Microchipping cats

Dylan likes to watch cars from the living from window and the sea gulls from there and the roof terrace Chardy. He's never known any other kind of life.

I've had house cats for years, ever since a cat I had went out and never came back. Our house backed onto fields and I'm convinced he was shot as we often heard gun fire.

It was awful, never knowing what had happened to him. If he'd been injured and/or locked in somewhere and unable to get back home to us. We looked for him but to no avail.

I know Dylan is safe and for me that's what matters.

Smileless2012

I love my Sphynx cat very much BlueBelle because he's hairless he's a house cat as all of his predecessors have been. He is healthy, happy and adored. He has access to our roof terrace when the weather is warm so he can go outside. Previously we had a large outside area penned off so my cats could go outside if they wished too.

Making sweeping generalisations that having a house cat is cruel is ridiculous, as would saying that all cats who go outside are loved and well cared for.

Interesting that this thread has generated lots of 'keeping cats inside is cruel', but not many 'next door's cat is a pain in my garden'.
My cat likes to watch the world go by, but I'm not sure she perceives the town centre road outside, with nightmare parking and occasional Saturday night merriment as her natural habitat, Bluebelle!
No-one has mentioned town foxes either.
Smileless2012 we too have a balcony/terrace, and used to have a walled garden. Once we moved, there seemed no noticeable change in behaviour.

P.S. to my post.

Yes, CPL microchips their adoption cats, plus 4 weeks free pet insurance. No objections to existing pets, but a home visit to check out best and most suitable matches for puss and prospective owners.

This was just on the news and all the cats looked really pissed off

Our local CPL charges about £75-80 for cat and kitten adoptions.
The animals are neutered, vaccinated, de-flead, not sure about chipping, and cat carrier supplied.

My cats have been micro chipped for years despite never going outside.

I don't understand, can someone enlighten me as to what the problem is with microchipping? It's not stressful or expensive and a massive advantage when cats go missing.

My Oliver the Great was microchipped when he was spayed at 6mths we have always done this for our cats & dogs they can be scanned at any vets or dog charity to get them back to their owner if they get lost or in the worst case stolen.
Oliver spends a lot of time indoors but likes to wander the back gardens letting the local cats know he is boss cat mind you he is a big lump of a cat.

My two French rescue brothers had dirty great tattoos in their ears for identification!
I'm a bit sad this Christmas because we lost them this year aged 16 years.

Aw, what a lovely family seacliff.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202112/medium-327997-cherry-and-dog.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202112/medium-715322-cherry-and-2-labs.jpg

"We rehome too in the family seacliff but due to lockdowns when everyone wanted a pet, the cat's' rescues changed their policy and you couldn't even get past the email stage if you had a dog. Very daft!"

Obviously each area and charity is different. Maybe because they couldn't do home visits I suppose they had to be extra cautious as to where the cat was going. Glad you got one eventually, happy ending for that cat.

Here is one of our former foster cats Cherry, who now lives very happily with 2 young labs, apparently she is definitely the boss.

My last three cats have all been house cats. It’s not cruel, it’s not difficult to give them a fun, enjoyable life indoors. Our first house cat had a severe congenital heart defect. We took her in as a rescue kitten. The charity said she had to be an indoor cat or be euthanised.

Our next two cats, brothers, were also rescues. Their owners could no longer care for them but they’d always been indoor cats and we continued that. We only have one now, but They’ve never shown the least bit of interest in going outside and will ignore an open door in favour of a comfy chair or the fireside or, best of all, drape themselves round a human neck and be carried everywhere.

They’ve all been microchipped. It’s cheap and whilst my cats don’t go out, it’s not unknown for cats to escape from kennels etc.

I have one cat who spends most of the day rambling around the neighbourhood, coming in for cuddles, food and to use the tray. His sister will sometimes go out in the morning, just to sit on the garden steps and glare at the world so they know he’s in charge, and his older brother will sometimes have a little garden explore but those two would be quite happy as indoor cats. We have a kitten who isn’t so much curious about outside as he is desperate to follow his brother everywhere, but he’ll be staying in until he’s MUCH bigger & older.

They’re all microchipped.

I love my Sphynx cat very much BlueBelle because he's hairless he's a house cat as all of his predecessors have been. He is healthy, happy and adored. He has access to our roof terrace when the weather is warm so he can go outside. Previously we had a large outside area penned off so my cats could go outside if they wished too.

Making sweeping generalisations that having a house cat is cruel is ridiculous, as would saying that all cats who go outside are loved and well cared for.

I thought it was mandatory already.
My cats over the last few decades have all been chipped.

I see lots of posts asking if cats have gone missing as they appear somewhere and are not recognised. Chips would be a good idea. Some people start to feed cats when they appear out of nowhere but if the cat has health issues this could be very dangerous for them. Scanning for a chip would locate the owner and get the cat home.

During the summer a cat appeared in my DDs garden. A large ginger and white tom cat. She posted about it on the local Facebook page, and canvassed the neighbourhood in an attempt to find his owners. He hung around all Sumner and with nobody contacting her about him she decided to take him to the vet to see if he was microchipped. He wasn't. The vet asked around also, but nobody had reported this cat missing. My DD decided to adopt him and had him chipped and registered to her.
At the time the vet had told her that in his opinion all cats ought to be microchipped.
She will be pleased to hear this.

Josianne

Grandma70s

Josianne

I thought the principle idea of chipping pets was so that owners couldn't just abandon them at the roadside? I don't think that is such an issue now because you can't get a cat for love nor money.

You can get one for money. My son paid £500 for his cat, I was shocked - cats used to come free, or at minimum cost. I suppose it is good they are now more valued.

Yes, and we refused to pay the inflated prices on gumtree or similar because private people were just taking advantage of lockdown and being somewhat immoral.
We would rather have saved the one from abroad even though his flight and taxi etc. cost a bit more! Talk about first class travel including vet checks!

You don’t live where I do, cats everywhere, this is good news for cat owners to take some responsibility for their freedom to c… everywhere animals. As you can guess they are not popular with me.

MaizieD
Sounds like you and I could have gone into business!

Thank you shelflife yes, we love all our animals and would not take on any commitment we could not see our way to fulfil. We would not entertain a cat or kitten if we didn't have 100% faith in our dogs' natures and behaviours and after 40 years doing this you would think the rescue centres could use their brains too! Grrrrr.

The trouble is that the cat rescue centres are silly because they won't let you have a rescue cat or kitten if you have a dog, even a gentle one. Even with 40 years cat and dog owning experience! Grrrr.

It must depend on local policy. My most recent cat came from the RSPCA. The lady who fosters for them had half a dozen kittens, a semi feral adult cat or two and a large dog. No questions about my dog owning status (yes we have a very little dog who thinks he's a cat) even asked.

As for chipping, the RSPCA does all that before you get your cat, but I'd challenge anyone to get anywhere near my cats to catch them, let alone to determine whether or not they're chipped. They won't go near strangers...

You should have come to the NE for your cat, Josieanne. We've plenty and it would have been much cheaper than Dubai

Stupid me ! Had no idea this was not mandatory it is such an easy thing to do and when you consider the cost of caring for a cat from kitten to end of life a pittance in my view.

Sparklefizz that is quite different your little cat had the choice, house cats don’t, they are kept in and can only look out the window at their natural habitat which is cruel

That is the trouble when humans interfere with nature and start producing certain varieties that change hands for lots of money they then become an expensive accessory

Grandma70s

Josianne

I thought the principle idea of chipping pets was so that owners couldn't just abandon them at the roadside? I don't think that is such an issue now because you can't get a cat for love nor money.

You can get one for money. My son paid £500 for his cat, I was shocked - cats used to come free, or at minimum cost. I suppose it is good they are now more valued.

Yes, and we refused to pay the inflated prices on gumtree or similar because private people were just taking advantage of lockdown and being somewhat immoral.
We would rather have saved the one from abroad even though his flight and taxi etc. cost a bit more! Talk about first class travel including vet checks!

Josianne

I thought the principle idea of chipping pets was so that owners couldn't just abandon them at the roadside? I don't think that is such an issue now because you can't get a cat for love nor money.

You can get one for money. My son paid £500 for his cat, I was shocked - cats used to come free, or at minimum cost. I suppose it is good they are now more valued.