I’m at a friend’s place and the cat keeps bringing in dead (or half-dead) animals into the house. It’s my understanding that cats think we are big, helpless kittens that don’t know how to hunt. Hence, they think they are doing us a favour.

It seems like a few mice actually escaped and found refuge in some walls in the house, so these “presents” are actually more than just annoying (and smelly if the dead animal ends up behind the couch).

  • PragmaticOne@lemmy.world
    10·
    1 day ago

    Well the information you are being provided with is very wrong.

    Here in the UK they’re still classified as wild animals and many people let them out. They also work on farms and perform vermin deterrence. But they’re mostly pets and it will be a very very rare thing for someone to use a harness.

    I can walk up my street and see one or two sat outside sunning themselves or watching the world pass by and many just want petting. But not usually when I have my four legged boy with me.

    • Nefara@lemmy.world
      6·
      13 hours ago

      Cats outside are an aggressive invasive species in every continent except Africa. I love them but they need to be kept inside, and neutered/spayed. Cats do fine indoors, even ones who have gotten used to going in and out. They may complain but with enrichment and regular play they will get over it. If not, then a catio is a good solution.

      • Brummbaer@pawb.social
        2·
        3 hours ago

        The European wild cat exists. Domestic cats may have come from Africa, but cats have been native in Europe for a long time.

        • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
          2·
          2 hours ago

          I think the problem with domestic cats is not the color of their passport, but the fact they are not subject to pressures limiting predators in the wild.

          They have:

          a) permanent shelter b) constant access to food

          So while others animals are starving and being eaten, the cat just goes out there every day and kills everything it can find, and if it can’t find anything, it goes back and has a full meal, and it does this every day for most of its very long life no matter how much food is available or how cold it gets.

          • Brummbaer@pawb.social
            1·
            2 hours ago

            That’s the reason wildcats are not a problem, they have small stable populations and barely interact with humans and domestic cats.

            “Modern” Wildcats have been in all of Europe for at least 300k years, so they were just another predator species among many others.

    • Guitar@lemmy.world
      24·
      1 day ago

      Actually RSPCA (largest animal welfare charity in the UK) recommends only taking them out on a harness. A working animal on a farm is a little different than just letting your pet roam the streets of your neighborhood. The vast majority of animal and veterinary experts (even in the UK) disagree with you. Just because you see people being irresponsible with their pets doesn’t make it a good idea. There is a ton of research that shows how cats decimate local wildlife. It also shows how it puts your own cat at risk for diseases, larger predators, or even being killed by humans. The information is not wrong just because you have latched onto your own bias.