Grizz said:
Shooting them is unpopular but cats are insanely destructive to the native wildlife that it's very much a viable option.
They also carry rabies. Which is both miserable and expensive to treat.
I don't tolerate feral cats around my house or business property. Shooting them is plenty humane.
The thing is that you can't shoot the ones you can't see. I don't know about feral cats, but coyotes are very good at keeping out of sight in an urban area. You can pick off one or two but there may be 10 more you don't see.
Sv, I'd shoot them and not tell anyone, honestly.
New Zealand has been trying to kill all the Feral cats and other predators , trying to save the native birds etc
you can Google what they are doing ,
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/pests-and-threats/animal-pests/feral-cats/
My opinion: cats make great pets, but should be kept indoors.
Feral cats are destructive to the environment, and spread disease. My biggest concern in that regard is toxoplasmosis which can only reproduce in cats.
There is a growing body of evidence that toxoplasmosis may be a significant cause of schizophrenia in humans.
I am not convinced of the actual effectiveness of TNR programs, but I will concede that I don't keep up with the latest research papers on the subject.
Anecdotal evidence abounds on this entire subject, and it's incredibly emotionally charged... it's a real minefield for a veterinarian.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Cat Scratch Fever?
Snowdoggie said:In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Cat Scratch Fever?
Great song, hasn't aged well though. And imo, Nugent's a nutcase.
Cat scratch disease, or bartonellosis is spread by the cat flea. Flea infested cats can then spread it to humans.
When I was driving bus for the OFA and took people grocery shopping, I had a nice lady who had a feral cat problem. I told her to stop feeding them and they will move on. She said that was cruel and couldn't do that. I just shrugged.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:Snowdoggie said:In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Cat Scratch Fever?
Great song, hasn't aged well though. And imo, Nugent's a nutcase.
Cat scratch disease, or bartonellosis is spread by the cat flea. Flea infested cats can then spread it to humans.
So there really is such a thing.
Snowdoggie said:Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:Snowdoggie said:In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Cat Scratch Fever?
Great song, hasn't aged well though. And imo, Nugent's a nutcase.
Cat scratch disease, or bartonellosis is spread by the cat flea. Flea infested cats can then spread it to humans.
So there really is such a thing.
Yes, it's not just a song about wanting to schtup the underage girl next door.
Schtup??
berkeley. I like that.
In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
You're wrong about the Nuge. He's a killer guitarist and I'd like to see him run for elected office.
Give a cat to a coyote and it will eat for a day.
Teach a coyote that the back alley is filled with cats, and it will eat for a lifetime.
In reply to SVreX (Forum Supporter) :
If they were people there would be just as divided a group. Some would say too many cats breed poverty and diseases. While others would insist on doing everything possible to save every cat.
Lack of food and disease are a way to control the cat population. Add natural predictors and there will be a balance.
Others think every creature deserves our best efforts.
Both sides have valid view points.
Personally I'd be in favor of trapping and relocating to places where there are an over abundance of mice and rats
schtup Haven't heard or read that word in probably 40+ years!!! Good word choice!
Pete. (l33t FS) said:Snowdoggie said:Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:Snowdoggie said:In reply to Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) :
Cat Scratch Fever?
Great song, hasn't aged well though. And imo, Nugent's a nutcase.
Cat scratch disease, or bartonellosis is spread by the cat flea. Flea infested cats can then spread it to humans.
So there really is such a thing.
Yes, it's not just a song about wanting to schtup the underage girl next door.
So it's about getting scratched by a cat, contracting bartonellosis, then schtupping the girl next door.
Sounds like one heck of a public health crisis to me. Better call the CDC on this one. 
Appleseed said:Give a cat to a coyote and it will eat for a day.
Teach a coyote that the back alley is filled with cats, and it will eat for a lifetime.
Coyotes also eat mice and rats, and whatever they find in garbage cans, and whatever dogs also eat.
They will never run out of food.
In reply to Snowdoggie :
Dogs are freaking lazy(atleast ours are). We have 3, saw a mouse in the house, they didn't bother with it. Our worthless cat, he killed it and presented it to me in less than an hour.
In reply to z31maniac :
One of my huskies caught a few rats in the backyard. He caught one and paraded it around in front of the other dogs until a chase started. The rat got torn in half when another husky got a piece of it. My Aussie has killed several and brought them inside to present to Mrs. Snowdoggie. Let's just say she did not react well.
Of course Aussies are working dogs and Siberian Huskies are just stark raving crazy.
In reply to z31maniac :
Go to YouTube and search "Ratting with Terriers."
Those high strung little bastards are like tiny Velociraptors.
z31maniac said:In reply to Snowdoggie :
Dogs are freaking lazy(atleast ours are). We have 3, saw a mouse in the house, they didn't bother with it. Our worthless cat, he killed it and presented it to me in less than an hour.
Dont feed any of them for about 3 days and you will see nature in the raw.
My pomeranians are the reason my yard has no squirrels. Came out one day to them actively trying to pull a groundhog through chain link fencing. Pretty sure the entire spitz family is batE36 M3 insane, not just huskies.
Floating Doc (Forum Supporter) said:Anecdotal evidence abounds on this entire subject, and it's incredibly emotionally charged... it's a real minefield for a veterinarian.
I had a (found to be) rabid feral cat attack my then 2 year old last year and bite my wife breaking the skin in my front yard. When she shook it off my dog grabbed it and somehow didn't kill it.
My vet told me that if I could find the cat to bring it in for testing.
So I asked her what the county and animal control would say if it showed up with an extra hole in it.
She kinda shrugged her shoulders and said it happens more often than I would think.
Since then every cat see on my property catches a case of airborne lead poisoning.
I'm not dealing with that E36 M3 again and I rather like the large assortment of birds we have on our patch after the cats were disappeared.
I'm not sure what the humane answer is, but feral cats are a big problem. They are a non-native species and can be devastating to wildlife populations. The way we've bred cats for domestication is that we've more or less left the kill instinct in them, but not the eat-what-you-kill instinct. A tiger plays with its catch and then eats it. Most domestic cats just kill stuff to play with it.
Just like domestic dogs, we have artificially created them. It's not like they are a non-native species in some areas, they are a non-native species to earth. Nature didn't select them, we did.
I think the most humane thing to do would be to trap them all and somehow go through the medical/rehabilitation process an adopt them to homes that keep them inside. But that costs money and no one (least of all a shelter) wants to go to all that trouble and expense only to put a jerk-tastic half-wild cat in someone's home. Some of them might be great pets, some of them might destroy the couch and shred the face off your infant.
Here is a (somewhat sensationalized) but fact-filled article about it
Snowdoggie said:
Siberian Huskies are just stark raving crazy.
Truth
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