CHOOSING AND CARING FOR A CAT. The cat as a useful hose pet. Part 1.

     Whereas, as mentioned earlier, the importance of cats as mousers and ratters has diminished considerably – at any rate in urban areas – it is nevertheless worth noting the findings of studies which show what cats eat when left to fend for themselves. These were frequently cats that had been wantonly abandoned and had become semi- or entirely feral. The customary disparagement of cats as ‘bird-killers’ appears a trifle absurd in the light of the following statistics. Is the cat really such a great enemy of birdlife and small game? Various investigations undertaken by one university institute yielded the following findings: the stomachs of more than 60 semi-feral cats were found to contain 93.8 per cent voles, and 6.2 per cent mice, field-mice and harvest-mice. In only three cases were the remains of small birds found, and likewise in three cases, squirrel remains. In two instances there were fish remains, which came from kitchen refuse. Only 49 per cent contained any wild prey at all, about 30 per cent contained some domestic food. The stomach contents of 171 cats consisted predominantly of rodent remains, i.e. 89.1 per cent; 4.4 per cent contained bird remains, while 3.8 per cent contained insects, and 2.1 per cent worms and snails.