Camping cats

[Doggievet]

While camping at the Rockwood municipal park in Ontario recently, I was surprised to see several campers with cats. Seems the campers were there for the summer and brought their cats with them. One couple had two beautiful white cats, which roamed freely around their camper, and another couple had a striped tiger cat that also ventured outside occasionally. The park in Rockwood is clean and has a new section with water, electricity, and sewer. There is a nice lake for swimming and trails for walking. It's a nice place to visit.
Annie K. and Sparky the long haired chihuahua
03 Journey DL 36LD
04 Saturn L300 W
Blue Ox and Brake Buddy

[Doggievet]

While camping at the Rockwood municipal park in Ontario recently, I was surprised to see several campers with cats. Seems the campers were there for the summer and brought their cats with them. One couple had two beautiful white cats, which roamed freely around their camper, and another couple had a striped tiger cat that also ventured outside occasionally. The park in Rockwood is clean and has a new section with water, electricity, and sewer. There is a nice lake for swimming and trails for walking. It's a nice place to visit.
Annie K. and Sparky the long haired chihuahua
03 Journey DL 36LD
04 Saturn L300 W
Blue Ox and Brake Buddy

[ArtB]

Camping for about 50 years I have only seen 2 instances of cats roaming freely. I was amazed that they would come when called.

Here's another cat tale.

http://www.glumbert.com/media/cattoilet.html

[diandtom]

We have a camping cat but she doesn't go outside.We have seen right many campers with cats but only one that went outside. He'd go out at night,make his rounds then go back in when called. Lol Cute video,but I better not let my cat see it,she is into enough mischief as it is!
Dianne

[Jayco1]

Feral Cats S.O.S.

Judd Cooney
5/26/2006

Cats, both domestic and feral, are the number one killers of wildlife in the United States and worldwide.

"So Many Cats, So Few Recipes" "” that's where Wisconsinite Mark Smith made his mistake when he attempted to get Wisconsin lawmakers to list feral housecats as an unprotected species, shoot able year round. Instead, he should have petitioned to have them declared game animals with daily bag limits and liberal season dates, then tried to convince people they were good to eat. He'd have had a better chance that way, than by trying to convince weak kneed politicians who rule by emotion and a lack of common sense, that the innocent looking tabby cats were raising havoc with the state's wildlife populations.

Cats are the number one killers of wildlife in the United States and worldwide, a fact proven by numerous scientific studies in cat infested countries everywhere. Feral cats are cats gone wild or born wild, while free roaming cats (a feel good term for cats on the hunt, looking for something to kill), live in a house or farm building, but are free to roam at will.

Their population in the U.S. is upwards of 60 MILLION domestic cats and another 60 MILLION feral cats. A single female cat could add 420,000 cats to the population over a seven-year period if there were no limiting factors. The average number of kittens produced by a female cat per year is 15.

Predation by cats in not a new phenomenon. One astute scientist in Australia in 1863, (142 years ago), considered cats an "unmitigated curse and terrible scourge." Since then cats have decimated bird and small mammal populations in that country. On some of the surrounding islands, cats have extincterized several species of birds and mammals.

All cats, domestic and feral, have the instinct and means to be efficient, deadly killers whether they live in a major city or farm country. Cats are NOT a natural part of the ecosystem, and they compete with and affect native prey species and predators alike.

Study Numbers Boggle The Mind
A five-year study of Wisconsin's 2 million cats showed they might be killing as many as 219 million birds per year. In parts of rural Wisconsin, cat density is up to 114 cats per square mile. This is more than the combination of all mid-sized predators such as fox, coons, mink, weasels and possums combined. This is not only true in Wisconsin, but many other states as well. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the impact free roaming cats have on other predatory animals and birds.

A single rural Wisconsin cat monitored in the study killed 1,690 animals and birds in 18 months. In Great Britain, where cats are overrunning the country, it is estimated that cats kill 75 million birds and 135 million animals per year!

Naturally, cat lovers (30% of the households in America "own" cats) take adamant exception to these studies, but as of yet haven't come up with any data to prove that cats aren't a serious predator on America's wildlife. If you or I went out and killed a small portion of the protected birds and animals a single cat kills each year, we'd get fined and lose our hunting privileges. A cat owner whose precious little *****cat kills wantonly for the fun of it doesn't get a slap on the wrist, and gets irate as **** when anyone insinuates their cat is a hunter and killer by nature. Go figure.

TNR or FTB?
Under certain conditions, cats form colonies, usually around dumps, factories, housing developments and other protected areas near a food supply. According to some researchers, simply killing cats in these colonies leaves a "vacuum" quickly filled by other cats. A practice tried in a few areas is to trap, neuter, and release (TNR), the cats back into the colony where eventually it's hoped the colony will die of old age. This theory fails to take into account that new, un-neutered cats will be joining the colony at will.

In Dane county Wisconsin, 2,045 feral cats were TNRed at a cost of $62,000 provided by a Cat-Lover grant. This raised the ire of many locals who knew it was a total waste of money to let the cats go back to their killing fields. Neutered or not, they still kill to eat.

There's no way TNR would help in rural areas where feral and free roaming cats are the major problem. As far as I'm concerned, the most effective, cheapest and surest way to neuter a feral or free roaming cat is with a fast traveling bullet (the never-fail FTB method).

Cat Myths and Mumbo Jumbo
Myth 1.) Feral cats are worse predators than free roaming or domestic cats.

Wrong! Feeding doesn't suppress the cat's instinct to hunt and kill in the slightest. In one study, six domestic cats were given their favorite cat food, and while they were eating, a mouse was released nearby. All six cats stopped eating, killed the mouse and went back to eating.

A feral cat hunts, makes a kill, eats the kill and then rests up for the next hunt, while a domestic cat hunts, kills, leaves the kill and continues hunting.

Myth 2.) Belling a cat solves the problem.

Studies have shown that belled cats are just as deadly as un-belled cats. Because of the cats' sneaky stalking, by the time its victim hears the tiny bell, it's already too late to escape.

Myth 3.) Shooting feral cats and free roaming cats does not work.

Hogwash! When I was growing up in the farm country of Minnesota, there was a farmer with a half-section of Soil Bank (similar to today's CRP land), and a shelterbelt loaded with pheasants, rabbits, squirrels and a host of non-game birds. They were abundant because he was adamant about shooting or trapping every cat in the area. Another farmer had a similar piece of Soil Bank and shelterbelt but resided half a mile from the local dump with its colony of feral cats. Consequently, his farmstead was overrun with cats. He didn't hunt nor allow hunting, but his farm was still an ecological wasteland without a pheasant, rabbit, squirrel or songbird to be found, because of the killer cats.

Cats are not a natural part of the environment and have no business outside the house or out of the farmyard. Killing a single native bird or animal in my estimation is ample reason to run up the S.O.S. flag on them, which in the case of feral or critter-hunting cats, means shoot on Sight.

[diandtom]

Sorry-but i have to ask Jayco1-what does this have to do with camping cats?

[Stanbnv]

If someone shoots one of my cats, he is going to be one sorry S. O. B. Too bad you don't like cats, or cat owners from the tone of your post.

[lwmuddy]

"Cats are the number one killers of wildlife in the United States..."

This Jayco1 seems to have a real problem. The number 1 killer of wildlife is ANY animal in the wild. Any animal that is not cared for and fed by a person.

MAN is one of the big killers of wildlife too. Should we shoot him on sight as well.

I have talked with people who almost physcopathically against cats and want to kill every one they see. They have a problem which may have started in early childhood.

Cat's don't need us, we need them, and in a way keep them captive for our own joy and comfort. In a way it is hard for me to keep my Red Cat inside when he feels those natural urges to go out into the world and roam as his creator intended.

I don't like animals that want to have ME as a meal though.

Man has the same primal urges to kill, but has changed his nature somewhat because of laws and teaching.

My red Cat has no front claws so he could only try to run away, so he stays inside. Once and awhile he makes a leap for freedon and reluctantly allows himself to be caught and carried back inside while squrming and complaining.

On more than one occasion we have left a park and a short while later ask each other, did you see Red in his usual spot? We stop in a panic, search every corner and after finding him we take off again.
He of course changes his hiding spot each time just to get a laugh. Yes, Red laughs. I've herd him.

Maybe we should hunt Jacos. are they good to eat?

[mamaloya]

The numbers in that study seem quite suspect. The one cat followed would have had to kill at least 3 animals every day for 18 months to rack up that amount. I know some deer hunters who can't seem to bag three deer in an entire season and they have been doing it for years and have all the fancy smancy gear.

Also, a poplation of 2 million cats killed 219 million birds in one year? That would mean that each cat killed over 100 birds per year. Have they checked out the rodent population. I think it would be much easier for a cat to kill a mouse or rat than a bird. Do they have a prob with cats killing the carrier of the plague?

Where I lived before, we had tons of "free roaming" cats. Ours stayed inside most of the time though. Some of the cats were quite large as a matter of fact. We still had a giant sized racoon, lots of rodents and more critters roaming around than I could keep up with. We even saw an occasional gator. We also had a rat or something in our church that we could not get rid of and there were tons of cats around. Oh, and a neighbor had a couple of ducks and someone else had chickens that ran around free. Not a one showed up dead. Our dog caught something and died, but a cat did not kill her.

Funny how these "scientific" studies can prove anything they want to. How about we start a study to prove scientifictly that irv2 forum members are the most intelligent people on the planet? How do you that would go over? We are generally a pretty smart group.

Oh, speaking of cats, did you hear about that kid on trial for "meowing" at his 68yo neighbor lady? She called the cops on their cat and they had to get rid of it, so now he has meowed at her a coupl of times as "revenge". She filed charges against him for harassment.

As for camping cats. We don't have any cats currently, but hope to get one next month. Have yet to have a cat willing to travel by car. Any tips on how to get a cat to be still in a car?

[Lorna]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by mamaloya:
...As for camping cats. We don't have any cats currently, but hope to get one next month. Have yet to have a cat willing to travel by car. Any tips on how to get a cat to be still in a car?... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

We take our PITA cat camping. She is "leash trained" which means she wears a harness (doggie type since she slips the cat type too easily) and I pretty much follow her where she wants to go (within reason). She likes to explore early in the AM before everyone is up and moving around.

It took several 5 hr trips back and forth between here (Franklin NC) and home (Whitwell TN at the time) before Pita got the hang of traveling. I gave her a baby dose of Dramamine (Vet rec) to combat the motion sickness. Now she travels just fine. Also I keep her in a carry case (a soft sided one). We tried letting her roam in the car but between Pita wanting to sit on my lap and drive (she weighs 17 lbs) and fussing with the dog over "space invasions" it was just way too distracting (of course if the cat gets to sit in my lap then the dog --60 lbs-- gets to sit in my lap!). She was much happier and way safer in the travel case. One or two trips a year is not often enough for a cat to get used to traveling. We would make the trip to NC (and a return trip 4 or 5 days later) at least once a month and usually twice a month. She was always sick while on our home road (we lived on a very curvy road). It was so predictable that I would line the floor of her carry case with an old towel and we would stop to remove the soiled towel before heading down the mountain (the towel was tossed into a plastic bag and tied to the hitchhaul (which was always loaded).

BTW, our cat LOVES to camp. Both her and our dog were p-o'ed becasue we left them a few weeks ago when we when to S GA to work (I was not going to haul them down for 2 weeks in terrible heat). Just make sure they are tagged (might want to add a microchip to their regualr ID tag) with your contact numbers (both cell and a land line person). We also have our e-mail addy on both pets tags. Need shots (make sure you get the feline lukemia too). Bear in mind that there are not only lots of pets traveling in campground but the "local" population is often there as well. Keep all shots up to date and paperwork handy (Many parks require proof of rabies... that's the dated paperwork).

[Lynnvt]

Shooting feral cats can be useless unless you manage to completely dessimate the population. If their colony is decreased they will breed more often and have larger litters in order to keep the colony at the right numbers.
Clearly some think that the cat's hunting ability is useful work, hence that is why farmers have barn cats.

[Doris]

Although the cat foundation I work with, (Robin's Nest) would rather put all cats with homes, we realize ferals (and I've only worked with a couple) just often need be let out in the wild. We do trap them, mark them, spay or nueter them, and put them back (their ears get clipped, just a tad, since it's near impossible to tell if one has been spayed just by looking at their tummy). If we could just convince those farmers, (some of the farmers take our ferals) and others who let their cats out, to spay (and we offer a very inexpensive price to do so), we would be happy campers. Shooting cats is not the answer..spay and nuetering is. Our goal is to get people to not litter! I have three cute babies right now I'm fostering, because someone assumed that her female cat would be safe, since the only other cats in her house were the female cats sons. Guess she thought they would ask her for ID before they did the deed.(Do people really think this way??). If these had not been nuetered and spayed, it would have just continued. I talked her into having her female spayed too..so her two litters a year will now stop.

[Terry McGee]

We have been on the road fulltime now for going on 6 years. Our cat has been with us all this time. We have a carrier that she curles up in and sleeps while we drive. It is held on the coach with seat belts. Nice and safe. About the first week on the road she was nervious. But not any longer.

[Jayco1]

A dog the cat

A dog observes a person who brings him food, pets him, plays with him and gives him treats.

The dog thinks "Wow! This guy must be God!"

A cat observes a person who brings him food, pets him, plays with him and gives him treats.

The cat thinks "Wow! I must be God!"


Did you know why Dog is God spelled backward?

It's because God wanted ONE creature to mirror his love for us, so he gave them a name that mirrored his - Dog