Christchurch Treehouse of Awesome-Where everyone knows your name

[Codex]

Best repellent to stop cats scratching furniture? Got new couches coming when we move and would prefer no destruction o-o

[trololololo]

try a bear

[Emrico1]

flamethrower

[Bounty Hunter]

Yay, wrote a program that finds the sum of the products of all the double primes less than 10,000!

[Aloysius]

Yay.

[Retardobot]

Best repellent to stop cats scratching furniture? Got new couches coming when we move and would prefer no destruction o-o

Give them something to scratch. Have you got a purpose made scratching post? We built one with a few logs and wrapped rope around it. Keeps the cat off pretty much everything. However our couch is leather and that doesn't really appeal to a cat who wants to sharpen his claws anyway.

[Growler]

Water pistols. Best cat deterent!

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

Water pistols. Best cat deterent!

This. Cats don't like water, they're allergic to it.

If they get to much water on them, they explode.

[Tandoori]

And yet, Zarkov enjoys kayaking.

A cat that lives on the edge.

[Retardobot]

Water pistols. Best cat deterent!

Not all the time.

Our cat has learnt what spray bottles look like. The instant we reach for one he shuts up, and when he sees we're not paying it any attention he does something worth of a spray.

Fucks me off no-end.

[Tandoori]

At the expense of ruffling the feathers of cat-owners, I would fully support moves to phase-out domestic cat ownership (generationally) in New Zealand.

Kill a cat, save ten birds.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/7470900/Stewart-Island-moggies-may-get-marching-orders

Pretty much this, on a national basis.

There's such lax regulation of domestic cat ownership in this country, but even with microchips and strict management in place by the owners - cats have a natural propensity to prey. I don't know if you can actually mitigate that in an effective way* - apart from removing them entirely.  

From a conservation standpoint, it seems arrogant and bizarre that we would allow the continued breeding and proliferation of one the major threats to our unique native wildlife. Cats serve no industrial purpose, and are unnecessary. Their utility is derived from being a pleasure to own, and a creature comfort. I don't think it's implausible that we could find a suitable replacement.

Current efforts to mute the negative effects of feral cats, stoats, possums are, in part, negated by the continued proliferation of domestic cats - who, due to irresponsible owners, often cause significant damage to endemic fauna. There's not much point in trying to eliminate all the feral cats, when people's negligence means a continued supply of replacement bird-hunters exists.

*By-laws or even legislation could make it mandatory to ensure cats are kept on the property of the owner at all times, but it would require a fair bit of administrative costs + enforcement to be effective. I spose you could try to offset this by having extremely punitive fines.

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

But they do that thing when they roll on thier backs and look so cute.

[Tandoori]

They do, but I also like the idea of having a sustainable population of Kiwi, Kakapo etc.

Cats have the luxury of unhindered existence across many countries. Our native birds and lizards, endemic and endangered, do not.

[Retardobot]

New Zealand, and Palmerston North in specifics, have one of the highest numbers of cat ownership in a developed country. We're full of crazy cat ladies.

I would also like to see the number of cats aimlessly wondering the streets drop.

[Codex]

My cats don't even hunt birds, far too lazy lol

[Tandoori]

My cats don't even hunt birds, far too lazy lol

This would be a common response.

The issue is that cats aren't monitored very well, and the majority of owners allow their cats to stray from their property.

Cats aren't required to be kept on a leash, and the culture of 'lazy' ownership ensures plenty have access to the wide-world; and thus wildlife. They are instinctive hunters, and all the Whiskas in the world won't stop that. If cats are allowed to roam free, they will inevitably hunt.

[Codex]

You severely underestimate the laziness of my cats

[Tandoori]

My comments were made in reference to the aggregate, not your cats specifically.

I'm sure your ability to judge the docility of your cats is much better than mine.

[Growler]

I bet my cat is lazier than yours.

A crippled bird could land at its feet and drag itself away and climb a tree using only its beak and my cat would still be 'meh... it didnt fall in my mouth, zero fucks'

[Emrico1]

I love it how if you put a bell on a cat, it learns how to hunt without making it ring.
The last thing the birds hear is the dinner bell.

[Apostrophe Spacemonkey]

How do I stop cats straying from my property? I'd have to have some kind of really high electricfied barb wire fence.

 
Or a collar, that explodes if it's moved more then 100 meters from my house.

[Retardobot]

I like mocking my cat.

When it meows for food while sitting on its kitty tower, I'll walk passed and flip it the bird while saying "fuck you, cat".

Or I'll walk over to the cat biscuit box and pretend to fill its bowl only to drop the bowl and scream "NUP".

Fucker does nothing all day but sit on my bed, lick itself, spread its fur and filth all over the house and walk around the property. Lazy shit.

At least my dogs offer me companionship and do their best to please me (and in turn I feed them and take them on walks). The cat is an embodiment of self-righteousness.

[Emrico1]

Feed them until they can't move



*not really

[AvatarFACE]

my cats are quite cool, we used to have a few empty sections across the road and one of them caught the baby wild rabbits and ripped their heads off and left them in the hallway as presents(*how nice*), but birds, they can't catch a bird even if it landed on them. The larger rabbits would give the hunter cat a scratched face, the other cat is the lazy fatter one which just sleeps and is a great backup alarm clock, if I sleep in over 10 mins past my alarm he will meow me awake, but not in the weekends! they are both fixed and we have no native animals near us so they are no danger to kiwis etc.. its the bloody unfixed and abandoned cats that breed and then the litter can be left to go wild and cause problems. should be law to have all cats fixed unless they are breeding cats or something, I can see that helping a bit if its enforced, along with a culling of feral cats. I would support the stewart island thing tho, as it is an isolated island with a small population, would be interesting to see what the result would be.
my ramble.

[Retardobot]

I just fucking hate cats.

I mean, look at that fat shit.

What good is it?