I am buying a bell for my cat

I am buying a bell for my cat
...I saw a doc on how outdoor cats are decimating the songbird population in north america...seems that in poorer countries they just shoot the extra cats...or drown them...or just hit them with a stick till dead....here in N.A. we dont do that cause its cruel...people move and leave the cats behind or just stop feeding them till they leave out of necessity ...these cats gather and form feral cat colonies where ever they can..old barns and fields with outbuildings are their fave places..generally in urban settings...and the tree huggers must now feed these colonies of cats so that they wont kill birds for their food...its a huge expensive undertaking not too mention all the huggers it takes to do this.....


.......my cat 'foxglove' is a hunter...i feed him tons of expensive cat food but he still comes in with little animals and birds on a 1 a day basis..way less during winter...the little fucker ''presents'' them to me...usually in the middle of the kitchen floor..his instincts are thousands of years old ..anyway...i am buying a bell for my cat so that the songbirds and shrews in my yard have a fighting chance....I only hope he can still catch the mice that move in with me each December :mickey:....


oh ya...cant keep him inside all the time ...i tried..its impossible cause he is very fast...also...he is 1 of at least 6 outdoor cats on my street and by far the toughest...i should put bells on them all

 

thank you all for your heart felt replies to this serious thread..but..hey..they are pasting stupid cat gifs in the other thread so have at'er....fuckers:mickey:

 

my cat is indoor so I can't relate really...he's afraid of the outdoors.

But I do like the idea of a bell...when I was younger, we had an outdoor cat who used to be the "watch animal" of our yard and house...I saw him beat the shit out of a dog once for coming up the driveway.

 

i am wondering if the bell will drive me nuts while he is in the house...getting one today..that is as long as bells are not 10 dollars..i hate how pet owners get gouged

 

well keep the bell on when he's outside and take it off once he comes in.

Might be a good "security device" so-to-speak when it comes to the strays around, too. You'll know if he's in trouble when you hear it ringing like crazy

 

What an excellent idea , I think I will do the same . And you're absolutely right they are having a negative effect on local small wildlife populations in North America .

There are too many "homeless" cat colonies in N.A. . I don't understand some people . They move away or just let their cat go homeless . Imo it's irresponsible and wrong . I don't think they understand the consequences of their action . It's bad for nature and the cat . Sure in some situations it's unavoidable , however most are just neglect and apathy . Pets are like children , they depend on us . Some cats are marvelous , stealthy hunters , some are not . And there are now just so many it's disrupting the balance of nature in some areas . Ecosystems are fragile and damage to them can be great , by what seems like minute and unimportant changes to an environment .

 

i%2

 

I have 3 huge maple trees that are on my small lot...there is these beautiful white woodpeckers that love waking me up ..its loud and almost sounds like a knock at the door...dont want my cat to get them

this one i dont get?:mickey:

 

Putting a bell on your cat is a great idea, but unfortunatly most cats are pretty smart and it won't take them very long to learn how to hunt without the bell making any noise. I've had a couple of outdoor cats that I belled, and within a day or two their hunting success returned. So what I found to be more sucessful was putting two bells on- not as easy to silence them.......

PAX

 

the university of nebraska did a study, endorsed by the audubon society, that amerikans shoot them as well

hope the bell thing works out

i keep my cats indoors, but montanans generally drive like assholes so it's for their own good

 

2 little bells may work...i am also being told that anything that likes to fight cats will be able to hear foxglove coming and it might get him beat up

 

If you really want your cat to be heard by its prey, you'll have to accept the fact that it will be heard by its predators. I wouldn't be too concerned about that as cats are pretty adaptable. When they become aware of the fact that they can be heard, they will not allow themselves to be in a position where they can be attacked. Most predators hunt by smell and sight- not sound.

PAX

 

I can't even keep flea collars (have to always buy 1 or 2 more - jeez!) on my cats, so I can't imagine having one that would leave a collar on with a bell on it.
But wait...once, about 20 years ago, I did have one that had a collar with the bell...it (the collar) about drove me up the wall and it did NOT stop the German Shepard that wound up sending him on to the other side.

 

Wow Lynn , I'm sorry to hear that . It makes me sad . Usually cats can outrun dogs . Do you think like a previous poster suggested that the bell around the cats neck was responsible for alerting the predator to his presence , allowing the dog to get the jump on him ?

Yeah I can see where the bell would drive me nuts inside too . I would HAVE to take it off when they came in , for my own sanity . And that would be a real pain in the butt to have to do EVERYDAY . However it's doable and worth it .

However now I'm wondering with so many dogs in my neighborhood , am I allowing the cats to become prey , the very thing I'm trying to stop on their part . Wow how ironic .