I must be a rare cat owner that had cats who never ever went outside the perimeter walls of my premises! They'd sit on top of them yes, but never go away. I also never had to keep them in whenever I moved. Again they didn't try to go away.

I am surprised to hear about so many cats coming into gardens where there are dogs that don't like cats. I've only had one dog (GSD) that didn't like cats much.

Ahh, you see foxes cannot get in to the garden (six foot wall and corresponding gates etc.) and come on, you cannot seriously compare bird poo to cat poo...can you and I still fail to accept that someone's pet coming into my garden and causing problems with my dog is MY problem

As a point of interest........given that cat owners are happy about their pets roaming where they are not wanted, and given that these pets in law are considered "wild", then I wonder how many people have quite legally trapped a pesky cat and released it many miles away in the same way as you might do a rat or other wild creature. I am not saying that I would ever consider this as an option, but I bet others have.

We had a lovely ginger cat wander in to our garage one day, very skinny, but clearly someones pet. We put a notice in the local shop window and the cat turned out to belong to a family at the other end of the village. The cat had been dumped several miles away by the lady's ex. The cat had taken several months, but eventually managed to work it's way back to the village and it's very tearful owner!

My last cat was free to wander and lived happily for 12 years until I moved house and she then disappeared. Very sad, but the risk you take with outdoor cats.

My current 7mo cat is now out and about after being spayed and neutered etc. She has a litter tray, but is gradually using it less and less. I would never keep a cat indoors as I personally think it's cruel (no offence but that is my personal opinion). I can understand people being narked about roaming cats, but as others have said legally there's not a lot you can do. So unless cats are magically wiped out there's not a lot of point complaining about it!

I'm actually getting annoyed at the neighbours cat right now - he/she keeps coming round and ripping open our black bags!! and has even done it while I was in the garden working on the hedge! (AND after the bag was replaced with another one!!). Also, it keeps pooing in our garden!

I'm not sure what people can do tbh, cats are harder to control and unless they have been indoor cats since birth, it's harder to change afterwards.

However, maybe some parts of the world have got it right - dogs _and_ cats must be on a lead in public places.. it would certainly cut out the number of cats getting killed on the roads that's for sure!

I would try using cintrella spray as a deterrent, or if a cat was bothering me a lot, would get the hose pipe out and squirt it if it came into my garden.

As you can imagine, when Rocky was around it didn't really hang around our garden much

If someone elses cat is on my property tormenting my animals who are also on my property then yes, they are doing something wrong. The amount of double standards in this thread is pretty incredible! Honestly not trying to come across as hostile but seriously, if a strange dog attacked your cat in your garden would you be happy about that? Of course not, so why is it any different for me with your cat? Just because the law classifies them as wild does not mean you have a diminished responsibility as a pet owner to ensure that your animal doesn't hinder myself, my family or my life. If cats are considered wild, legally I should be entitled to 'take care' of any cat I find on my property, and to be honest if I did so the fault would be yours for allowing your cat to roam onto my land, not mine for dispatching it.

Not that I would of course, I'm just trying to illuminate how disrespectful it is to assume that just because its a cat it can go wherever it wants with no repercussions. Just like, just because cat poo is smaller than a dogs, doesn't mean I should tolerate having to clean it up.

So what's the answer then?

Apparently nobody told Rupert that. He caught one while on a leash walking by my side. Didn't even break stride, just stuck his head under a hedge and grabbed the cat. He came very close to catching two others, both of which walked right up to him and were attempting to rub up against him. In fact if he hadn't been muzzled the 2nd one would likely be dead now as it was so insistent. There are also cats who attack dogs. So yes, dogs definitely CAN catch cats while leashed.

Agree with this-my Cairn terrier Angus suddenly put his nose under a bush once and came out with a cat in his mouth! Poor thing had been having a snooze

I had to hit him on the head as he wouldn't drop it. A man coming the other way told me off for hitting my dog and I explained he had a cat in his mouth

Strange thing was he was not like my current terriers-cat aggressive. I used to be able to take him round my friend Rosie's house where she had 4 or 5 cats in the lounge and he would just sit and ignore them. One day walking home a tiny kitten came round the corner and walked straight up to him mewing. He was so gentle and just stopped and sat down and they were rubbing noses

One may need to pay a little more attention where ones dogs head is whilst walking.

Why is it ok for people to keep suggesting keeping cats inside 24/7, but if we did that to our dogs we would be cruel?
It's just as cruel to keep cats inside ya know