Cats are amazing creatures

always working to keep you amused : )

My blue shorts are going right back into the laundry hamper.  What is it that makes a white cat seek out dark laundry for a comfortable resting place?

My one complaint about cats is that they are let loose to wander and kill songbirds in staggering numbers along with other animals.   Cats have the wild killer instinct that dogs have mostly lost.   

tomcat - same instinct that immediately leads them to the guest wearing black pants, or the guest who's allergic...

bub - Dunno about dogs losing the instinct.  Neighbor's otherwise docile and goofy golden did a very thorough job on a nest of rabbits in the back yard.  Many i've known were sure they would have gotten that squirrel, if only they weren't on leash, or had just another millisecond before the squirrel got to the tree.  Less opportunity:  on leash or more closely supervised than cats?  otoh, i'm not aware dogs are much use as mousers.

Absolutely agree about outdoor cats vs. songbirds.  Maybe people are gradually coming around to indoor cats?

I’ve had a couple of cats. Of the 3 only 1 would stay indoors. I put a bell on the others to give songbirds a fighting chance. Trying to keep a cat indoors that WANTS to be outside is a battle I’ve yet to win. 

They can kill but the instinct is much more diluted in dogs. I read a study that scanned dogs brains and it showed that their play center is activated when they're chasing - they're having fun.   And like you say, people don't let their dogs wander around off leash so there is far less opportunity.  I'm not sure what my dogs would do if they ever caught a squirrel, not that their Wile E Coyote track record suggest they would ever catch one even off leash.   

As a rescue, I adopt cats to those who intend to keep them indoors only 

I would have no problem if there were rules restricting pets to be indoor cats exclusively.

BUT, until all towns adopt a Trap Neuter Return policy for feral cats their population will grow being called about dead kittens found in garages, pregnant cats, litters of kittens turning up in backyards and most of us who help are doing it alone.

Essex County has a fund controlled by Associated Humane who contracted with People for Animals to allow us to get free spay/neuter for feral cats if brought in a trap. One cat per person on certain days.  

AHS ended the contract with PFA and trappers have no way to access those funds.

So its back to trap and pay when people even bother to let us know before its too late.

I've asked for a small recovery space after neutering and a small amount of money to be ser aside when people do not want to pay.

With TNR for ferals, and pet cats kept indoors, songbirds would be safer.

People just have to contact their towns and ask for a TNR program. Animal Control Solutions SOMAs ACO, has no shelter yet services 50 towns and does basically nothing.

the_18th_letter said:

I’ve had a couple of cats. Of the 3 only 1 would stay indoors. I put a bell on the others to give songbirds a fighting chance. Trying to keep a cat indoors that WANTS to be outside is a battle I’ve yet to win. 

Ditto.  I had one that was that way eons ago, ongoing dance at the door, plus expressing himself in other ways too (he'd been on the street as a young un).  Others were a lot more cooperative/laid back, and they stayed in.