How do you deal with stray cats?

[CrownHawg]

We have quite a few feral cats around and barn cats from area neighbors I guess. I don' t like how they decimate the bird house and nest population that my wife and I try to support in our yard . So a cat in my rural property is either exercise for my dog to chase away, or target practice for me with the 22.
I think owners should take responsibility for their pets.

So I guess if your neighbor decides to "target practice" with your dogs, chasing their cat on thier property, its ok? I have five outdoor cats, most were strays that wandered up, all are fixed and are part of the family. I have chased my neighbors dogs out of my yard several times, chasing MY cats. Never would I think about shooting their dogs for this. BTW, I am rural too.

 

[studor]

I try to catch them and take them to a local shelter (which happens to be no kill) I really hate what cats on the loose do to local song bird populations -- this year after getting rid of some feral cats we had a resurgenceof bluebirds and orioles. Clearly if I know that the cat belongs to a neighbour I would take it back and ask them to control it -- same as I do with a dog that chases deer through my property. After that, it is off to the pound. As a last resort if I cannot catch them it would be kitty-kitty bang-bang.
In the city I have a neighbour who insists on letting her cat run free. Every neighbour has told her that they don't appreciate the cat but she remains blissfully ignorant of doing anything to contain it. The cat has more brains than she does -one day that cat may end up in some rural setting as a result of one of my neighbours taking it there.

 

[Looking4new]

-one day that cat may end up in some rural setting as a result of one of my neighbours taking it there.

Would that be a case of catnapping?:laughing:

 

[greasemonkeyok]

When I was growing up it was common knowledge that Paul's Valley had no stray cats because they had a street vendor who sold home-made hot tamales from a cart.

So the answer is: get a street vendor selling hot tamales.

He put two of his kids through college selling tamales, btw.

 

[studor]

Would that be a case of catnapping?

Yeah I guess but if you gave them a lot of Gin would they be catatonic?

 

[JDgreen227]

It always makes me howl with laughter when I read rants from those people who think stray cats decrease songbird populations...birds make up only a tiny percentage of the diet of cats. I have four cats who get out frequently and 90% of the time they are under my direct watch....and in the last three years I have only seen them catch ONE BIRD...although they have tried thousands of times. And exactly WHAT do birds do for mankind? Raid their tree fruits, eat their grain, steal their berries, s*** on their cars and trucks. I would be so happy to never see another F****** bird around here. Hawks kill many more birds than cats do....and any bird stupid enough to get caught by a cat deserves it.

 

[stingray1]

Shoot 'em

 

[JDgreen227]

Shoot 'em

So tell us what you do when a bird s***s on your car?

 

[tcreeley]

We have 11 now- all began as strays of offspring of strays. We neuter and spay. I feed outside and the tamer ones come in every night through the cat door. One neutered gargantuan orange male (Rocky) is there when I get home from work and walks out with us to the barn to feed the horses.

 

[studor]

So tell us what you do when a bird s***s on your car?

Depends on the bird and which car -- but I am also not crazy about the neighbours cat that s***s on my flowerbed. And while your cats may be inept, my neighbours cat litters her front lawn with "stupid birds"