Never thought I'd use this as a subject line, but: Darned cats

[thistlechaser]

A good start to the morning is NOT stepping out my door and finding a bunch of loose feathers and blood. The darned neighbor's cat is killing a bird a day, and spends the rest of the day hunting them.

If the cat were a stray or feral cat, I'd feel very slightly less bad about this, but the cat has a collar and an owner, someone is feeding it, it does not need to hunt to eat. (Though I know cats are predators and would rather hunt...)

I can't decide if I should take the bird feeder down or not. I feel like all I'm doing at this point is making it easier for the cat to kill them. If I weren't attracting them all to one small area, maybe it wouldn't be so easy for the cat. (And maybe if it were a more natural feeding setting, they might be more watchful?)

If I'm going to take the feeder down, now's a good season to do it. There should be lots of food around for them to eat. To be totally honest, I wouldn't mind saving the money I spend on seed ($25/week). I have to fill it daily, and clean the birdbath, but neither of those are much work at all. My porch area would be a lot cleaner if I stopped, too. On the other hand, I do enjoy watching them, but I don't watch them nearly as much as I used to. On the other-other hand, I'd have more privacy if I stopped (I leave my curtains all the way open so I can watch them, and my window faces the sidewalk/mailbox area, so anyone can look in).

So, what do you all think?

[Poll #1917845]

I wish I didn't feel like I had a hand in the death of the birds...

Comments

[felknight.livejournal.com]

I would ask the neighbor to put a bell on the cat's collar or keep it indoors. Cats do not need to hunt and often do not eat what they kill.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I wanted to do that, but I live in an apartment complex, so I have no idea who owns the cat. I'm considering putting up a sign asking whoever owns it to do that, but I'm not sure how successful that would be. :/

[felknight.livejournal.com]

If you live in an apartment complex, you can and should take this to the building owner. The cat is getting into all your stuff, leaving blood on your doorstep. The building owner knows whose cat it is and can get in contact with the owner.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, good point, yeah.

[felknight.livejournal.com]

Being outside like that is also dangerous for the cat. You're not being the bad guy by asking the building owner to do something. Lots of cats are hit by cars or even eaten by hawks and owls because owners think cats "need" to hunt. They don't.

They like outdoor time, but that should be supervised or secured in such a way that the cat can't get itself into trouble.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Agreed. An outdoor cat lives on average 10 years less than an indoor cat. Think of a cat's lifespan, 10 years makes a big difference!

[tersa.livejournal.com]

You said the cat has a collar; does it have a tag? If you can ever get close enough to the cat, maybe there's contact information on one or the other. (When I was in my last place and had a genius neighbor who decided to let their cats out, it would show up on my doorstep all the time. I finally caught it and called them and found they were literally right around the corner from me. :| )

If you can catch it and there's no tag or ID on the collar, you could try taking it to a vet to see if it's been chipped and get the owner info that way.

(Technically, every cat in the county is supposed to be registered. If you want to make a point, you could pursue that as well.)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

unfortunately the cat is quite skittish. Before it started killing birds, I tried to make friends with it, but it wouldn't let me come within a half-dozen paces of it. Now, with me opening my door and yelling to scare it off, I doubt it would let me get even that near.

Sadly, the neighbors think it's mine, since it's always sitting on my fence...

[kelen.livejournal.com]

I remember reading this article somewhere about how pet cats are wiping out local bird populations. They don't need to hunt, but they like to, killing billions of birds every year. o.O

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

That doesn't surprise me at all. This cat kills a bird, then is hunting again a short time later. It can't be that hungry...

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I think you should keep the bird feeder up. Regardless of whether you have it or not, this cat is going to find birds somewhere and try to kill them.

Bizarre. It's too bad you live in [redacted]; the two cities on either side of you have leash laws that include cats, meaning owners are required by city ordinance to maintain control of their cats at all time. If you didn't live where you did, you could legally file a complaint about the fact that they're letting their cat outside so that it's killing wildlife. :/

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

I didn't even think about it being against the law for them to let the cat wander free, good point!

Semi-amusing side-story: Remember that Siamese I tried to catch/adopt? It's been wandering free again (in yet another new collar). Turns out it attacks that howling dog that lives next door to me! Good taste, Siamese, good taste.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Wow, that fits, for sure! Neighbor should be less worried about me reporting him to the owner than to the town.

(I'm going to screen your comment, since the link has the name of my town in it. :) )

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I noticed that when I made it, but I figured it was at least not HI, THISTLE LIVES RIGHT HERE. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Haha yep! No worries, I'm not so paranoid about it anymore. I had told one single person where I lived... and she told other people. Sigh. I think there's some saying that if you want to keep a secret, you can't tell even one person? Anyway, the cat's out of the bag now, so I'm more mellow about it.

[loup_noir]

A bell won't help. Birds use their vision to monitor for danger.

Lazy cat owners are a real pet peeve of mine. Okay, I've just deleted a long rant. Lazy cat owners can't be arsed to keep their pets inside for various reasons. Were it me, I'd talk to the local animal control folks for the loan of a Havaheart trap, catch the cat, and turn it in. I spent three years volunteering for a wildlife hospital in Walnut Creek, and after that stint of dealing with cat owners bringing in mangled birds and admitting they were actually proud of their pets killing wildlife, my sympathy for outdoor cats plummeted. No, it isn't the cat's fault that it was designed to hunt incredibly well, but it is the fault of the idiot owners who don't want to take responsibility for their animals.

Keep the feeder up if you enjoy it. If you can't find the owner of the cat, trap it and turn it in. If the person cares for the animal, maybe they'll get the idea they should really take care of it.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

It's not even just the owners being lazy, they're being cruel. A cat that goes outside lives on average ten years less than an inside cat. Cats live only, what, 14? 15? years on average, so they're taking two-thirds of the life away by letting it outside.

I considered the trap idea, but if the cat is able to kill and eat birds, I wonder if tuna would be an effective bait.

and admitting they were actually proud of their pets killing wildlife

Ugh ugh ugh. These people.