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The following column appeared on a community newspaper, and although I disagree with the idea of allowing cats to run loose outdoors, I post this article because of the spirit in which it was written.
Yes, cats are absolutely wonderful and not the bad guys that bird lovers allege they are.
However, allowing your cat to roam outdoors exposes him to all kinds of dangers and to having a shorter lifespan.
It's not only the traffic and aggressive dogs or wildlife you need to consider, but also psychopaths looking for an animal to torture. It is heartbreaking to see posters alerting neighbors about the loss of a beloved cat or dog. Where do these animals end up?
The alternative: I've seen adoring cat owners take their cats out on a leash. That makes perfect sense, considering the other options for the pet: house arrest or getting stolen.
It's best to train a cat on a leash early in his kittenhood. In the case of an older cat, training may take weeks, or even months, but it's worthwhile.
Barbara Julian usually writes about wildlife. The fact that she decided to include the never-quite-domesticated housecat in this category is rather charming.
House cats: the wildlife-wannabe
By Barbara Julian
Deep in the soul of every housecat is a longing to be wild. Each harbours the ghost of its wild ancestors. Those living under house arrest can be seen twitching at windows, longing to breathe fresh air and smell nature rather than upholstery.
They want to scratch on a tree trunk and pad through the undergrowth. Few well-fed housecats actually bestir themselves to kill a bird, but they enjoy pretending to stalk.
They will more likely stalk a moth or pounce on dandelion fluff than on a bird, but they've been given a bad rap as gangsters of the gardens. The few have spoiled things for the many.
Remote South Pacific islands may be different, but locally even feral cats catch few birds, as we see by the state of their health. Who has ever seen a fat homeless cat? They seem to be eating little of anything, but when they kill a mouse or rat we congratulate them. Only birds are out of bounds.
If they do kill a rat they may well be saving a bird, since rats prey on eggs and nestlings. But then so do larger birds, crows on baby robins for instance. Bird-on-bird violence we seem to overlook, but some would like even innocent cats to be imprisoned as criminals, indoors.
If not cats, what are the worst hazards facing urban songbirds (other than bigger birds)? Watering restrictions are fatal. Brown grass, dusty worm-less earth and shrivelled leaves equal dead birds, since more die of thirst than of hunger.
Continue reading this, and an article on how to leash-train your cat, plus more pictures of cute cats
