The CAT room!

Urs, it's gonna be some job trying to acclamate Paddy to the car!

Yes, Lucky Daniel, that must have been quite a surprise for them ... and quite a selling pitch if you ask me.


Roberta, it's Paddy who needs to be travel-trained ... Lacey is great in the car, not a problem, she loves it.

Hunter wants open season on cats
ASSOCIATED PRESS


MADISON - Hunter Mark Smith welcomes wild birds onto his property, but if he sees a cat, he thinks the "invasive" animal should be considered fair game.

The 48-year-old firefighter from La Crosse, Wis., has proposed that hunters in Wisconsin make free-roaming domestic cats an "unprotected species" that could be shot at will by anyone with a small-game license.

His proposal will be placed before hunters on April 11 at the Wisconsin Conservation Congress spring hearings in each of the state's 72 counties.

"I get up in the morning and if there's new snow, there's cat tracks under my bird feeder ... I look at them as an invasive species, plain and simple," Smith said.

Smith's proposal has horrified cat lovers but is seen by others as a way to stop cats from killing wild birds.

University of Wisconsin-Madison wildlife ecology professor Stanley Temple, who trapped more than 100 cats and analyzed their stomach contents during a four-year study, has estimated that between 7.8 million and 219 million birds are killed by rural cats in Wisconsin each year.

"It's obviously a very controversial proposal," Temple said, but added, "I think there really is a basis for having a debate about it."

The Conservation Congress is a five-member elected body whose duty is to advise the Department of Natural Resources and the Legislature on natural resources issues.

DNR attorney Tim Andryk said the vote would simply be "an advisory recommendation" to state lawmakers.

"We (the DNR) don't have authority to regulate domestic animals. Legislation would have to be passed to accomplish this," Andryk said. "You might also have to amend laws relating to abuse of domestic animals."

But Temple said he thinks legislation is not needed. He said the department does have the authority to declare rural cats an unprotected species -- because unclaimed cats can be considered non-native wildlife species like house mice, Norway rats, pigeons and starlings.

"If they are not a pet, if somebody doesn't claim ownership, they become a non-native wildlife species and not entitled to protection by the state," he said.

Cat enthusiasts Cheryl Balazs, Ted O'Donnell and Adam Bauknecht are trying to organize opposition to Smith's proposal. O'Donnell, a co-owner of MadCat Pet Supplies, recently set up a Web site, dontshootthecat.com, to inform people about it.

http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/11071045.htm

Boy cj , we tend to disagree but I'm ready for this concept. Feral cats are ruining the ecosystem here in Florida. And it's all because humans won't take responsibility for their care. It works for the deer population...?

My Dad shot a feral cat once while hunting - we both thought it was a rabbit. I told him, he killed it, he had to eat it. That sucker had fangs like a sabre tooth tiger.

I believe there is a more relevant thread to move the last hree posts to:Feral Cats, What Do They Eat, Anyhow.

I can't see how a pleasant exchange of companion cat or kitten comments
can include rod-and-gun enthusiasts anecdotes/news items. AmI the only one with this viewpoint?

This is the cat room. I would think cat lovers might be interested in such a proposal.

No, neko, you're not alone, I can assure you!

definitely not alone. I'm afraid he only does it to annoy people - it seems to be the way he gets his kicks

Ignoring spiteful teases is often the best policy

Actually, I posted a pic of a Liger awhile back that everyone seemed to like. And it wasn't even cooked.

All of a sudden the sudden drop in temperature requires I put on a parka

Even the cats are cold.

Misti recently asked me if we were still planning on getting a cat. Talk about ambivalence! Bob and I use the RV so much, that it would mean one more animal in addition to Fred the conure and Sally the 20 pound Jack Russell Terrier/corgi.

I know a woman who trained her cat to a harness. She walks the cat everday and while the cat would like to roam free, my friend lives in an area that has lots of racoon, possums and the occasional coyote; she would rather have a live cat than take the risk of her cat being killed--which happened to one of my cats.

When I was a teenager, my cat loved coming along for a drive in the car. He had been doing it since he was a ittle kitten, which makes me certain that if we got a kitten there would be no problem with traveling. It's just that all my cats have been outdoor cats and I sort of hate to take that freedom away.

What I want here from all of you is support for bringing up an indoor cat. Help me with the guilt. Tell me I'm doing the right thing. I'm such a WIMP. Help me. I need help. I need the backbone to do something I've never done before. This is turning out to be harder than leaving a very safe 34 year marriage; but then, of course, Bob is much cuter than a cat. Close, but cuter. Anyway, this decision is much harder. Bring a cat into the picture and I have no backbone at all. Oy!

Of course you raise your cat indoors. Our yard cats at work seem to have about a 2 year life expectancy, maximum, and that's just too short. Harness, though? I would never try a leash on any cat other than a Siamese. Some of them can actually be walked on leash like dogs, but it's not a breed that I care much about.

There are a lot of positives about raising your cat indoors, as Roger pointed out.

Indoor cats live much longer than outdoor cats, they are not subjected to all those yucky diseases, not to mention fleas and ticks, etc.

Try not to think of it as taking away their freedom, but more that you are enabling them to have a richer, longer life.

Even indoor cats are dangerous.

BATES TOWNSHIP -- An Upper Peninsula man cooking in his kitchen was shot after one of his cats knocked his 9mm handgun onto the floor, discharging the weapon, Michigan State Police said.
Joseph Stanton, 29, of Bates Township in Iron County, was shot in his lower torso around 6 p.m. Tuesday, the state police post in Iron River reported. He was transported to Iron County Community Hospital.

Michelle Sand, a spokeswoman at the Iron River hospital, said Stanton was treated there before being transferred to Marquette General Hospital for further treatment. But Marcie Miller, a representative of the Marquette facility, said there was no record of the hospital receiving a patient by that name.

A telephone message seeking comment was left Wednesday at Stanton's home.

State police said he was cooking at his stove when the cat knocked the loaded gun off the kitchen counter behind him.

Stupid fooker that he was with a loaded gun in the house ... hope he learned his lesson!

I think the cat prolly loaded it.

Roger and Misti, you are both right about indoor cats. One of my former cats chose to be an indoor cat, but the other one howled if he couldn't spend time outside. I know that a kitten being an indoor cat from the very beginning would not be a problem.

My friend's cat who is trained on a harness and leash is not siamese--not sure what she is, but she has only known a harness and leash for outside since she was a kitten. Cats are so remarkable adaptable that I wouldn't be surprised if a kitten would accept something that strange.

Barney, of course, was born outdoors. He came in from the cold at around age 5 weeks, and still thinks it looks good out there, though he settled down a lot after being neutered.

If anyone doesn't know by now, it is virually impossible to share a home with a full time indoor cat that hasn't been neutered. They howl, they spray, they charge around at night like a herd of buffalo, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear of one shooting its owner, sooner or later.

Diane. you may not need to keep it as an indoor cat - my parents came home from a touring caravan holiday with a kitten and she continued to go on holiday with them regularly for the next 20 years - she was allowed out in the evenings and mornings and shut in while they went out during the day, She'd also go for a walk (no lead) with my father each evening, she saw the caravan as home whilst away.

She never got to like the car - she'd protest at first and then settle down on a blanket in the footwell and resign herself to the journey,