Ah don’t you just love the neighbours?

[sparkindarkness]

A drama that is retreating these past few weeks, but it seems I have been inexcusably giving my ever-so-delicate neighbour the vapours and fainting fits

Comments

[semiotic_pirate]

I would vote for taking the collar off entirely. City birds take the same chances country birds take, predators exist everywhere in nature.

If you do choose to keep the collar, get one of the stretchy ones made especially for cats, which are designed for the situations you are worried about - her getting it caught on something and not being able to get out of it or strangling.

Kitty love to you from our annoying 4 AM alarm clock, Foofus the Goofus.

[gnarlycranium]

Domestic cats can decimate songbird populations and some other animals. Cities are much harder for wildlife to last in to begin with. Granted a lot of that damage is from cats gone feral, but still-- this is not nature.

Although, baby birds fallen from the nest are gonna die anyway.

[semiotic_pirate]

It is true that domestic cats can decimate the populations of songbirds.

However, and sparky can correct me when I'm wrong: It sounds like Mia only goes after the baby birds that fall out or can't fly when they attempt to take off from the nest. So, she's being an opportunist, not actually hunting the birds... (Which is what I'm sure my cat would do if I allowed him to be an outdoor cat because he has shown behavior in play that makes me think he has caught things in midair flight and stuffed them right in his mouth with his paws during the "catch.") Also, it isn't specified if these are songbirds or some other bird that is more adapted to the city environment.

[sparkindarkness]

There are song birds near us, but more starlings than anything that bully my poor blackbirds.

Mia will hunt ANY bird (except blackbirds. There was an incident where she tried to hunt a blackbird and the male blackbird took issue with her and kept diving at her. She won't touch them now), however, her ineptitude and habit of yowling at birds means she's rather unlikely to catch anything else.

[stormcat]

Neighbor needs to deal. If she's so damn worried she can go out and rescue the birds before the cat gets them. And she should be damned glad they're not baby rabbits -- those SCREAM. It's bloodcurdling.

[sparkindarkness]

That's what we were doing for a week, chasing down baby birds to run them to the RSPCA (who rather respectfully told us to leave to to them while giving us "you're nuts" looks.)

That woujld definitely give her the vapors! But I don't think Mia roams far enough for rabbits

[snuck]

I'm with the others... neighbour needs to get over it.

I <3 birds, cats, fish and guinea pigs. Reality is that three of those are food for the fourth. If they can move quick they'll be fine - if they can't then it'll be some other cat if not yours.

You could very sweetly turn it back to her - point out that the collar isn't enough, and ask for her to help work out a solution - and then wash your hands of it :P

[sparkindarkness]

I think I'll take that solution, if she thinks it's a problem then hopefully she can come up with a solution

[seryan]

Suggest she put collars on the birds instead, to freak out the cat, and leave it to her to work out the details. The cat's just doing what it does, and unfortunately for your neighbour, what it does is hunt small things.

[sparkindarkness]

I just love the mental image, that would be classic

[dontkickmycane]

I have to tell you this story, and I swear, it is no word of a lie

[sparkindarkness]

Exactly, a kid can understand the concept of predator and prey, so why can;t a grown woman?

[klgaffney]

that is a GREAT story, and yeah. sounds like the neighbor is just one of the sadly out of touch hyper-sensitive sort.