Cats: loveable pets or natural born killers. ERADICAT Tonight on SBS 8.30

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My place is a Bermuda Triangle for cats.... If you love your cat keep it the hell off my property.
 
There was this cat that kept coming in our yard, annoying the dogs. I didn't think the dogs would ever be quick enough for it.. Then one day..Poor kitty..nawt
 
Actually, I'm not aware of anything that kills for fun like humans do... The reason cats kill things and bring them into the house is actually a behaviour that has been studied quite closely. They believe that the behaviour they are demonstrating is the same as what a mother would do for her kittens. In other words, your cats are bringing you dinner. Ever wonder why they see fit to bring in a rabbit or a rat (or a bird) and release it still alive into the house? Well they have decided its time for you to learn to hunt.


So why do cameras on wild feral cats show them killing and leaving the prey??
 
Does that make all carnivores who eat omnivores/vegetarians not full carnivores if their prey have consumed vegetable matter?

No, its a little complicated and off topic for the thread but cats are true carnivores whereas dogs are omnivores.
 
Maybe because there is a camera on them and they notice something is wrong? Just a thought. I can't answer that question because I don't know the circumstances. there could be tons of reasons why they would kill it and then leave it. By the way, I'm not saying that I in any way condone people letting there cats out to hunt native animals, and I dislike feral cats as much as the next person. I just don't agree with the way people perceive them as mindless killers who destroy so many native animals for no reason. Like I said before, that seems to be a very human mindset, and I just don't think that they think that way.
 
There was this cat that kept coming in our yard, annoying the dogs. I didn't think the dogs would ever be quick enough for it.. Then one day..Poor kitty..nawt

despite the fact that it could have been someone's beloved pet? How would you feel If your dogs or reptiles got out and someone/something killed them?
 
Last year one of my sisters rabbits got killed by a cat.
We have had cats around for a while but never had them try to hurt the rabbits.
It's neck was oozing with blood, didn't know why it didn't want to eat it.
 
IMO the ONLY GOOD CAT is A DEAD ONE.
Right up there with foxes, rats , mice and rabbits , as vermin , and as bad as foxes.

People who will not keep their cats contained and unable to harm native animals are jerks. Don't expect help from your local council either if you have a murderous or destructive pet cat in the nneighbourhood.
 
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despite the fact that it could have been someone's beloved pet? How would you feel If your dogs or reptiles got out and someone/something killed them?

It would be my fault. Every house where I live has dogs. If it wasn't ours it would probably of been someone elses. Also it was in the trees stalking the rainbow lorikeets and other birds that hang around our house.
 
Well my opinion has already been stated in so many other cat threads and I did make one last year about my cat being a very cat (Pics with her and my reptiles, including a baby beardie).
Anyway my cat is an indoor cat, she has been her life. She has never been allowed to kill nor has she ever killed anything.
I can have my birds and my reptiles out without worry and I can have my fish tanks without lids on. My cat honestly is a extremely good cat.

Now my opinion has changed and I know I am very lucky to having such a good cat. I really see where people come from in terms of hating cats. Especially people in the bird and reptile industry mainly.
The majority of cats that are free to roam will and do kill, you cannot watch them 24/7 and most people that let their cat roams does not watch them barely at all. Why have a "pet" when all it does is come back for a small meal because its eaten half of the wildlife in your backyard/the neighbourhood.

I like cats but they should be kept indoors(or have cat runs/enclosed cat cages etc) and actually be a pet?

Just my opinion. I have seen too many "feral cats" kill things, including magpies and one of my favourite snakes - the RBB. I do not wish an animal any harm but that cat, I certainly could of killed myself and I am not that type of person.
I am a reptile lover 1st. (The RBB was okay, I helped to move it away from the cat and scared the cat away. Luckily I had a very long stick to move the RBB away).

Also I am not excusing dogs at all and people that know would know my parents have two dogs that have killed alot of native prey but that is for a evil dog thread, lol.
 
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i have owned cats in the past they were great but they were also indoor cats on the odd occassion they were allowed out during the day and i'd play with them on the lawn and they would come in wen finished. they never killed anything.

it is also council rules that all cats must be indoors before it gets dark and not let out till moring as they cause car accidents and kill native wildlife, but its a joke and never enforced. i have one cat that lives down the road that comes up every night and walks up and down meowing along my back fence, its litterally teasing my dogs. so the dogs bark and then i have to go chase this cat.

cats and dogs are both introduced born killers and kill wildlife, but there is a big difference. dogs are mostly confined to a yard and the council will catch them if they get out as for cats the council doesn't care. feral dogs are easier to catch than feral cats. feral cats kill more wildlife as they climb trees and dogs can't. but they are both dangerous to our native wildlife.

if you can't contain your cat indoors at night, then don't complain wen it gets run over or someones dog kills it.
 
Cats are not natural born killers. Although they do have a natural prey response the act of killings is learnt, generally from their mothers, however they are intelligent animals and can learn to kill in other ways. It is possible at a young age to expose kittens to various prey items and teach them not to see these as prey, effectively eliminating their prey response. With exposure to a uncontrolled environment cats inevitably learn some degree of hunting, cats that play with mice and appear to torture them are generally the result of a missing link in there learning the killing act.

It is also true that some cats do develop behaviours that include bringing dead and live prey back to there homes. They often also being live prey home and kill it in front of there owners. This is very much a natural behaviour, and it is commonly used to teach kittens the act of killing. To generalise that this is common amongst all cats is very much untrue. It is usually limited to mature female cats and very few male cats display this behaviour, so by simple statistic at least 50% of cats do not display this type of behaviour.

Between 1 and 3 out of 10 domestic cats routinely kill prey. A lot of responsible cats owners are in fact telling the truth when they say 'my cat does not kill bird' etc. The biggest trouble arises when a cat develops a rouge killing nature. These types of cats are responsible for killing large numbers of prey, and while it's impossible to determine their motive, it is generally accepted they do it to satisfy their natural prey drive as they lack other things in there environment to stimulate them, effectively they do it because they are bored.

Some domesticated cats do pose a threat to the environment however the feral cat population is by far the biggest issue. Estimates put feral cat populations at numbers exceeding humans in Australia and they kill massive numbers of our native fauna. The feral cat population is unfortunately continually fed by unwanted pets and a large percentage of pet cats do survive once left to the wild.

In conclusion, I do not believe cats are natural born killers. Like almost all animal related problems in society they are a direct result of poor ownership. Because of there nature, I firmly believe cats have no place in Australia other than confined to there home environment.

Personally, I have been on the blunt end of a few cats that devestated my finch collection. I caught hundreds of cats over the years in my yard and turned them over to rescue centres, the vast majority end up being euthanased. I have also seen first hand the feral problems in the western Australian and south Australian country regions having humanely destroyed thousands. Cat ownership should require registration and mandatory desexing, with any funds raised from registration being used to control feral populations.

Kind regards

Wing_Nut
 
Cats are not natural born killers. Although they do have a natural prey response the act of killings is learnt, generally from their mothers, however they are intelligent animals and can learn to kill in other ways. It is possible at a young age to expose kittens to various prey items and teach them not to see these as prey, effectively eliminating their prey response. With exposure to a uncontrolled environment cats inevitably learn some degree of hunting, cats that play with mice and appear to torture them are generally the result of a missing link in there learning the killing act.

It is also true that some cats do develop behaviours that include bringing dead and live prey back to there homes. They often also being live prey home and kill it in front of there owners. This is very much a natural behaviour, and it is commonly used to teach kittens the act of killing. To generalise that this is common amongst all cats is very much untrue. It is usually limited to mature female cats and very few male cats display this behaviour, so by simple statistic at least 50% of cats do not display this type of behaviour.

Between 1 and 3 out of 10 domestic cats routinely kill prey. A lot of responsible cats owners are in fact telling the truth when they say 'my cat does not kill bird' etc. The biggest trouble arises when a cat develops a rouge killing nature. These types of cats are responsible for killing large numbers of prey, and while it's impossible to determine their motive, it is generally accepted they do it to satisfy their natural prey drive as they lack other things in there environment to stimulate them, effectively they do it because they are bored.

Some domesticated cats do pose a threat to the environment however the feral cat population is by far the biggest issue. Estimates put feral cat populations at numbers exceeding humans in Australia and they kill massive numbers of our native fauna. The feral cat population is unfortunately continually fed by unwanted pets and a large percentage of pet cats do survive once left to the wild.

In conclusion, I do not believe cats are natural born killers. Like almost all animal related problems in society they are a direct result of poor ownership. Because of there nature, I firmly believe cats have no place in Australia other than confined to there home environment.

Personally, I have been on the blunt end of a few cats that devestated my finch collection. I caught hundreds of cats over the years in my yard and turned them over to rescue centres, the vast majority end up being euthanased. I have also seen first hand the feral problems in the western Australian and south Australian country regions having humanely destroyed thousands. Cat ownership should require registration and mandatory desexing, with any funds raised from registration being used to control feral populations.

Kind regards

Wing_Nut

+1 - worded very well and completely agree with you.
 
Cats are a huge problem for Australian fauna they should be killed off no if buts or maybes about it
 
A thai restaurant near where I used to live made a great curry - but for some reason all the local cats kept disappearing.
Then the health department closed them down.
Oh well at least for a while someone found a good use for cats - I miss that curry.
TRUE STORY
Scrub turkeys disappeared as well.
 
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Cats are not natural born killers. Although they do have a natural prey response the act of killings is learnt, generally from their mothers, however they are intelligent animals and can learn to kill in other ways.

But the natural curiosity which could just be playing with, biting, scratching etc isn't taught they have that as kittens from pretty much day one of having their eyes open and that does lead to the deaths of many a reptile,bird etc
Don't get me wrong I agree with almost all of what you're saying.. But the fact is cats are naturally killers, regardless of if they intend to or not. Like you said they don't need their parents to learn how to kill, which would lead me to say that they are indeed natural born killers.
 
The behaviours of kittens that you describe are learnt through play with siblings and from mother cat. Orphan kittens, or hand raised kittens often do not display these traits, and others with varying degrees. The thoughts derived from these observations have led to the conclusions that these behaviours are in fact learnt. That it has been shown that cats can infact be raised to have no killing instinct leads me to my conclusion. A fine line I agree. I do believe strongly that cats impact on the environment is extreme.

Regards

Wing_Nut
 
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