story on the radio that said, many counties are talking about putting laws
into place for feral cats, because the population of small critters is being
devastated by domesticated outdoor cats.

BV.