[gud4u]

Anyone in the country area should lock their dogs up really well now as lambs are going out soon. There has been a lot of sheep attacks out my way. One Jrt did a lot of damage and a GSD killed over 10 sheep on a local farmer. I have both breeds and they are locked up tightly so as not to do that, but also to protect them from an angry farmer who would have every right to protect his sheep.

BTW, Cats wouldn't do that..

[homerhop]

Originally Posted by gud4u

BTW, Cats wouldn't do that..

Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis is caused by Toxoplasma Gondii and spreads by a different method within the flock. It is not so much a sheep to sheep disease but requires cats and infected mice to complete the life cycle. Purchased sheep may suffer toxoplasmosis abortion if they have come from a farm where they have never encountered the parasite, but purchased ewes are unlikely to be responsible for any outbreaks within a flock. In general the source of the infection will be cat droppings in either the feed, roughage or pasture. Non pregnant sheep that become infected are generally immune for life but where the infection takes place while the ewes is pregnant it may result in abortion or weak lambs being born.

[gud4u]

Originally Posted by homerhop

Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis is caused by Toxoplasma Gondii and spreads by a different method within the flock. It is not so much a sheep to sheep disease but requires cats and infected mice to complete the life cycle. Purchased sheep may suffer toxoplasmosis abortion if they have come from a farm where they have never encountered the parasite, but purchased ewes are unlikely to be responsible for any outbreaks within a flock. In general the source of the infection will be cat droppings in either the feed, roughage or pasture. Non pregnant sheep that become infected are generally immune for life but where the infection takes place while the ewes is pregnant it may result in abortion or weak lambs being born.

Gross, did not know this....that's what i've learnt today.

I meant cats wouldn't chase the sheep

[doctor evil]

What about a big breed of cat like a Maine Coon? Is there a chance they could go after a lamb.

[tin79]

I think we should also think about roaming pigeons here. Both homing and racing pigeons are free to roam the skys over peoples gardens and could defacate into sand pits or flower beds. I saw on a episode of House that this can potentially cause disease.

Are owners of these animals also iresponsible? I wonder.

[tin79]

Originally Posted by TooManyDogs

Absolutely no pet should be allowed to wander, EVER, for any reason. It doesn't matter if they're dog, cat, horse, bird, rabbit, snake, whatever.

It's not responsible, not social and simply not justifiable.

I meant to quote this post above.

[TooManyDogs]

I'd imagine neighbours of people with racing pigeons would think them irresponsible owners when they spend their days cleaning their cars/sandpits/patios or whatever.

To my mind there just isn't any justification for allowing a pet to roam. People can go on about a cat's nature or wildlife poo in gardens or dogs being more dangerous or whatever but it's absolutly no justification for letting your pet wander.

Pet owners simply shouldn't inflict their choice of pet onto someone else.

[Shanao]

Originally Posted by doctor evil

What about a big breed of cat like a Maine Coon? Is there a chance they could go after a lamb.

How big do you think Maine Coons are?! Not a chance really, not to mention that you wont see many Maine Coons prowling the moors!

[tin79]

Originally Posted by TooManyDogs

I'd imagine neighbours of people with racing pigeons would think them irresponsible owners when they spend their days cleaning their cars/sandpits/patios or whatever.

To my mind there just isn't any justification for allowing a pet to roam. People can go on about a cat's nature or wildlife poo in gardens or dogs being more dangerous or whatever but it's absolutly no justification for letting your pet wander.

Pet owners simply shouldn't inflict their choice of pet onto someone else.

Racing pigeons are housed indoors so they would not be likely to damage neighbours property. But while racing I guess they could overfly gardens.

But what would you consider "inflicting"?

If a pigeon overflys your garden is that inflicting?

If a cat sits on your fence is that?

What about if your dog barks in a garden and wakes someone up, is that?

What if I am afraid of dogs and one on a leash comes close to me, is that inflicting?

Or do you solely have a probelm with wandering. So if my cat comes into your garden it is iresponsible but if my dog barks all night and can be heard through the walls its ok?

Should we only have indoor silent pets?

Where is the line here.

[djrichard]

Im just trying to imagine a Maine Coon attacking a lamb! Thats hilarious.

Cats FTW. Cats use litter trays and dont stink the way some dogs do. I think dogs are great, but I have a cat because they take less looking after and Im too lzay to be bothered to have to take the dog for a walk all the time. Ive taken my cat out on a lead quite a few times, and its learnt to just walk along beside me, but I only bring it out walking through a field, never on pavements because it would be difficult if a dog came anywhere near. The cat would either try and bolt, or probably run up my leg!

Talking about annoying things, my neighbour has two dogs which are kept out in the back garden 24/7. Ive never seen them taken out for a walk. Anytime I step into the back garden they start barking loudly. Its really really annoying, so much so that I dont bother going out there because Im sick of telling them to shutup. I had some friends over one day for a BBQ and they wouldnt stop narking. I could see the neighbour was in over the fence, because their windows were wide open. It took several angry "Fcuking hell you'd think if you owned a dog, you would be able to control it, this is a damn disgrace and Im getting really sick of this!" said in my most pissed off voice for one of them to come out of their house and tell the dogs to be quiet.

Luckily the winter is here and Im never in the back garden, I will be moving in May, so its not a problem worth dealing with now, but if I had to stay here another summer, Id go in and tell them they had better sort it out or I would take action.

Loving those photos of the cat run, great idea, though it might affect tanning in the 3 days of summer you have here in Ireland!

[TooManyDogs]

Originally Posted by tin79

What would you consider "inflicting"?

If a pet is interfering in someone else's life unjustly then I think its 'inflicting'. My neighbours have racing pigeons and it doesn't bother me in the least but it would if I had to clean up excessive amounts of pigeon poo from my car or garden. My dogs nuisance barking in my garden is inflicting my pets, if a cat sits on my wall and stirs up my dogs then that cat owner is inflicting their pet on me, same goes if the cat is in my garden stalking my rabbit. If my rabbit was in someone's veggie patch then I'd be inflicting my pet. There's a world of difference between only having silent indoor pets and having responsibly owned pets. Cats are the one pet where the majority of their owners think its their right because its in their nature to wander. The fact is that no pet animal is being kept in a naturally sized territory, houses/aquariums/hutches are far smaller than the space they would naturally wander but it is unacceptable to let dogs out unaccompanied anymore and people wouldn't consider letting their horses or rabbits wander, cats shouldn't be let either.

There's some fantastic cat owners on boards who have shown how its possible to have cats and not let them wander, I'd love if more people were like them.

30 years ago dogs were left wander because it was 'unnatural ' to keep them confined, I think it will be interesting to see the shift in attitudes to wandering cats over the next 30 years

[adrenalinjunkie]

Originally Posted by tin79

Racing pigeons are housed indoors so they would not be likely to damage neighbours property. But while racing I guess they could overfly gardens.

But what would you consider "inflicting"?

If a pigeon overflys your garden is that inflicting?

It isn't going to be hanging around long enough to even notice that it even exists

Originally Posted by tin79

If a cat sits on your fence is that?

If that's as far as it goes and the dog doesn't mind it being there, that's normally fine, in my case it isn't fine because my stables are on the other side of my fence, it 'could' sit on the front wall if it wanted but it doesn't it wants to come right in and drop half dead animals on my drive that the kids want to 'save/bury' and the dog wants to eat.

Originally Posted by tin79

What about if your dog barks in a garden and wakes someone up, is that?

Depends how long, how frequently and what time it barks.

Originally Posted by tin79

What if I am afraid of dogs and one on a leash comes close to me, is that inflicting?

It is if you tell the person you are uncomfortable with it, and they don't give you your space.

Originally Posted by tin79

Or do you solely have a probelm with wandering. So if my cat comes into your garden it is iresponsible but if my dog barks all night and can be heard through the walls its ok?

Should we only have indoor silent pets?

Where is the line here.

I have 3 horses, they aren't silent or indoors, they cause no problem to anyone, if they are on the road I go back and pick up after them (yes seriously).

I have a dog, a so called 'vocal' breed, she's trained to bark once to make doors open, she 'talks' the rest of the time - to us, the cat, the horses, other dogs - just normal talking volume, she goes mental at 'intruders' that come within the boundaries of her house though - not my problem if your cat is the cause.

I have a cat - it's an indoor cat, it's not silent but you won't hear it unless you are in my house, (in which case you can sod off if you don't like it )

I own 5 pets, I clean up after 8

[Mo60]

In the real world is there any other country in Europe where they have this discussion about cats roaming? Every country I have been to I see cats, that are obviously pets, wandering about.

Regarding the enclosed garden in a previous post, how would it look if every house that had a cat did the same to their garden?

[TooManyDogs]

[Quote=Mo60;77154148]In the real world is there any other country in Europe where they have this discussion about cats roaming? Every country I have been to I see cats, that are obviously pets, wandering about.[/QUOTE ]

I wonder how nuisance cats are dealt with in all those other countries? As vermin?

Regarding the enclosed garden in a previous post, how would it look if every house that had a cat did the same to their garden?

I think it would look fine!

[doctor evil]

Originally Posted by Shanao

How big do you think Maine Coons are?! Not a chance really, not to mention that you wont see many Maine Coons prowling the moors!

Well why not? MC are a large breed of cat that are not dopey. MC are becoming more popular.

Cats in general can be a nuisance to farmers esp if they farm chicks or fish as well as damaging silage bails.