The discussion revolves around raising a kitten named Sprinkles, focusing on her behavior, training methods, and the challenges faced by a new pet owner. Participants explore various aspects of kitten behavior, including play aggression, stimulation needs, and the impact of early separation from her mother.
Participants express a range of opinions on Sprinkles' behavior and training methods, with no clear consensus on the best approach. Some agree on the need to monitor her aggression, while others emphasize the importance of play and stimulation.
There are unresolved concerns regarding Sprinkles' neck injuries and their impact on her behavior and training. Participants also highlight the complexity of kitten behavior and the challenges of socializing a young animal.
New pet owners, particularly those with kittens, as well as individuals interested in animal behavior and training techniques.
No one seems to be doing that though, see above.DaveC426913 said:
Can we have some? We currently have 12 million cats killing 270 wild animals per year.Averagesupernova said:
You really did miss the point of my post. What do you suppose the coyotes, etc will eat when the cats are gone? Right now the cats survive on the rodents. Eagles and hawks do too, as well as a cat now and then. Coyotes and fox mostly survive on rabbits, gophers, etc and now and then a cat. With the cats gone we can expect the rodent population to explode which will draw the fox and coyotes in closer since rodents (not all of them) reside closer to buildings. I don't need nor want those critters up close to where I reside.pinball1970 said:
I did not. I made a reference to domestic cats killing birds and small mammals, they also kill reptiles and fish in the UK. They are not particularly efficient at killing rats and when a problem arises with rats and other rodents in premises including factories, warehousing and farms we do not go out and buy a cat to solve the problem. That is not the efficient or humane way to do it.Averagesupernova said:
As I often say, you do you and I'll do me. Maybe that's not a familiar thing across the pond. I can tell you this much: Our cats generally have no problem with rats. And I fail to see the concern of a humane way to deal with rats or mice. The preferred method (not mine) to deal with mice in the US seems to be sticky traps. I can't think of a less humane way to take care of mice but I don't really care. It's just an observation. I question the validity of the 2 billion birds per year. A quick Google tells me 3.12 million square miles on the Continental US. That amounts 1 kill per acre per year. Google also tells me there are between 75 and 90 million cats in the US. That's over 23,000 birds per cat per year. Even if the numbers are off 10:1 that means each cat kill 2300 birds per year. 6 birds per day per cat. Sorry, not buying it.pinball1970 said:
It's kind of similar as how cats are with rats. Happens, but not too often - the disparity is not big enough, and an adult cat can do some really ugly work on the front parts of a fox, so an experienced fox will rather think twice...Averagesupernova said:
These issues are lot more complicated than just those numbers. If you have ten thousand small birds then around fifty thousand of them (!) needs to die yearly to maintain a stable population. And the only thing happens when there is not enough dying is that some plague or famine will take the excess a bit later (happens regularly with tits, for example - feeding and population increase made the 10+ yearly recurring avian pox kind of ever-present here...)pinball1970 said:
Agreed, except the rat part. I've seen a cat take rats out quite easily. That's not to say half grown cats will not exercise caution. Full grown cats in my experience have no trouble.Rive said:
Some cats has it (the genetics part of hunting dangerous or bigger prey) in them (consequently sometimes half the street has it in them...), but in general hunt of this kind does not happens too frequently.Averagesupernova said:
I'll agree there is a huge difference in cats when it comes to their ability to survive. I guess nature has probably selected out the poor ones in my case.Rive said:
It is familiar but I do not see the relevance here.Averagesupernova said:
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380?WT.mc_id=FBK_NCOMMS#abstractAveragesupernova said:
Not the advice given here,Rive said:
We agree there, one thing cats can do well, is keep populations down.Rive said:
I have posted a few studies to @Rive and @Averagesupernova, have a look at those too.symbolipoint said:
Not an article about the effectiveness of bell collars.pinball1970 said:
Species in different environments brings different impact and depending on the situation may count as invasive. Yep.pinball1970 said:
UK will do?pinball1970 said:
This article mentions the points you raised and possible solutions.Rive said:
A bit worse than that, at least in the present context: the investigation was based on only two week long periods.pinball1970 said:
What is that 'scienceinsights' thing, actually?pinball1970 said:
This is more comprehensive.Rive said:
First time seeing it, thought it was relevant and the points were not crazy. Possibly ideas taken from published papers.Rive said:
pinball1970 said:
"I actually detest cats because..." sure makes it sound like it's the cats taking the brunt of your ire...Every single point I have posted I have put a scientific study and a few articles to go with it.DaveC426913 said:
She did escape once. We found her within 30 seconds, six feet from the door, entranced by a pile of the dog's poop.pinball1970 said:
No upset. Just friendly banter. Just bustin' yer b*lls.pinball1970 said:
