Letters to the Editor
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My final comment here
"the mice and rats aren't a naturally-occurring population. They live in much greater numbers than would be supported by nature because they eat the grain which falls from the horse troughs."
That's a really good point.
Most of the information I've read about cats' effects on bird populations are more about rural-but-non-farm, suburban, and urban cats, and no one is saying this is a new effect--just that it's one that people didn't really research until fairly recently.
The truth is, many bird populations are declining dangerously--unfortunately not goose, gull, or some other problem species, but many others, including beautiful songbirds such as Scarlet Tanagers, meadowlarks and bobolinks (and farm cats HAVE had a significant impact on them), Piping and Snowy Plovers (and outdoor cats have had a devastating effect on those!) and other beautiful species of historical and cultural as well as ecological importance. There are a whole array of reasons, tied to development, pesticides, habitat destruction, windows, communications towers, etc., etc., etc. We can throw up our hands in despair, ridicule anyone for even caring, or try to look at the contributing factors one by one and see what we can do, and what we're not willing to do.
I see the value in cats, which is why I've taken in several and loved them as genuine family members. But I don't see that an individual cat has more value than an individual bird, and the more we learn about avian intelligence and social systems, the more we learn how they are equal to mammalian intelligence and social systems. Obviously, even based on some of the posts here, cats bring out the worst in humans--one of the cats I took in had clearly been cruelly abused by humans, and some of the posts here show that genuinely sadistic impulses. But the way some cat lovers talk about wild birds seems equally dismissive and borderline sadistic in its own way, and we should remember that we're talking not just about individual deaths but declines of entire species at the hands of a species that is not here naturally but entirely because of us.
It's all sad. And if we can't even discuss this one topic without people attacking each other and without people talking about sadistic acts as if they were funny, how can we possibly solve the problems in the Middle East?
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Barn Cats
I, too, live on a horse farm. Rats managed to migrate to a crawl space and chew through plumbing pipe that cost me a bundle to repair.
The local cat shelter calls me periodically to see if I will take some of their "overage" as barn cats. We inherited one or two that hung out for a while before wandering down the street to another barn as our Jack Russel Terrier drove them off(a stray we inherited. I'd never buy one and will NEVER own another.)
We have two domesticated cats who come and go in the house as well and do a reasonable job with the rodent population.
The Jack Russel still kicks their ass, as she guns down rats, bullfrogs, and has gone after skunks and porcupines with far less positive results.
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An abusive relationship
May I suggest some perspective?
Sure we have a responsibility to the animal companions we choose to bring into our lives. And I guess our responsiblity here is in some ways greater than our responsibility to the people we invite into our lives, because the relationship with a pet is largely one-way. They don't have much choice in it.
Having said that - none of us would counsel a letter writer to stay in a relationship with an unpredictable, aggressive, abusive human companion. We might suggest therapy to try to work on the relationship and change some behaviours, but if these things were not effective, we'd all be yelling at the writer to get out, end the relationship, take care of yourself.
This letter writer entered this "relationship" with all good intentions. But it's not really surprising that a kitten left without mothering and socialization with litter-mates would develop unusual, deep-rooted behavioural problems. Problems that are unlikely fixable at three years of age.
The LW should put her needs and the needs of her current and future family over the needs of this animal, and be comfortable that she did her best, with the best of intentions. And take all that energy she's been using to cope with this cat, and spend it on something positive and worthwhile.
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More perspective
People in abusive relationships can split up and go on living. Euthanizing an animal means taking that animal's life, so it must be a last resort.
Just read an article about a couple with autistic triplets, each one a 4 year-old boy. This is very hard on that couple. Maybe they should just tie up the boys and put them in a bag with a weight and drop them in a pond?
The LW's cat is troubled, yes, but killing the cat is not the answer.
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Regarding non-barn outdoor ranging cats and birds...
Put bells on the cats! End of story.
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or try this
contact your local reiki network and see if someone will do a diagnosis (sometimes for free). or try this woman www.elizabethseverino.com who some people have had good results with.
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Cats predators, and humans
I think the LW will probably have to put the cat down. The unknown question here is how the fiance feels about the cat. I think the human has to be put ahead of the cat (this is coming from a woman whose relatives wanted her to get rid of her dog when the baby came- I still have the dog AND the husband). That cat is a danger to small children and possibly the fiance. Unsocialized cats are dangerous to some and in danger from some things. How much risk you want to accept is a personal thing. I like cats, so I don't want them in unnecessary danger. My husband is allergic, so loose cats pose somewhat of a danger to us.
Coyotes in Massachusetts
http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/dfwcoy.htm
Coyote attack in New Jersey. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18807033/
Coyotes in suburbs are a danger to cats, small dogs, small humans (they can stalk sandboxes, etc), pet rabbits, etc. From the DNR pages I've read, those things are everywhere. I suspect the gators and javelina get them in Louisiana, Texas, Florida, and Mississippi. In those states, gators will snack on them too.
The problem I see is the unsocialized cat attacking someone, or using children's sandboxes as litterboxes. People with BBs are also a danger. If you are in a very rural area, cdevlin and AKASmith, you probably wouldn't have the problem I have with stray cats. Welive near a bike path. WIld cats also occasionally run across the path, leading to bike accidents for those who are clipped in (yes, quail, turkey and deer do the same thing).
I agree a big mean cat could take on a racoon in some circumstances. Maybe even a fox or a woodchuck, too. But how many Garfield-sized psycho-kitties are there in the world?
I saved the psycho-kitty at my friend's house from the visiting kids again. It hissed at me. Some things wil never changed.