[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by sachinshastry

Have been through the same dilemma, but am convinced otherwise. Spaying on the outlook may seem inhumane, but its good for the cats too.

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

Strays when spayed are less aggressive, get more food amd territory to roam around and also they don't allow other strays get inside their own territories. Win-win situation for the strays and humans in the vicinity. Also the animal's own life span increases a lot after getting spayed/neutered.

I'm not talking about cruelty as such. And although the remaing cats might have a good life, it is still messing with nature. Meanwhile, losing kittens to disease and predation is again part of nature, and that is not something to feel sorry about.

Though they are stray cats for name sake, they depend on the houses for food entirely. I call my cat the "hi-fi" cat as she does not eat anything other than the cat food

Outdoor cats hunt and kill rodents even if you feed them. So cats serve the purpose of keeping rodent population in check. But when we 'artificially' take out cats from the environment, we are unintentionally providing a safe haven for the rats. After all, rat hunting instincts was one of the main reasons for humans domesticating cats. If you artificially reduce outdoor cat population, then cities will start having a rat problem:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eg4EmgPWd3g

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Why should we neuter or spay stray cats? Our cities don't exactly have a stray cat overpopulation problem. ...

There certainly is not one here, which is entirely due to the dogs!

I don't have a strong view on neutering stray cats, either way. Domestic cats: it is up to how big one wants the family to grow. Strays that interact greatly with humans, regular feeding etc, should probably be counted as domestic.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

There certainly is not one here, which is entirely due to the dogs! I don't have a strong view on neutering stray cats, either way.

Right. India will never have a stray cat overpopulation problem, because it will be checked by street dogs.

However in America, dogs are taken off the streets. This massive human intervention in the urban ecosystem can result in cat overpopulation. So in the US, neutering/spaying street cats might be needed for cat population control.

But then they overdo this too and then wonder why the rat population is growing

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Right. India will never have a stray cat overpopulation problem, because it will be checked by street dogs.

However in America, dogs are taken off the streets. This massive human intervention in the urban ecosystem can result in cat overpopulation. So in the US, neutering/spaying street cats might be needed for cat population control.

But then they overdo this too and then wonder why the rat population is growing

India as a whole might not probably. Indian cities will have and some do have (e.g. Bombay). Unfortunately, it isn't an easy task estimating cat population; unlike dogs; probably a reason why most Indian city management don't have cat population statistics. In fact, the overpopulation problems are also confined to specific areas like this article talks about.

Visaria told mid-day, “I feed 500 cats and many dogs daily in Fort. Since last year, the population has suddenly increased. As a result, many kittens get separated from their mothers and die of hunger. Separation of children from mothers is the worst sin in our culture, but humans do it with animals.” A cat can give birth to 36 kittens in 16 months.

Arjun Ajgaonkar from Dhobi Talao who has been feeding cats for the past two years said, “There are 300-400 cats in my area and their number is increasing day by day. BMC should start sterilising cats or else it will be difficult for us to feed them.”

Another feeder and Cuffe Parade resident, Darius Kavasmaneck, said he provides food to over 2,000 cats between CSMT and Grant Road. “Earlier, I would feed 5-7 cats in one area, but now there are 50-60 of them. My daughter Pearl lives in Dadar and she feeds cats from her place up to Bandra. She too is facing the same problem,” he said.

Cats are territorial. So if a certain area sees higher population, they don't generally migrate to other areas. So, yes; I would say spaying/neutering is a necessary action one should consider. The problem becomes more of local/neighborhood area issue for that individual.

Also, this is also the same globally; we hear about specific cities having cat overpopulation (New York, Istanbul, Taiwan, etc). Also if one digs up more detailed info, the overpopulation is for certain areas of those cities.

[chiekennugget]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

Why should we neuter or spay stray cats? Our cities don't exactly have a stray cat overpopulation problem. Even if we assume that 50% of its diet (food source) comes from hunting rats/mouse, it is good for the neighborhood. Our polluted cities have wiped out most small birds like sparrows anyway - so there is no risk to imaginary birds because of cats either.

Im not sure for cats but, you usually neuter dogs to prevent different types of cancer (not a dog owner but heard it from my aunt who has one) and it also decreases aggression quite a lot.

so, probably something similar to cats too.

I found this: https://www.brown.edu/Research/Colwi...spaynueter.htm

[scar]

I had a pomerarian way back and it was a lot of fun and also because it was a small dog we hardly felt were going an extra mile in taking care of it. Unfortunately when it was too old it got attacked by a few local strays and left us. It is buried in our farm

here is Sonu in holi colors




Now we have a cross between a german shepherd and an indie mainly adopted for my young son. This is also a lot of fun and mostly spends its time in our farm and likes it there It really does not like to come to the city and definitely makes its preference felt

Here is Sunny keeping a watch on the farm

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by chiekennugget

Im not sure for cats but, you usually neuter dogs to prevent different types of cancer

I don't know about that, but the primary reason most people neuter animals really is the obvious one: birth control.

[sagarpadaki]

Not exactly a pet issue.

Seeking possible options for the issue we are facing with stray dogs.

There are 4-5 stray dogs in our neighborhood which have been made home by few neighbours. They bark a lot on passing vehicles and other stray which try to infiltrate their border. If one dog barks, rest all start barking and this continues for minutes sometimes. This causes a lot of irritation wherein we cannot even have a conversation in the living room when the chorus barking is going on.

This issue is compounded in the night, when the same barking act pierces the silent calm night and wakes us from sleep. My mother, who has some health issues, is not able to get a good night's sleep because of the frequent bouts barking throughout the night. The lack of good sleep is affecting her health gradually. We are also pretty irritated at home due to this.

Any suggestions on how we can mitigate this problem?

Thanks

[NomadSK]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

Any suggestions on how we can mitigate this problem?

I too have dogs with us and in the neighborhood, all of them bark off and on, but nothing like which will infuriate the other common neighbors.

I was facing the similar issue, during my vacation in India and our house lobby window is very close to the road, the house adjacent to it is having 3/4 dogs, they keep incessantly barking at whoever crosses in front of their gate, be it pedestrians, vendors, scooters, bike, their door was swing type and a simple push by dogs makes the door open both sides, so they can enter and exit at will, it had small grill below the gate, from where they will see any movement and start barking. I realized when they see this movement from the gap, they used to get triggered.

My parents have got used to such noises over a period of time, but last when I visited India, it was complete pandemonium, I even started sleeping with ear plugs and I asked my parents, how can you sleep/live with so much of noise/barking. They never put a thought in that direction and also didn't know the neighbors and never talked to them.

Eventually, I thought of talking to the neighbor and did that calmly and reasonably. So, it's a no-lose situation, and I approached it with a modicum of tact, I was pleasantly surprised by the neighbor's willingness to work towards a solution, in a week’s time, he closed the gap below the gate with FRP sheet and changed his gate arrangement from swing to fixed. And eventually the barking was almost eliminated. I asked my parents, did they notice any change, they said NO, because they are used to so much of chaos from that window, that the barking was hardly noticed. Sometimes pet owners are blissfully unaware that there's a problem in the first place. I would suggest, focus on amicable solution which you might think will resolve the problem.

However, I can understand your predicament, if neighbor is a hard nut to crack, and isn't ready to listen, then probably cops or animal NGO’s are your best bet.

[SmartCat]

Close-up photos of a cat reveals interesting details that we might have missed:



Cat's nose seems to have lots of sensory dimples:



And the eyes look like Sauron's eye (no flames though):



To get such photos:

1) Get your smartphone as close to the cat as possible, preferably when it is not in a playful mood
2) Lie down on the floor next to the cat
3) Use optical zoom (I used 3x) or macro mode
4) Take multiple shots (because cats move)

Other close-up photo ideas:

1) Paws perhaps?
2) Teeth/tongue!

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by sagarpadaki

This issue is compounded in the night, when the same barking act pierces the silent calm night and wakes us from sleep. My mother, who has some health issues, is not able to get a good night's sleep because of the frequent bouts barking throughout the night. The lack of good sleep is affecting her health gradually. We are also pretty irritated at home due to this.

Any suggestions on how we can mitigate this problem?

Thanks

Small firecrackers are a good deterrent, they will get the message and go away to some other place after a few instances of this. Some of the neighbors use water hose, water sprayers etc to shoo the dogs away.

Here I see the neighbors use firecrackers to shoo monkeys away, they are silent but can make a mess of your kitchen \ garden etc.

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by SmartCat

To get such photos:

1) Get your smartphone as close to the cat as possible, preferably when it is not in a playful mood

Not necessarily close ups but other thing that matters a lot (and if you have access to) is DSLR/MLC camera where you can play around easily with shutter speed and other variables. I plan to take macro shots of my kitten's eyes if he sits still!

---

Very first litter of a stray cat we used to feed at our home. She had a bunch of other kittens later but the first one is closest to my heart and also the most photogenic (I think).

Just look at them! My heart warms up just seeing these photos.

[skrao]

Our dog is a true road warrior, she has been trained to travel from when she was 6 weeks old. Just like my boys, she loves the road and exploring the world. Here she is in Kodaikanal for the summer after a long journey from Bangalore

[Thad E Ginathom]

My pair, father and daughter...

[denzdm]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

My pair, father and daughter...

Wow -Never knew such a bond also exists. Is it common for a male cat and its offspring to be together?