Am i too caring?

[Moopmoop]

One of my dogs killed a young bird in the garden this morning, I saw it happen and couldn't get there in time to prevent it. I watched the bird take it's last breaths and it really upset me, I understand that this happens in nature every day but I still feel really bad that it happened. I know that cats are usually worse culprits that dogs, how do you cat owners cope with it? Does it upset other people or am I just a sop?

[Nicos]

Nope...not a sop at all, as you say, these things happen.
We have a hunting cat which is really necessary to keep down mice etc from entering the house/ eating anything stored in the sheds/ cellars/ attic/ plants when you live in the countryside.

Yes it's always quite a shock, but at least our cat eats everything she kills so I see it as natural nutrition...and yes, she has access to ad lib food.
It's the birds she catches and eats which especially upset me .

Having said that, we do need to take responsibility for our pets and when encouraging wildlife into our gardens that we do our best to create a safe environment for them as best we can.

Dogs are carnivores moopmoop, and if a bird flies too close it's instinct may well be to catch it in the same way it would catch a ball....it's just one of those things we need to think about.

*** can I please point out that if this thread turns into another cat/cat owner bashing session it will be closed ***

[Moopmoop]

I hope no one gets the impression that I was having a go at cats as that isn't why I started this thread. I think if it had been a cat it may not have bothered me as much as I think it's more in their nature than dogs. I was quite surprised that it was my springador and not the terrier, having said that both labradors and spaniels are hunting dogs so I guess it's in their nature too. I do try to be careful with the dogs in the garden but this poor little birdie was hiding behind a potato grow bag and I didn't see him, we'd been in the garden a good 10 minutes when he tried to make a run for it.

[Nicos]

Nope- you didn't at all give that impression Moopnoop!

.... but ....from experience , 99.9% of threads involving cats quickly become very controversial and I'm just trying to make peeps aware before they comment, and distract from your original post.

[Dorothy rouse]

My cat couldn't catch anything! Even if another cat caught it for her, she is useless,has never caught a thing in her life, wonder why?

[Dorothy rouse]

Nope- you didn't at all give that impression Moopnoop!

.... but ....from experience , 99.9% of threads involving cats quickly become very controversial and I'm just trying to make peeps aware before they comment, and distract from your original post.

Whoops, too late,but I'm not being controversial, if she did try and catch anything, I'd probably shout at her and try to rescue whatever it was, cos I'm just daft!

[Jeanied]

I used to have a springador that was a champion mole catcher. Some dogs are just good at that kind of thing.

I get upset too, specially when one of the baby birds wind up in bits on my bathroom floor, courtesy of the cat. Every time she does this I put a new bell on her collar, so she jangles a bit more. Having said that, next door's cat is a very ferocious hunter as well.

[Moopmoop]

I think I just hate loss of life even if it is nature. I love watching nature programs but hate seeing killer whales eat seals and penguins, sharks eating turtles etc. It is how they survive and I do understand that. We'd be over run with certain animals if there were not predators to keep them under control.

[Noosner]

I find those programmes really hard to watch too Moopmoop! I'm always pleased when the creature being chased gets away. Which makes no sense, really, as the predators need food as much as the victims need to escape.

I think life is full of conflicts and contradictions - things that don't really add up and can't be resolved. It's an achievement not to shut down emotionally as a response.

Which is another way of saying that I think your reaction in the garden is totally appropriate!

[dogsbody]

Feed the birds MP, encourage them into your garden then they will watch each other's backs and be safer.

I have 3 cats and to my knowledge only 1 flying casualty so far this year (not counting butterflies unfortunately where the body count would climb if there were any bodies left) and a garden full of singing happy birdies!

[Bal]

I have 2 cats, one of them regularly catches rabbits, then eats them, the other catches mice and voles but never eats them. I always try to rescue the mice and voles, but now have a resident mouse behind the cupboard. I am going to get a humane trap this weekend, but I expect she will do it again and again. I do shew her out of the house if I see her with anything in her mouth.

I rescued a baby bird from one of the other cats earlier and nursed it up in the cold frame for a day or two, but then it escaped I don't know what became of it. It does upset me, and OH gets even more upset, but it is in their nature and there is nothing we can do about it except not keep cats.

[mothhawk]

I get upset too, specially when one of the baby birds wind up in bits on my bathroom floor, courtesy of the cat. Every time she does this I put a new bell on her collar, so she jangles a bit more...

Birds react more to movement than sound, so a sparkly collar often works better than a bell, Jeanie

[mothhawk]

We had a bantie who started out with 11 chicks she hatched, but after a couple of weeks, she somehow started losing one every day. All the banties had free run of an acre and a half of paddock and garden, and I knew it wasn't a cat taking them, as the mother was very defensive if one went near. Then sitting on the patio one morning having coffee and cake (as you do ) my gentle Dobermann bitch who was sprawled at my feet got up, stretched, and wandered onto the lawn. Walking across the lawn with her remaining 7 chicks in tow was mother bantie, not the least bothered by the dog.

The dog ambled towards the line of chicks, and when she reached the end of the line, simply scooped up the hindmost chick and swallowed it! I was astonished, no chasing, no panic among the banties, she might have been picking up a dog biscuit it was so casual.

Needless to say she got a scolding, and the hen and remaining chicks were confined until big enough to no longer look like a free meal on legs.

[Nicos]

^^^^ good grief- you really wouldn't have even thought of that would you??

[Moopmoop]

I do feed the birds in the garden and I also use a bird table to discourage them from being at ground level so much. Usually the birds won't land in the garden when the dogs are out and if a bird sees or hears the dogs approach they all take off. The young inexperienced bird obviously thought the best approach was to hide instead of fly away, I could never have known it was there unless I search the garden before each time I let the dogs out. I'll get over it and I feel bad for giving the dog wrong, he knows no better after all it is what this type of dog is bred for, his mother and father are both working dogs.