General Chat

My cats when I had them (three at one time) all had the ordinary collars on with extra bells from the petshop and only occasionally did I have a bird brought in (two or three at most ) and I never found any evidence of them killing birds. Mostly they stayed in my garden too, except for one who would sit outside to greet all her admirers. I sometimes wonder if cats visit other homes the people there remove the collars cos they don't agree with them. Mine rarely lost a collar and if they did it soon was put back through the letter box because of the tag on it.

Angela in Kent - I wish more cat owners were like you. We don't have a problem with cats in our back garden as our dogs see them off if they dare so much as jump on the fence, but the front garden is a different matter - they poo all over it and once I came home to find cat pee all over my door step! It's really not nice, especially if the Postman manages to tread it all up the door step. If I allowed my dogs to poo all over someone elses garden I would be in trouble - I do think some cat owners need to be more responsible when they live in a built up area and train their cats to use litter trays. I agree with the bell on the collar too - it might be natural for a cat to kill a bird, but with so many domestic cats these days it has become out of balance. Kaye x

Teresa, loved your story! Made me chuckle. x

Our cats had collars from when they were little. At first, we used to pu bells on them. After the 4th replacement, we agve up. They had somehow learned to remove the collar with the bell on, so it was of no use at all lol They don't bother with the ones without. I don't mean to disregard your comments, but it's just a funny story I thought I'd add :) I totally agree that cats should wear bells, especially in areas where birds nest. The birds where I live now have stopped coming in our garden for feed as the local cat has decided our fence is a nice place to sit :( We used to get loads of birds - almost every species found in suburban gardens. Now we just get an overweight pidgeon, a couple of squirrels, and the odd brave blackbird. I hope they'll come back some day. They were lovely to watch on a morning.

Oh dear, I have a confession to make. Um, our 5 cats don't have those snap-off collars anymore; they were using them up, on average one a week; started to cost us a fortune! So now we have the elasticated ones, of course, but ones that are secure. It's hard sometimes knowing what to do for the best, isn't it. For now though, the birds have the upper hand - er, wing. :-)

oh I agree Glenys its terrible Fox hunting , and I dont just mean the kill, the hunt must be so frightening for the poor things. Grown people should know better , I am sorry if Cats have died from their Collars thats terrible as I said I love animals , and would hate to have that happen to a pet of mine.

I have 3 cats, all used to wear collars and bells. That is until one was nearly hanged by its collar getting trapped in a branch - and yes it was the proper expanding type collar. None are collared now. But my cats are trained to poop in their tray - which is indoors - regardless of whether they are out of the house or in, and also not to venture into neighbouring gardens. Training combined with tall fences and lots of interesting things for cats to do in their own gardens does work. My cats are happy, healthy, and not a pest to my neighbours. None of my cats have ever caught a bird or mouse, all are fit and lean. And I have wild bird feeders in my garden which are well used by the local wild bird population without fear at times of day when my cats are inside. So it can be done. Angela

I have tried a collar on my cat but he became very sore underneath it, even though it was the right measurement, and we had to take it off him. I have not seen the snap ones that Diana mentioned but they sound a lot better. My old ginger cat never caught any animals and used to lie on the bird table as the birds happily pecked their food around him though the Swallows would dive bomb him if he walked near their nests. He caught a mouse by it's tail once then fell asleep holding it and we released it. The only animal he brought in was a frozen bird he found in the garden. I absolutely hate it when the cat we have now catches anything, especially birds when they are young which fortunately he doesn't do too often. Lorrainex

Re your thread posting Valerie, yes, we do already (we have 5 of them). We also keep them indoors of a morning sometimes, at this time of year, for that reason. Mind you, I'll always be confused by an ex-colleague of mine, who supports hunting with hounds. She said to me on more than one occasion how much she hates cats, because they hunt birds. Mmm, still trying to work the logic of that one out.

Try putting a collar on Dooley and he will remove it before you can put the Sticking Plaster on your hands.

Two out of my four cats wear collars with bells on.. I honestly dont think it makes a difference as the one with the bell that goes out catches most birds/mice... Although it is cruel (as seen through our eyes) it is natural selection..Nature.. I also had a cat hang itself from a tree, luckily a neighbour found him in time, not all collars are 'snap' type, although i think they should be.. LOU xxx Ps. i do often manage to save some of the birds/mice brought back, and will always take them off the cats....x

A few years ago I saw a cat collar advertised. It had an electronic device in it which let out a sound to scare birds way as soon as the cat jumped. I think it was about £12.00.( I don't know if they are still available as sadly we are catless thanks to a careless car driver) Chris

Like my mum said about our cat when it was a kitten, 'that animal's going to grow up to be a right little beast!'

Maureen I agree about the cat poo. It annoys me too. I am forever cleaning up cat poo from my neighbours three cats. I have three too and they use my back garden, which is fine, my cats, my problem. But neighbours cats use my front garden because she has one of these ultra sonic cat repellers outside her house.

Sorry folks (going to be hated after this) but that's one of the reasons i don't like cats. They roam free wherever they wish. I know hunting birds is instinct, although someone should tell them they get free meals lol It's the poo in my garden borders i don't like,urgh, not nice at all. Our neighbours ( who i like incidently) have 4 cats between them, try as we might to keep cats out they still manage to use our newly dug earth as a toilet. Husband keeps water pistol on window sill but i think they like it !! Mau :O()

No way am I going to keep my three cats indoors !!!!!! They don't wear collars with bells on because I live next door to a huge field and if my cats didn't catch the rats from the field my garden would be over run with rats and all the problems they can cause. I have two young children. They come first. It is sad when they catch birds, and I don't like it. However, that's just they way that they are and you can't argue with nature xx

I usually author the bird-watch thread and probably agree with you. Is there an argument that it is cruel to cats though. They chase birds by nature, and as we all know, nature can be very cruel. Very sad. My ultra sonic cat warning.is pretty effective, but they don,t seem to work for a lot of other people. Happy days

My cats have always had collars and bells. They still cought birds and mice. Would have cought more without them . I dont like it when they kill birds, but thats what cats do, like it or not. Other birds kill the young bird's too. I have an 18 mth old house cat , she was very timid when I got her so last year I let her out when I was in garden. I feel guilty at her being in the house and had intended to let her out this summer when ever we were around but...not if there is a risk of bird flu ,might wait and see if the flu come to anything first. Marion

Hi Pink I've got one for the dog but the cats seem to manage to loose them, so gave up replacing them. lol -x-

My cats are indoor cats, we love the birds and are members of RSPB.They are quite happy to watch them out of the windows.......