Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Today I heard shocking news about cats. One reason I dislike them is that they destroy millions of garden birds every year.

Now it comes to light they also carry a deadly disease called Toxoplasmosis.

This article is taken from the link below!

WHAT IS TOXOPLASMOSIS?
A disease caused by infection by a protozoan - a type of single-celled organism - called Toxoplasma gondii.
HOW IS IT SPREAD?
Toxoplasma gondii can only complete its lifecycle - in other words, reproduce sexually - in cats. A host cat can transmit millions of toxoplasma 'oocysts' - containing the protozoan's embryo - in its faeces. These oocysts can survive for several years in the soil and be ingested by a variety of organisms, including lambs and humans, who are 'accidental hosts'.
However, for toxoplasma's lifecycle to be completed, it must find its way into a rat or mouse. Toxoplasma causes changes in the host rodent's brain that make it behave in a way which is more likely to lead to its capture by a cat. Toxoplasma's lifecycle is completed when a cat eats an infected rodent.
WHAT HEALTH PROBLEMS CAN IT CAUSE?
Scientists suspect that the chemical changes that have been shown to happen in infected rats' brains might also happen in those of humans.
Professor Joanne Webster of Imperial College London told The Independent: "I think what we are going to see in humans is going to be similar to what we see in rats.
"There's going to be these very subtle changes such as slightly decreased reaction times and gender effects between males and females. Most of it will be so subtle we won't see it unless we look very carefully, which goes with it being dismissed as an asymptomatic parasite for so long."
Scientists are still trying to understand the behavioural changes - if any - in humans infected with toxoplasma, but research has so far linked it to worse reaction times, a more than two-fold increase in the risk of being involved in a car accident, suicide in women and schizophrenia.
Jaroslav Flegr of Charles University in Prague, who studied reaction times, said of the car accident findings: "If it is true, then latent toxoplasmosis is the second most important protozoan killer, just after the malaria."
Toxoplasma in pregnant women can affect the development of the foetus and cause a miscarriage. People whose immune systems are deficient, such as those suffering from Aids, can suffer diseases such as the potentially lethal toxoplasmic encephalitis of the brain.
HOW CAN I AVOID CATCHING TAXOPLASMOSIS?
Don't own a cat, for a start. Felines like to defecate in loose soil and sand, so don't let your child near playgrounds where sand pits are kept uncovered. Rare lamb can also carry toxoplasma, and some scientists want the government to advise against eating underdone lamb.
IS THERE A CURE FOR TAXOPLASMOIS?
Yes, but at the moment, only patients with obvious symptoms caused by toxoplasma are treated. One treatment, according to the Mayo Clinic, involves Pyrimethamine, a medication used for malaria, taken alongside a course of antibiotics.
In more than 80 per cent of human cases, toxoplasmosis results in no obvious symptoms. However, new research suggests that even among this apparently healthy 80 per cent, toxoplasmosis cause potentially dangerous behavioural changes.

How your cat could make you suicidal: Q&A - Comment & Analysis - MSN News UK

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

So if I play with someones ( mmm another name for a cat) then I catch this it will make my brain force me into actions that will cause me to get caught by another ( what is that word)

I think Ive already had this

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

(and as Tolkein might have put it.....)

Professor Joanne Webster said, as she caressed her thin fine whiskers with her sharp grey forepaws, 'I really hate Cats' and with a swish of her long pointed tail she vanished into the small round hole in the wall.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Toxoplasmosis has been around for a long long time, nothing has just come to light, NO they shouldn't be banned as pets, if you know how to look after a cat properly then this isn't a problem

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

As a cat lover, maybe you should be made illegal.
Oh and I love dogs too

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Oh and seeing that certain breeds of Dogs have seen to have Killed people in recent years, maybe we should make dogs illegal?
Cigarettes kill thousands every year lets make them illegal.
Cars and all forms of motor traffic, bye....
I could go on, but I have a aeroplane to fly, while they are still legal.......

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

'Domestic' cats are nor more than rats with fluffy tails. Absolute vermin. This planet would be a far better place if the lot of 'em were exterminated.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

I do wonder about the thread starter, not actually sure which planet he's from, but it sure as hell ain't planet earth that's for sure

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

How so?

Although I do not myself agree with his loathing of cats, he has put his case forward, provided evidence.

And asked for fellow human beings feedback, I am guilty myself of replying in a flippant manner, as I believed the thread to be sum what tongue - in- cheek

But I don't see how living on another planet applies? Stranger things are illegal in lots of states throughout the globe?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Can someone tell me what is the purpose of a cat, other than to kill birds, dig up peoples' flower displays and then chyte in them?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Well one purpose of em is to annoy Tealeafs. so that makes em ok to me.:D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

you would if you see the weird and the wonderful he keeps popping up with:rolleyes:mind you it looks like twos not a crowd

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Works for me:D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

You've more chance of catching a disease walking round town

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Oh I see,so it was just a personal attack, not actually relevant to the thread then?

I take it your reference to twos not a crowd, is also just another personal attack, again with no relevance to the subject?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

You actually catch more disease by human contact than anything else

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Indeed that's why I have a season ticket for the STD Clinic instead of Accy Stanley.
:o

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Just another journalists scare mongering article with no evidence
SCIENTISTS SUSPECT,
MIGHT ALSO HAPPEN
IF IT’S TRUE

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Like the music, not sure I'd want to do this to my cat though...

AUTO Cat Washer.wmv - YouTube

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Have had cats for years -never had any problems. This is not a new illness - but then every living thing carries bacteria and viruses in any case.

No need to start ringing little bells and calling out leper!

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Par fer the coarse wi some.:rolleyes:

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

I've had a few cats in my time as well. One time I had a kitten that used to run up and down the curtains like a mad thing - is that normal or what?:rolleyes:

The only obvious (not counting this disease) destructive thing wrong with cats is that they wantonly kill song birds and their young just for the hell of it.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Set me thinking - perhaps all animals or all life forms even should be banned! The world really would be a safer place then.:rolleyes:

Dogs carry Nesporosis -causes cattle to abort
Badgers (according to farmers) carry TBC
Mice and rats propogate all manner of ills including some recent cases of Bubonic plague in the US
Cows can give you BSE through their meat
Chicken and eggs cause frequent Salmonella outbreaks
Rabbits carry Myxomatosis
Birds - avian flu just for starters
Pigs -swine flu etc
Mosquitos carry Malaria
Pigeons carry, among many other things, Cryptococcosis which is a potentially fatal respiratory illness which affects cattle and humans.

Humans -now lets get to them, all manner of ills they carry and share among themselves - 80% of all known sufferers of the nasty disease that pigeons carry, which I mentioned above, have AIDS - should we ban them too?
Or maybe they could all just walk round with a little bell to keep other people away...or failing that ...:death1:

Unfortunately the weaker members of any population are open to attack from many pathogens carried by many different vectors (The vectors are not all living things eg the air we breathe). It's natures way of keeping things balanced on the planet -ever heard of a theory called natural selection?
Start by reading about Charles Darwin , then maybe you could continue to research Richard Dawkin's splendid book The Blind Watchmaker...

If you are relatively fit and healthy you should be OK to keep cats as a pet so don't worry and for the weaker members of the human race fortunately there are modern medicines and vaccinations to help them in the fight for survival.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Both behaviours are perfectly normal for cats -their agility and instinct to kill is another example of the fight, in the survival of the fittest.

As a rule any birds they will catch will be the weakest in their population - same again...it's all part of nature's grand design and makes up what is known as the food chain.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Because people like to cuddle up to them and they don't talk back or argue - just purr! :D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Cuddly, definitely -they don't just purr though -they are great communicators and very intelligent creatures, for that reason they are such good company.:)

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

i have a video on my phone, of my daughters cat, we were down at hers for her graduation recently, and she has taught it to sit, like a dog on command

i couldnt believe it thats why i recorded it

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

That's not nessararily so - I live in very built up area of London there are 3 cats at least in this area of about 100 sq metres. A pair of Robins built a nest in ivy and one cat set up camp below the nest and drove the Robins away.

We had a nest box in a tree and a Google Page Ranking of Blue Tits had chicks - two years on the run, again the same cat kept climbing up and drove the adults away causing the chicks to starve to death. The nest box has now been removed. So these birds weren't the weakest at all - just happened to be in the same vicinity of someone who happened to have a cat as a pet. That cat then took it upon itself to keep pestering the birds until they were scared away.

The then same cat killed a woodpigeon that had a nest in a small tree. These are birds that have no option but to nest in a garden where one particular cat is active. The owner by the way has no idea what her cat does or what it's capable of doing, just some stupid person who is not responsible for her pets destructive activities. :egged:

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

I don't think cats give a flying you-know-what ...

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Nice pussy cats - cuteness factor 100%...

BBC News - Rare white tiger cubs unveiled at Czech Republic zoo

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

It will do when I catapult it! :D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Cats are great pets for people living on their own They don't need much looking after and they are companions for older people.Leave them alone.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

In somewhere like Accy there is much more space with fields and so on. Here the cats only have other peoples gardens where they kill birds! People should have more responsibility for their pets and not let them go round killing birds.

Do you think it's OK for a dog to go round killing cats? If no! Then why is it ok for cats to kill birds?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

possibly because cats are "domesticated", and wild birds aren't

if it killed your african grey, or percy the budgie, i think someone would be as livid as if tyke the bulldog ripped up mr tiddles

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Cats are more independant than dogs and are naturally hunters and cannot be as domesticated as dogs.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

It's easy enough to stop a dog from killing birds I would've thought. You simply take it out for walkies on a leash. But how do you stop a cat from killing birds? :confused:

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

A dog can be trained. If a dog attacks anything it is down to bad training and irresponsible ownership, whereas a cat is a natural hunter and cannot be trained not to.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Exactly. All you can do with a cat is let it out and in of the house. If it hunts down and kills birds while its out, its not the owner's fault for being irresponsible.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

It's just the same with cat fouling. You can't be responsible for it,but you can be fined if your dog does it.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

could be argued it is, i suppose, as cats don't "need" to go out, and can be kept inside, if you want your cat outside, then you could chicken wire your own garden, would stop birds getting in and the pussy cat, getting out

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

My son has a seal point Siamese cat who never goes out as she cannot be innoculated as she is allergic to it. She is very happy to stay indoors. In fact if he opens the door she will run back in.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

I would've thought that cooping a cat up in the house 24/7 is cruel in itself. As for requiring every moggie owner in the UK to cover their garden in chicken wire, not really practical I would've thought!

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

i am guessing that down-in-that-there-lundun, where kes is, there will be multitudes of high-rise house cats who don't get out

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Right thats it, i'm off home to give Bella a good talking to and to tell her not to go after birds :|

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

...and if she does happen to kill any birds while she's out, remember, you're an irresponsible owner! ;)

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Yeh blame irresponsible owners fer cats doing what cats do= be a cat.:rolleyes:another pearl of wisdom from Bamber.:rolleyes:

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

depends if that is the regulation that was passed, then to be a "responsible" owner, you would have to comply with the regulations, i am sure we have many a regulation, that at the time people thought, yeah like that will happen

take smoking for example, if someone would have said in the seventies, you couldnt smoke in the pub, what sort of reaction do you think it would have got?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Then again maybe another poll? Should Kestrels be made illegal? after all they are a bird of prey.:D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Quicker off the mark than me, I was going to post exactly the same thing.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

but they arent domesticated, are they?

or are we talking about falconry?

or are we just baiting other members?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Don't know about London, but I have a friend who lives in a high rise in Vancouver. Her cat died recently at 15, don't think he'd ever been outside.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

beatcha 2it
:):):)

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Its called a sense of humour, summat thats by-passed a few.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

That's a hypothetical scenario you're talking about. A new set of regulations to require owners to keep cats indoors or festoon their gardens with chicken wire is not even being discussed, never mind put forward as a possible solution. Therefore, as it stands at the moment and for the forseeable future, you can let your cat out and still be a responsible owner providing you look after it properly.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

depends on the humour i suppose!!!!

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Life and nature is cruel - Cuckoos lay their eggs in other birds nests, their one chick hatches out first and kicks the other eggs out and they die. I love to hear a cuckoo in the woods in spring -don't you?

My friend set up a nest box in the corner of her garden last year and they could see into it from the conservatory -when the eggs hatched a pair of Magpies came and ate the fledglings -she had to tell her daughter the little ones had flown!

The problem is the exposure of the nest box to predators and that has a human hand in the choice of the site...

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

so what about the original point, that cats dont need to go outside, its not acceptable to just throw your dog out and shut the door till it comes home, is it?

as a responsible dog owner you have to take measures to get your dog out

therefore as a responsible cat owner should you not have to do the same?

its only cats doing what they do?, when dogs get out on their own they only do what they do.

and if members of the public dont like what your animal does, why should they have to suffer it?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Personally i think this thread should be in anything goes, Cos i cannot conceive that Kestrelx was asking this question seriously, i reckon the thread was just a wind up from the start, I could of course be wrong n he is that stupid, but doubt it very much.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

was that humour too?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

No n honest opinion.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

So let's get this right, you think that all cat owners should either keep their cats in the house 24/7 or cover their whole garden in a chickenwire cage...or is this just a wind up on top of another wind up? ;)

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

You could ask the same question about human beings. Give me a cat anyday than some of the vermin classed as human beings we have to put up with on the streets

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

i never said its what i thought at all, refer to my original post on the subject of responsible ownership, i said" it could be argued", i never said it was my feelings on the subject.

and the argument i propose, is that to be deem as a responsible owner, then take some "responsibility" for the animal in your care, pitching it out through the door with any other animal wouldn't be acceptable as responsible behaviour, it raises the question that why should it be any different for felines

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

but society has that dave, the prisons, granted a lot get a way with a lot, but the more serious are taken away from "the rest of us"

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Just thinking that meself. Instead of worrying about cats, perhaps we should be looking for ways to get rid of the scum that have now made Accrington town centre a semi-deserted travesty of a former bustling shopping area? :rolleyes:

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

You don't get in to town much do you ? :D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

So explain to me how to be a responsible cat owner?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

not if i can help it, and its nothing to do with the chav element, i have to work with them every weekend, face to face, and in their element stinking of mary janes tobacco n beer

its the lack of shops, and choice

thread wander alert

recentley i wanted a new os map, looked online whsmiths had the map online £8 (could be wrong, but lets go with £8) go down town to buy it, £14, as i pointed it out i was told, but thats a web only price, they dont have to pay for shops and wages, so thats why its higher price in store

i got a puzzled look, when i asked when she was starting her new job, as if it sounds like her employers were taking steps to do her out of a job, and be online only.

then got an "oh yeah", enlightenment was achieved!.

thats another reason why i dont use town much

unless i need some ties printing up for the Cup Final eh Dave?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

its not for me to say, i guess its the same as owning a dog, you have to think responsibly, about your ownership.

if you live in a rural area with very few neighbours, i guess your level of responsibility would differ to that of living in a neighbourhood of gardens.

but what you would expect a responsible dog owner to do, you would surely expect to do the same, would you not?

and if this means containing your animal, then thats what it is

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

See there is one good shop, though printing maps on ties would be pushing it :)

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

"It's not for me to say". What a mealy-mouthed response. :rolleyes: You talk about keeping a cat indoors 24/7 or constructing a chickenwire cage round your garden. Then when challenged, you say those weren't your views.

Then you talk in patronisingly generalised terms about "responsibility".

Have you ever thought about being a politician? You've got at least two of the qualifications - you spout bull and you've got the ability to talk down to people without actually saying much. :rolleyes:

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

yes i talked about those things, never once said they were my views, i said they could be used as an argument,

my opinion agrees with others on here, survival of the fittest, i have owned a cat, who thought it was fun to bring me pressies, she used to go out, adulterous thing that she was, would go to anyone who showed her any attention, the woman accross the back thought it was her "stray" for 3 months. i had no quarms about that.

i own a dog, i dont let that out on the street on its own, i do pick up his mess, i take him for walks, kick it when the wife does my head in(only joking,just testing if you were reading)

i have owned a dog that killed a cat, didnt find out whose cat it was, and me n the kids buried it.

it was killed in my garden that was fenced so the dog couldnt get out, i had taken all reasonable steps to secure my animal, i felt sorry for the cats owner, if it had one, but blameless, as i was being responsible.

as for patronising, dont get it, however thats how you took it, thats fine.

and in the last sentence i did try and answer your question, what is responsible?

i said at least the same as you would expect from dog owner

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Kes, if you've had cats, did you take any steps to prevent them killing birds? Or did you just keep them indoors and let them ruin your soft furnishings?:eek:

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Fine, only dogs and cats are totally different animals so what is "responsible" ownership for one species doesn't apply to the other. Any responsible dog owner wouldn't take his dog out except on a lead. You couldn't possibly take a cat out on a lead and bag its "deposits" as it went along. A dog which was put out of the house and left to roam could quite easily get lost. You can put your cat out and be reasonably sure that a few hours later it'll return home. So, in other words, you've still not given us a definition of what responsible cat ownership is.

In fact, your arguments are so ridiculous that I reckon, as I said, this is a wind up within a wind up. Well done, you got me to bite! :D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Cats carry their 'kill' back home as gifts to their owner.
I was a cat owner for a total of 27 years and only once was 'gifted' a bird.

Until cats can fly they find mice and rats much easier prey.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

And right on the mark;)

Cats kill birds 'cause that's what cats do. Idiots post idiocy; 'cause that's one of the things that idiots do. Cats respond to reasoned argument by ignoring it; idiots do the same thing.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

not so, and what is ridiculous, i take my dog out, majority of the time he is off the lead, if i ever see other people or dogs, i put him on the lead, straight way, there are a lot of dog owners out there walking their dogs who don't put their animal back on the lead straight way, i find them irresponsible, however i am sure there are things i do with my dog they may find irresponsible, its objective, thats why i said i couldnt define it originally, you took this as a "cop out",

if i was to pitch my dog out, he wouldnt go far, and wouldnt get lost.
the reason i dont, is the nuisance he may cause other members of society, my animal, my responsibility.

a cat will leave its deposits in a tray, and will live quite happily indoors as others have attested to, there is no need for it to be "running wild" sort of a contradiction of domesticated if its not in the domicile.

so please explain why it has to be a wind up, or why its ridiculous

and again i have given you a brief definition, the equivalent of being a responsible dog owner,horse owner,goldfish owner yadayadayada, you just didnt accept my definition, which is why i declined the chance to define it initially

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Right on the mark, Margaret. We were cat owners for 35 years till our last one died last year and for most of that time we had at least two. I could count on the fingers of one hand the number of times a dead bird was presented to us. We had quite a few rabbits and hares though when we lived in the country!

PS here's a flying cat for you!

Weirdo Turns His Taxidermied Cat Into A Quadrocopter | Geekologie

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

wich exactly, what we were saying about survival of the fittest, cats are predators, and birds, hares, rabbits, prey to other "wildlife" and in a country setting no problem with a cat running round, not much of a nuisance to the public

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

You shouldn't have let it out then. Very irresponsible of you! ;) :D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Forget it, I've taken the bait once, I won't fall into the trap again. Good wind up, though! :D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

;)

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Perhaps she didn't let it out, maybe it got through the hole an urban fox made in the wire netting she so diligently applied to every opening of her home?

Got to hand it to kestrel the thread was started as bollards meant to stir the brown stuff, plenty of success I would think with the number of pages resulted from one day.:)

Though half of it seems to have come from our latest wastrel, no real opinion just wants everyone putting in what he considers their right place.:D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

wastrel mmmm, interesting turn of phrase!

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

How strange Less, yeh seem to have nailed it also.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Makes sense to me cashy:D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

One has to ask if festooning the garden with chicken wire would need planning permission:)

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

depends on the height

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Don't matter anyway, it's just ChurchFC being a silly boy. ;)

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

I only p.m. friends or people who need to know summat i am fortunate enough to know, I need no-one to back me up especially against losers like you.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Well there's one thing I've learned tonight, Kes is definitely not on his own:rolleyes:

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

There wasn't any gear lying about on the floor, was there?

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

OOOO hhhhh NNN oooo not again. Another thread deteriorates into rubbish and backbiting. Get lost the lot of you, this is a thread about CATS in case you'd forgotten. And I know we like thread wanders, but this sort is becoming all too predictable.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

There is one way that works - putting a bell collar on your cat - it stops them from creeping up on birds, the birds hear it and fly off, all good pet shops have them. :D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

That's why we're being catty! :D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Oh right well, mine has one already. Yay! I'm responsible! That's a relief! :D

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

OK Kes, you've answered my question in post 73. Not surprised you didn't find it with all the flak flying about!

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

A friend of mine put a bell on her cats collar, the cat learnt to scrape along the floor until it could get the bell in it's mouth then it could creep up silently until the pounce.

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

Thought that was a woman's prerogative :confused:

Re: Should cats be made illegal!?
 

I noticed today in Daily Express page 4 - "Cats 'pose health risk to humans!'" the claim 70,000 get it every year and if a child is born with it causes damage for life apparently!:confused: Perhaps it's the start of a medical conspiracy against cats? :rolleyes: