I'd love to have a cat.......but there is a problem

Looking out for the garden wildlife and having a cat is a tricky one. An older cat from a rescue maybe less of a hunter. A friend of mine paid for her garden to have a cat fence around it so the cats were safe and couldn’t escape onto the road. There are companies that specialise in cat proof fencing, but I expect it’s quite expensive. Hers works well, cats are happy and few birds visit as there aren’t any trees or shrubs. If you’re worried about your garden birds you could make a catio , like an aviary, attached to the house or window, so cats enjoy fresh air without escaping or catching wildlife. I’ve met some very happy house cats. The owners put up high shelves, tunnels and walk ways around the house for cats to explore, and play with them so they get enough exercise and stimulation.

Hasnt this been on here before🤔

I have 3 cats, and mine go out into the garden, we cat proofed it, so they can't go any further, birds fly over and land on the hedges but the cats have never been quick enough to catch one....thank goodness

Older cats also tend to not be interested in chasing birds and mice and only care about being warm, fed and loved. I have several cats all rescued. 2 are real outdoor cats and of those 2 only one, a young male, brings back mice as a present and dumps it on the patio.

@YorkLady your comment made me laugh!

Go somewhere like Cats Protection who know the needs of individual cats and there you will find cats that are mainly or only house cats due to previous history who will love attention and chilling out at home. A friend got a house cat that way and the reason this particular cat had to be a house cat was because of the abuse the poor animal had been through. The cat loves routine and being close to her and does not miss going out. She growls under her breath at men and young children that pass by the window.

Oh come on!!...its their nature...lol..get a bunny..and put it in a cage...The amount of bitds that cats catch are small.......goodness

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Oh! Dear Lord, do please give me strength!
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I suppose you could ‘rescue’ a cat that had already been conditioned to imprisonment as a house animal. But I’d feel bad about inflicting that myself on a naturally roaming creature.

Have a house cat, I’ve two Siamese cats that were quite happy indoors for 5 years. I moved and have a little garden now, fences have security tops, they don’t go out of the garden and are 16 years now

The last cat we had was a hunter, he loved nothing more than dragging fledglings from their nests which really upset me, I would chase him around the garden but never caught him and it honestly put me off getting another one. I can understand them hunting if they’re hungry, but most domestic cats are well fed.

Lol

To be honest I think that magpies kill far more songbirds than domestic cats do. And I've seen a pack of gulls tearing a sparrow apart. It's very much a bird eat bird world out there. The predatory species used to be regularly culled but that doesn't happen nowadays.

CatClan

Cats mainly hunt at dawn and at dusk. So let your cat out well after the sun comes up. It can enjoy the outdoors all day. Then lock it inside at least half an hour before before it even begins to get dark. And in spring watch out for when baby birds begin to fledge - keep the cat completely inside for a few days when the baby blue-tits etc leave their nests.

Happy, well-exercised cat. Minimal danger to birds. And vastly reduced risk of cat being run over in the dark.

This is a great idea in priciple, but we've had cats that would disappear for days at a time whilst hunting - no chance to keep them indoors as they didn't come home at the end of the day.

I've also had cats for much of my life and we found that it was often the female cats were the most ferocious hunters, though our tomcats also brought prey home. I agree with others that it is their natural instinct, so unless you plan to have an indoor cat it is almost inevitable. And not all cats would take well to living entirely indoors,

I was watching a blackbird on my lawn tugging at a worm up through the grass. Poor thing must have been clinging on for its life but eventually the bird pulled it in half and flew off gleefully leaving the back end lying on the lawn.
Every creature needs to eat.

it is nature but that does not mean it does not sit easy with you. i would think either about a house cat lots of charities have cats like that as they can be hard to home, or to keep them safe from roads as well you could think about a catio.
some cats are not hunters but you never know until you get them

We had a kitten from a farm ! He was an excellent mouser and bird catcher .
We then had a Birman , who expected his meals on a plate . He'd occasionally "gnatter" his teeth at a passing bird but I swear they just laughed at him !

Both lived to over 20 !

Cats mainly hunt at dawn and at dusk. So let your cat out well after the sun comes up. It can enjoy the outdoors all day. Then lock it inside at least half an hour before before it even begins to get dark. And in spring watch out for when baby birds begin to fledge - keep the cat completely inside for a few days when the baby blue-tits etc leave their nests.

Happy, well-exercised cat. Minimal danger to birds. And vastly reduced risk of cat being run over in the dark.

Oldnproud

And birds kill too.
If the cat doeskill a bird, think how many cute little insects that might save.

I suspect birds kill to survive, while, in my experience of my neighbour’s three, cats kill for fun.

I have two housecats,(they were this before we had them,)one likes a little stroll in the garden and then gets rounded up by our dog and chased by back in,the other isn't interested in going out,there are so many cats that go missing near me that I'm happy they stay in

When out walking the other day, I heard the jangling of a bell, than saw the cat with a bird in its mouth!
Unless you keep a cat indoors day and night, I don't think you can stop it hunting. My Bengal brought in rodents, frogs, lizards including slowworms, baby pheasants, birds and squirrels. The worst time was when she released a baby bunny in the spare bedroom. Catching it from under furniture was a nightmare but I managed to save it.

My main worry is the fear of losing a cat to yet another car using our normally quiet road as a shortcut .
My immediate neighbour has had a succession of cats killed by speeding cars .
Not one driver has stopped .
Her garden is a graveyard.

I'd get a mature cat that has been indoorsy by its habits? Best option plus the bell idea. You cant stop I, but you could minimise it. BTW, I've had cats and it has varied so very much. and DS has two, sis and bro, and one is a hunter and the other not!

And birds kill too.
If the cat doeskill a bird, think how many cute little insects that might save.