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What cats do when we’re not looking

theguardian.com

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Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#71

Post by eatbitseveryday »

notRobot wrote: post #17

If anyone here decides to put a collar (with or without a tracker) on a cat, please remember to use a breakaway collar! These are designed to break off (as opposed to choking the cat) if they get caught on a fence or branch or something. They cost next to nothing - and can save your outdoor cat's life. https://www.petmate.com/the-importance-of-quick-release-cat-...

Necessary for indoor cats? I also don’t really understand why they are wearing a collar when it can break off - info gets lost and you may never find them.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#72

Post by jquast »

gumby wrote: post #62

I can tell you what my cat is doing when I’m not looking: peeing in the bed. We’re trying to figure out what she’s trying to tell us — it’s a deliberate and abnormal signal from an aging cat.* My experience with this cat is quite different from the article’s author’s. She is very sweet and meek and cuddly. But she has free access to the outdoors and until she was about 14 yo it was quite common to wake up to a cat as…

It is common for a cat with urinary tract infection (UTI) to pee outside of the litter box, it may be trying to communicate, "it hurts when I pee", and choosing your bed because it thinks that's the best place to communicate with you https://bluecrossvethospital.com/cat-urinary-tract-infection...

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#73

Post by alphanumeric0 »

berkes wrote: post #2

Are there any god GPS trackers for cats that people would advice? The article mentions nothing about the setup or tech, and I'd love to find out what my cats are up to before they come home with another rabbit or bird (probably sleeping).

I've had a pretty good experience with Pawtrack (https://pawtrack.com/). It's the smallest tracker I've found.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#74

Post by gumby »

jquast wrote: post #72
gumby wrote: post #62

I can tell you what my cat is doing when I’m not looking: peeing in the bed. We’re trying to figure out what she’s trying to tell us — it’s a deliberate and abnormal signal from an aging cat.* My experience with this cat is quite different from the article’s author’s. She is very sweet and meek and cuddly. But she has free access to the outdoors and until she was about 14 yo it was quite common to wake up to a cat as…

It is common for a cat with urinary tract infection (UTI) to pee outside of the litter box, it may be trying to communicate, "it hurts when I pee", and choosing your bed because it thinks that's the best place to communicate with you https://bluecrossvethospital.com/cat-urinary-tract-infection...

Yeah, that’s the most common situation but she tested negative. We had been away and the cat sitter changed the food and litter so we reverted those, but it’s been a couple of weeks and she’s still suffering from something. We just can’t figure out what it is.

At least the good news is it’s deliberate. The plumbing is otherwise operating properly

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#75

Post by mykowebhn »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #67
mykowebhn wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without humans the number of cats in the wild would be vastly lower. Put another way, cat populations are at a level that would not be supported naturally without human intervention. As such, when we let our cats out an inordinate number of birds are "kept in check" as you put it. This natural feedback cycle has been around for millions of years, just not the human element. So to repeat: Please keep your cats inside!

Feral cats outnumber domestic ones 2:1. Do humans affect that? Feral cat populations grow to fill their niche, with or without humans. I don't see how domestic cats account for more than a small fraction of the issue. And again, when bird populations reach equilibrium the cats can't find more. That's independent of cat populations.

Feral cats are domesticated cats that have escaped and are no longer considered domesticated. The point is that if it weren't for humans we wouldn't have so many feral cats.

Also, feral cats tend to congregate close to human populations.

I'm not sure what your point is about equilibriums. Of course equilibria are reached naturally, but with the human factor these equilibria have been distorted beyond any natural capacity. In short, any human-impacted equilibria tends toward the rapid decrease in species populations, often to the point of species extinction.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#76

Post by octokatt »

sebws wrote: post #39
peanut_worm wrote: post #26

Please keep your cats inside. Most ecosystems aren’t supposed to have near-apex predators running around killing everything. Outdoor cats kill over 2 billion birds a year.

Here's what the posted article had to say. > The RSPB says there is “no clear scientific evidence” that cats are causing bird populations to decline, but there is a perception among some British bird-lovers that cats are a menace and should be kept indoors. (In countries where cats are not a native species, such as Australia and New Zealand, they can have a devastating impact on wildlife.) > “I do feel that cats are…

Article in Nature (which is indirectly mentioned) saying cats kill 1.3 to 4.0 billion birds a year:

https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#77

Post by JoeAltmaier »

mykowebhn wrote: post #75
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Feral cats outnumber domestic ones 2:1. Do humans affect that? Feral cat populations grow to fill their niche, with or without humans. I don't see how domestic cats account for more than a small fraction of the issue. And again, when bird populations reach equilibrium the cats can't find more. That's independent of cat populations.

Feral cats are domesticated cats that have escaped and are no longer considered domesticated. The point is that if it weren't for humans we wouldn't have so many feral cats. Also, feral cats tend to congregate close to human populations. I'm not sure what your point is about equilibriums. Of course equilibria are reached naturally, but with the human factor these equilibria have been distorted beyond any natural capa…

Not at all sure that's sound reasoning. What have humans to do with feral cat populations? Sure a few domesticated cats escape every year, but that just temporarily perturbs the feral population which is self-adjusting.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#78

Post by BrS96bVxXBLzf5B »

eatbitseveryday wrote: post #71
notRobot wrote: post #17

If anyone here decides to put a collar (with or without a tracker) on a cat, please remember to use a breakaway collar! These are designed to break off (as opposed to choking the cat) if they get caught on a fence or branch or something. They cost next to nothing - and can save your outdoor cat's life. https://www.petmate.com/the-importance-of-quick-release-cat-...

Necessary for indoor cats? I also don’t really understand why they are wearing a collar when it can break off - info gets lost and you may never find them.

It's a safety mechanism, not an intended outcome. If your cat gets lost ideally you end up with a wandering collared cat. But of the other possibilities, a wandering uncollared cat is preferable to the snagged alternative.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#79

Post by exolymph »

idiotsecant wrote: post #27
rishikeshs wrote: post #6

I have 2 cats in the past, but I still think letting them out is the best way to have them!

Your neighbourhood didn't get a cat. You did. I don't enjoy your cat shitting in my bushes, scratching my car climbing up it, killing birds in my yard, or any of the other million annoying things cats do. You don't have an automatic right to make the entire neighborhood a playground for the pet you decided to have. If I find one in my yard I catch it and turn it into the humane society.

Welcome to living in proximity to other people, lol. The past would have been much worse for you since everyone would have had livestock, not just companion animals.

Re: What cats do when we’re not looking

#80

Post by xkcd-sucks »

berkes wrote: post #2

Are there any god GPS trackers for cats that people would advice? The article mentions nothing about the setup or tech, and I'd love to find out what my cats are up to before they come home with another rabbit or bird (probably sleeping).

I'm prototyping a very small LoRa tracker because I don't want to pay for cell service and commercial lora trackers are too large. However it is more for tracking itself as the cat removes its collar at every opportunity
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