How many of us also have a _ _ _ sharing the house

[maz]

Well your all going to hate me I have 2 cats and I breed rats but seriously...no cats or rats near the birds, my 2 kelpies take care of that

[vettepilot_6]

dont have a cat....if dog owners have to register their dogs...cat owners should be responsible enough to keep them indoors or caged at night....many do a lot don't.....dogs treat you like God...cats think they are God

[GregH]

Aside from the birds we've got 2 cats, a dog, pair of sugar gliders, 2 species of tortoise, a hamster, 20 rainbow-fish and I suppose my live food colonies (super-worms, meal-worms, mini-meal-worms)! Only the dog will come to Australia (and not if I have any say - which I've very little it seems).

[toothlessjaws]

i have to admit - i was surprised when to read what appeared to universal cat hatred on another thread - with members actually suggesting that it was actually okay to kill a neighbours without even asking them to take precautions to contain it first!

cats are the most beautifully evolved specialist carnivores of the mammal world. that can be a real pain for us bird lovers but that doesn't mean we have to hate them does it?

we were always a cat oriented family. we always had one or two cats growing up and were self proclaimed cat people - until we got a dog! but cats can be great for some people. they are far less demanding than dogs and thus make a great pet for those that would like something a little more affectionate than a turtle but don't have the time to take on the massive responsibility that it being a dog owner.

[jluna]

i have a 6yr old oriental (siamese body shape, but black with green eyes) that thinks he's a dog. he fetches sticks (well, twigs) and rolled up pieces of paper, sits on command, and never goes near my birds. he's indoors primarily and only goes out if we're home. he's also totally bossed around by my chooks.

[jusdeb]

Hmmm just so Im not misunderstood ..
Yes I do hate cats with a passion however only cats that free range and ferals .
A well looked after house cat can be an absolute joy to own as a pet and I give credit to anyone who takes responsibilty for their cats and keeps them inside and controlled ( which is not always easy when instinct tells them to hunt ).

[Tiaris]

We live well over 500metres from any neighbours and are surrounded by forest. We have sighted 130 native bird species on our property and whenever I catch a cat on my property it is here for the purpose of killing the native birds whose presence we cherish. So I have a totally clear concience when I euthenase them humanely that I am protecting the native bird and other wildlife on my property. I don't ask questions as to the origins of these cats when I catch them. Some are obviously feral, some are not but they ALL are here to kill native birds & animals which is totally unacceptable to us.
We have dogs, cattle, chooks & birds & if any of these leave our property, even very temporarily, we get them straight home again immediately. If other animal owners did this, there wouldn't be a problem.

[jusdeb]

Most certainly unacceptable , work out the damage 1 cat does to native birds and small mammals in a year and times that by ?

[CQDude]

Hi all, been awol for a while, been flat out fixin flood damage, and planting etc. My wife has a cat, which has a bell around it's neck so it cant catch the native birds etc. It is useful though for keeping the kite hawks, crows etc away from my finches though. When they see it walking around the yard they dont come near, but as soon as the cat goes inside the kite lands on the aviary ! I should've rung it's neck when I caught it after it ripped a hole in the wire and got in, instead of letting it go like a good greenie, lol.

[finchbreeder]

No cats here. But have had cats most of my life. Now I have a cat hating Jack Russell, Avairys of small birds , and small aquariums of fish. When the kids were young and at home we went through the rabbits, guinea pigs and mice keeping stages.
LML