Anyone notice how many cats seem to be going missing recently?

Vegeta

Cole Gorgeous Wolverine wrote: »

Having said all that the Cat, unfortunately, may have met with an accident. The Fox angle is very unlikely.

I think a lot of the problem with the Fox versus Cat thing is that a fox has no problem picking up a dead cat from the roadside and carrying it off. People then see a fox with a dead cat and wonder did they kill it or just carry off a dead one.

Great to see some responsible cat ownership here too. The cat is one of the most damaging creatures to wildlife if left unchecked. They hunt both day and night, breed all year round and often kill for fun.

catzrus

Cats are now starting to come into season, so if you have a outdoor/indoor cat that is not nuetered/spayed, he/she could be off looking to mate.

boomerang

Yup, if only more Irish people were sold on the idea of indoor-only cat ownership, there'd be far less litters of unwanted kittens born each year. ANVIL estimates 180,000 stray, unwanted kittens die each year in Ireland. That's a shocking figure.

It absolutely breaks my heart. I work in a rescue and in just another few weeks we will be inundated with calls about baby kittens needing our help. We will be full to capacity with kittens again until next autumn, and there'll be a long list on the whiteboard in the kitchen of more and more people wanting to get rid of their cat's kittens and we'll have no space to take them.

Meanwhile, because there'll be such a glut of kittens, all our older kittens and adult cats that are seeking homes will be passed over time and time again. The only time of year that we have any real success in rehoming our adult cats is in the off-season (November - February) when there are very, very few small kittens about so people who want a to rehome a cat don't have a choice but to take on an adult.

The suffering that the stray kittens endure is so bloody needless. (If they're not killed on the roads, so many of them come to us badly debilitated with cat flu.) I just wish more Irish people saw the need to spay and neuter but if you're not in the frontline of rescue, it's hard for people to see the big picture.

http://www.anvilireland.ie/fulcrum.html?ep=46

Sage'sMama

I totally agree with boomerang in the factory i work in there are loads of stray cats roaming around and three litters of kittens last year none of which i have seen since last summer don't know if they were moved by the mothers further into the bog though. i rescued one kitten because i could catch it and the local vet re-homed it within two days. If i could catch the other cats i would just so they could be neutered and vaccinated and then re-released. It is such a shame but i think things are gradually starting to change opinion wise in this country on the welfare of our pets. Meanwhile i'll keep feeding the ferals until i finish up in two weeks i'll miss them when i go but i know i'm not the only one in the factory that looks out for them.

GeeNorm

I could well have the answer.
The feral population in my area got out of control. Kittens everywhere getting run over and all of them with obvious eye infections etc, spreading disease amongst local cats.
Anyway, the DSPCA happily provide cat traps and I carted 13 of them up to the depot in the mountains. Some could have been local cats without collars... how can you tell? Any cat, feral or not is basically a wild ball of angry fur when you cage it.
I did this a good while ago but it seemed to be common enough as the DSPCA were well prepared to lend out traps.

I have no interest in judgements. I am simple posting to give you another scenario for why cats go missing.

Shewhomustbe...

I find the fox angle a complete no-go.
http://www.enfo.ie/leaflets/Foxes.htm

I've seven cats, six indoor, though we let our oldest pop in and out, she may go for a little wander in the garden but usually just sits on the window sill.
Anyway..... one evening she was on the window sill when a fox came a little too close to the house for her liking and in a move which surprised the life out of my partner she flew off the sill and launched at him giving him a number of hits to his face and head. He backed off but she was ready to go at him again. He may have fought back but I don't think even if he did he'd kill Sheila.
I absolutely agree that it is irresponsible cat owners that cause the problem/s. We have TWO un-neutered cats that visit us, we know that someone in the village must own them which is the only reason we haven't brought them to a shelter - or got them neutered.

I also have cat harnesses and our cats (the brave ones!) LOVE going for walks in the garden. People NEED to change their attitudes to how they keep their cats and it would certainly be a worthwhile campaign.

Shewhomustbe...

He's got some well trained cats!

Rory123

Shewhomustbe... wrote: »

He's got some well trained cats!

Did you find that picture on a website about the sorts of people anyone would least like to be stuck in a lift with or sit beside on a transatlantic flight?!

sorella

We have a scheme here in Donegal also; humane traps so ferals can be neutered and returned to their environment.

I would never deprive our two of their delight in climbing trees etc. Watching them out there is a joy; they were neutered early on also.

But we live in a very rural area.

They are home bodies; back for food and sleep every day etc

quote=GeeNorm;59086013]I could well have the answer.
The feral population in my area got out of control. Kittens everywhere getting run over and all of them with obvious eye infections etc, spreading disease amongst local cats.
Anyway, the DSPCA happily provide cat traps and I carted 13 of them up to the depot in the mountains. Some could have been local cats without collars... how can you tell? Any cat, feral or not is basically a wild ball of angry fur when you cage it.
I did this a good while ago but it seemed to be common enough as the DSPCA were well prepared to lend out traps.

I have no interest in judgements. I am simple posting to give you another scenario for why cats go missing.[/quote]

Shewhomustbe...

Rory123 wrote: »

Did you find that picture on a website about the sorts of people anyone would least like to be stuck in a lift with or sit beside on a transatlantic flight?!

No, that's my Dad.

luckat

Lauragoesmad wrote: »

Hi Folks,
Everyday since my brothers cat went missing, I have been checking all the lost and found ads on the net. There seems to be a huge amount of cats going missing recently.

A lot of cats always go missing. But if you know how to find a cat, youl can often search successfully.

http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Lost-Cat

(Good tip: leaflet the local schools - kids see things adults don't. And leaflet the local Garda stations and libraries and doctors' surgeries and dole offices - anywhere people gather and gossip.)

But a lot of cats are found; and most cats are found near where they lived.

I minded a friend's cat for a year when she re-emigrated back to America. When she got homesick for Ireland and came home, I gave back her cat, who ran away after a couple of months.

A year later my friend's son spotted the cat - a sweet cat, but as stupid as a cushion - in the derelict house next door to them, and coaxed her back in. She was half-starved and parasite-ridden, but settled in and lived happily with them until she died of old age.

(I'm now minding another of the same friend's cats, as she's moved back to America again. But she's not getting this one back!)

Rory123

Shewhomustbe... wrote: »

No, that's my Dad.

Oops, I'm very sorry.

Shewhomustbe...

(I am joking )

Rory123

OH MY GOD! YOU ABSOLUTE WHOOER!
I couldn't sleep last night because I felt like such a twat!

I heart cats?! For God's sake I'm so gullible.

I believed you because it was an attached pic and not a link. :pac:

Bandana boy

I would wager that more cats are killed and injured by other cats than by Foxes

villaman

I live on the main Portlaoise road out of Mountmellick and in the past two years, we have lost 4 cats right outside our front door. If anyone online lives on that same stretch of road, I am outlining a petition to tackle the problem of speed. If you would like to sign this petition, look out for flyers in the area in the next couple of weeks. We are sick to death of boy racers and hgv's racing through a 50 zone at 100 kph. The local gardai don't give a toss about it and prefer to hide in ditches on the approach to Port Laoise. 99% of the time, they aren't available and it'sjust amatter of time before there is a serious accident.

PinkTulips

ever seen a fight between a cat and a fox?

you'd think the fox would win wouldn't you?

you'd be wrong though

my teeny tiny 3.5lb female chases foxes for fun!

we have foxes in the field behind us that i feed and we have lots of cats, i've seen multiple fights bbetween various differant cats and foxes and the closest a fox ever came to winning was the vixen who managed to get the cat attacking her to back off, no way was she going on the offensive though. a full grown tom i had used to chase the fox all the way round the house and off down the field!

Bluefrog

Been struck by this too since I started the site. Though its still only early days, the stats so far are:

Total Lost & Found Posts:
Dogs: 29
Cats: 26

Of those,
Posted as Lost:
Dogs: 17
Cats: 20

Posted as Found:
Dogs: 12
Cats: 6

I would guess that much fewer cats are posted as found as cats tend to look quite independent and its not unusual to see them out and about on their own whereas dogs alone tend to stick out like sore thumbs.

Will be more useful to look at this after I have a year's data rather than under a months but I thought it was interesting anyway.

In any case, microchipping is good for everyone.