What affects us affects cats
Should I keep my cat in at night? This is a very often quoted question. There are millions of answers. It’s useful to ask why a domestic cat should be kept at night. Are they good reasons and is the decision sound? Wildlife Clearly, a lot of people think that domestic cats do most …
It’s currently in the online newspapers (e.g. The Independent), namely that domestic cats kill more prey in a given area than similar-sized wild predators. This is according to research. The researchers agree that most of the predation is carried out within quite a small area around the home of their human guardian. The study …
Noah Stryker is a renowned bird watcher. He has written an article for National Geographic in which he asks if we should kill off cats to save birds. What I believe that he is asking is whether we should trap and euthanise feral cats to dramatically reduce their numbers to lessen the impact of …
This is another study, this time written up on the National Geographic website, which debunks the myth about feral cats having a cataclysmically destructive impact on America’s birds. It is a myth which ornithologists disseminate relentlessly. Clearly feral and outdoor domestic cats do prey on birds but the numbers that are quoted are guesstimates …
Firstly, I have deliberately specified that this study relates to China and the reason for this will become apparent when you read the article. The title to the study has been described as sexist and discriminatory. It is entitled: Where there are girls, there are cats. The study was carried out by four Chinese …
I believe that this display is in a Dutch museum: the Natural History Museum Rotterdam. It is unpleasant. It also over-simplifies the issues of domestic cat predation and as a result misleads. All-in-all not a clever display. The creators of this display probably had the intention of summarising the predation of birds by domestic …
It can be argued that, in the 21st century, people demand too much from domestic cats. It is only recently, say within the past 10-20 years that people in general have altered their expectations of how domestic cats should behave. In the past cats kept pace with human expectations. There was little talk of …
I have written on this topic before. I am returning to it because I have another idea. There are different situations which require different explanations. Kittens at play When kittens play with toys they seem to be preparing for an adult life of torturing prey. They pounce on their toy, fling it up into …
