Feel kinda crappy.....had to shoot a cat

[Titaniumcranium]

Well first off let me say this,so people don't think I'm heartless,all the animals I've owned were strays or animals people couldn't keep.And it's been quite a few over the years.

The problem I have with TNR is it doesn't solve the problem.There's still a feral cat population in an environment it's not supposed to be in.That has a negative effect on everything native around it.From the mice and birds the cats prey upon, to the native species that rely on the mice and birds for prey and food to survive.Seems all your links agreed on one thing.There needs to be less of a feral cat population.How is it lessening the population if you're releasing them back into the wild even if they are fixed?There's still a feral population.Still ways for diseases to spread.

Now I'll agree that any cat or kittens that aren't too wild should be given good homes.But spending money on animals that aren't mine especially in times like this just to let them back out seems senseless.All I see it doing is giving you a warm fuzzy feeling that you saved a cat.One that has been domesticated over the years that is no longer a wild animal.Now I'm not talkin about barnyard cats here.I'm talking about all the little kitty cities I see set up behind restaurant dumpsters,where people go and set up feeding stations for all these ferals.It's deplorable.Don't see many rabbit,squirrel or many songbirds at all around these stations.The ones you do see are drawn to the food people leave and become prey to the cats.I call that a negative impact on the environment.

Now I don't want you to consider this a personal attack on you or anyone that shares these views.To each there own.But it's not a way I personally see as a solution to the problem.More like a band aid to slow the tide.

I believe ,Amazon Doc, that you were the one that told me it was wrong to kill animals that were trying to get into my chicken coop a while back.Said the animal population would just rebound and I would just have more of a problem.Well,I had a possum trying to get into my coop terrorizing my girls. I set a trap for said possum,caught him,sent him to the happy possum hunting grounds,and I haven't had a problem since.That was 6 to seven months ago...Problem solved.More come in,guess what happens to them...

Now I'm not going to keep arguing with someone over their views on the Internet.Like I said to each their own.But it's not something I believe in nor something I will support.

 

[agirly4chicks]

unionwirewoman do not feel bad for this. My husband has done the same. You have to do what you have to do and for my husband having me wake him up in the middle of the night because of a cat fight a couple times a week was good enough. I just hope our in-laws (next door neighbor) dog don't eat the cat food anymore or he might find a new home a couple hours away.

Don't feel bad, and great job for helping your mom. I know when I woke to cats screaming I was not able to go back to bed.

 

[Boyd]

Quote:
I'm in the same boat. If a critter goes after my livestock, its dead. Plain and simple. My family works hard for what money we have, and living in the country and having animals is part of the charm. Now somebody mentioned .270 winchester being overkill? Not really. That's actually better than what I use on the farm around here. My basic all around is my 12ga mossberg with buckshot, or else I use my 30-.06 loaded with hollowpoints. Not because it's overkill, but because if I have to pull the trigger, I can make a quick, painless and clean kill of any predator. I hate to do it, but that is one of the things that is also part of living in the country with livestock.

 

[Chicks R Friends NOT Food]

I would've tried to catch it. My kitty was born feral and she's the best cat I've ever had. Takes care of small critter problems too. And not once eyed my chicks (even though I worried because she's a bird eater).

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
I'm in the same boat. If a critter goes after my livestock, its dead. Plain and simple. My family works hard for what money we have, and living in the country and having animals is part of the charm. Now somebody mentioned .270 winchester being overkill? Not really. That's actually better than what I use on the farm around here. My basic all around is my 12ga mossberg with buckshot, or else I use my 30-.06 loaded with hollowpoints. Not because it's overkill, but because if I have to pull the trigger, I can make a quick, painless and clean kill of any predator. I hate to do it, but that is one of the things that is also part of living in the country with livestock.

A good point made. You will certainly do the deed with finality using one of these barnburners on a cat.
I was being a bit the jester with my comments about the .270. People take things so seriously all the time that a little levity is a good thing.
Yet, I stick by my story that something with less carry, blast and recoil than a .30-06 would be better. Choice is yours.

 

[Boyd]

Gotcha, I know its hard to see if others are being serious or not. I know a 30-.06 has a lot of kick, but for me, I grew up shooting them and am used to it. I'd love to go down to a .270 but not sure how accurate I'd be.... I know a gun is a gun is a gun, but I've got 20 years practice in with this one in particular

 

[rooster0209]

TNR works! There are studies that prove it. TNR feral colonies are taken care of by volunteers; fed, watered and checked on for injuries or illnesses. The damage done to nature by feral colonies is minimal compared to what man does. There is a huge difference between feral cats & stray untamed cats.

I have all my farm cats spayed, neutered & vaccinated. Even the neighbors (miles away) have noticed alot less stray toms around. I have 4 females & 2 males and you count two litters a year, with litters of 5-6each..it wouldnt take long to have a barn full.

If a tom is friendly, I get his trust, catch him and neuter him. He comes back here to live a good life.

Intact tom cats lead short lives. The fights they start/endure are horrible. The oldest of my males will still fight a stray male that comes around. The wounds are bad, if I dont catch one...it will get infected. Then I get to hear Barney complain when I clean and dr the wounds. The females get wounds from mating or fights too.

I too had to put down a cat, via gun. It is an awful thing to do. I cried and burried the cat. The cat was mean and causing damage. He was a nice looking black cat (one of my fav's is black cats) but he was very mean, killing guineas & chickens, and attacking my cats. I know what you are going thru. It hurts. I will everyone would neuter & spay their cats so I wouldnt have to go thru that

 

[Davaroo]

I suppose Im just an insensitive cad, so may as well get used to that.

I have a number of cats here at the house... hold on, let me count....
4 adults and a litter of 4, at the moment. I like them and wish no ill on any of them. They are well taken care of and live the life, to be honest. I dont go weak in the knees over them, but yeah, cats are alright with me

But if it came to a mongrel cat, diseased or bent on destruction, well... the choice is a simple one. He's got to go and dispatching him is best.

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." - F. Scott Fitzgerald

 

[bluey]

I look at this as simple math.

The $1 bullet versus hundreds of dollars of vet/care/feeding costs on a wild feral cat.

It's a waste of money that could be going to an entirely better charitable use for people such as women's shelters, food banks, health research, etc... We are in the middle of a recession, I think many folks out there need your help more than a wild cat.

If you already give to these causes, great!...give more!

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
Now there is some sound logic, right there, thoughts which I myself have echoed over the years.

I've always noted some persons' willingness to bankrupt themselves caring for 'innocent' animals, yet hardly take notice when a human down the street is starving, abused, etc.
Why do you suppose that is?

A pretty good point, there, bluey old boy.