Monday, March 14, 2011

Mr Thumper goes on the warpath.


There used to be a lot of dogs on my street.
Now, sadly, there are mostly c-a-t-s. You've already met some of them.
Here's one of the Impertinent Corner Cats that sleep on cars, eat on the street, and poop in everyone's yards.

Here's longtime resident and senior cat citizen, Vanilla.
You haven't yet met Dave.

Or Lola. They're new to the street but already take their night patrol duties very seriously. 
In the daytime, they follow their humans to the shops. They get to walk there without leashes.
Here's one of the fearsome Dog-Hunting Cats of Balmain.  

Yesterday evening, Mr Thumper decided to do something about the cats that had taken over his neighbourhood. He couldn't wait to get started!


He walked so fast, my stay-at-home human could hardly keep up in her thongs!
He looked up.
He looked down.
He looked under cars and trucks.
He was very meticulous because he didn't want to miss a thing.
It was a long walk and Mr Thumper got tired, but he refused to give up.
Then! Just when all hope seemed gone! He saw a cat!
The cat saw Mr Thumper too! It leapt up onto a wall!

And that was that.

Mr Thumper was very pleased that he'd finally found a cat and scared it away. He decided to call it a day.

When he got home, my stay-at-home human had to put an ice bottle on his head because he was very hot.

***
The Dogs
Gus, Lily, Josie, John, Tiger Lily, Indie, Millie, Annie, Polly, The Dog At The Corner Whose Name No One Knows Because It Never Comes Out, Giorgio, Harry, Sid, The Bulldog, the Boxer, Minky, Dell and Sparky. And of course, Mr Piglet, Mr Thumper and me.

Dell and Sparky moved to Not So Far Away. Lily moved to Bellingen. The Boxer moved to God Knows Where. Polly ran way, was never found, and is hopefully somewhere happier now. As for The Bulldog, Gus, John, Josie, Tiger Lily, Minky and Mr Piglet, they all went somewhere Very Far Away Indeed.

The C-a-ts
4 Corner Cats [including Thomas who has a home but you wouldn't know it], Vanilla, Pepe, Tiffany, Lola, Dave, and the 2 Cats At The Other Corner whose names we don't know.

The sad numbers today.
Dogs 8   C-a-ts 11


***

Some interesting links, especially if you have a cat.

The Lost Dogs' Home is Australia's largest animal shelter. This is their Cat Handbook which details what it takes to be a good cat owner.

Some excerpts from Section 7 -

"It is recommended that cats are confined to your property from dusk until dawn and preferably at all other times, for the protection of the cat’s welfare. Some councils enforce this through a cat curfew and it is your responsibility to find out if a cat curfew exists in your area."

"Cats do not necessarily need to roam free. Alternatives to letting your cat roam free are:

* Installing an enclosed outside run
* Training it to walk on a leash
* Keeping it as an entirely indoor cat"

"It is also important that as a cat owner, you take measures to protect wildlife from your cat. You can do this by:

* Putting a bell on the your cat’s collar
* Obeying local cat curfew laws
* Installing a fully enclosed cat run
* Keeping the cat inside.

Some thoughts on Cat Curfews, plus you can join in a discussion here -

The law in Australia [outside of local council rulings] -http://kb.rspca.org.au/Are-curfews-for-domestic-cats-mandatory_284.html


Update June 7th 2011  New rulings for Leichhardt cats!
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/pussycat-pussycat-what-have-you-been-up-to-at-night-20110605-1fniy.html

18 comments:

Jan said...

Way to be scary. Cats are evil creatures who seem to be everywhere.

BERMTOPIA said...

Mr Thumper -- you are a ROCK STAR. And who, on God's green earth, names a CAT "Dave"?

Regards,

Ben in Bermtopia

chandra said...

bravo, mr. thumper!!! i bet it's hard to have everyone telling you how handsome and adorable you are all the time. it must feel good to get out there and do some tough-dog cat hunting!

i know you were hot and tired but my favorite photo is the one where you've got the ice bottle on your noggin. did you see "the fighter?" i think you look like mark wahlberg in that photo.

-c at ddy.

Jean said...

Ohhhhh a post about Mr. Thumper! Yay! (I like posts about you, too, Georgia Little Pea, but my old dogs Charley and Sadie like to hear about other old dogs, and Mr. Thumper certainly qualifies).

As for the dog-cat ratio, Georgia LP, there is a solution to that which doesn't involve um...any...um... violence. I think you could start a campaign to have each neighbour (well, the good animal-loving ones) adopt at least two dogs from the local shelter or rescue groups. Dogs would soon outnumber cats, and you'd be doing the dogs a huge service finding them some nice homes.

georgia little pea said...

dear ms jean, we wrote this story specially for you and charley and sadie because You Asked For It!

it WOULD be lovely if more people on our street adopted a dog or 2. out of the 8 remaining ones, i think 5 are rescues! our neighbourhood has PLENTY of pound dogs too :)

Jen said...

Oh goodness that IS lots of cats for one little neighborhood! But, you are right- it would be lovely if more people would rescue a dog in your 'hood!! I am sure Mr. Thumper and Georgia would love to have a few more and begin to out number the cats again!

Jen and the BDC

Pamela said...

Georgia, thanks for writing about Mr. Thumper's amazing courage in chasing cats. You are a wonderful reporter.

I guess I feel about cats wandering my neighborhood the way your typist does about little dogs on long leashes. I don't understand why people go ballistic about an occasional bit of dog doo doo on their yard (yes it's gross and rude but it's not exactly a capital offense) but don't care that their cats are using my garden as a litter box.

I'm glad Mr. Thumper is doing his part to remind cats that they can't do whatever they want when they want.

georgia little pea said...

Dear Ms Pamela - I think My Typist feels exactly the same way as you do! Every morning when we go out, the whole front yard smells of catpoo. It's pretty stinky. It's sad the cats' humans don't keep them indoors at night. I think it's the law to curfew and bell them (because cats kill native birds and other wildlife), but most of the cats' humans don't care :(

I don't know why our neighborhood cats are so scary. We're not the only ones who think so too. Other people have noticed it as well. My Typist even had a conversation about it with some total strangers at the bakery not too long ago. Maybe it's the water.

Anonymous said...

What a busy day for Mr. Thumper, no wonder he needed an ice pack! Well done for keeping those cats under control...I like the one called Dave though, maybe because it's my husband's name.

Sage said...

I'm so glad Mr Thumper got to be on cat-patrol! That's a very important job that some of us HAVE to do. Those cats need to be kept in line, that's for sure!

Lavinia said...

Aww, poor Rufus, I hope you can find a good boarding for him. The one we sent Aschiuta to was a vet, maybe you can find one like that for Rufus too.

Back to your post... Wow, there are a lot of cats around there. They can get pretty cocky because they can jump very high and out of reach. But hey, Mr Thumper 1, cats 0.

georgia little pea said...

Mr T says to thank you all for your words of support and encouragement! We are under siege here. Wish us more luck! :) xox

houndstooth said...

Georgia, I wish you and Mr. Thumper could walk with us! We have crazy cats all over our neighborhood, and there's a black and white cat who stalks us on our walks. He wouldn't be so bold if we didn't have leashes on is what I know! Mr. Thumper, we salute you!

Bunny

Ms. ~K said...

Hey Y'all,
We enjoyed our visit to your great blog!!!
Licks and sniffs,
Zack, Sassy and Buddy
Georgia

georgia little pea said...

Oh hello...another Georgia? Wooot! THANKS for dropping by :)

Kristine said...

Thongs!

I haven't heard them called that since my grandmother was alive. Bless you.

Cats are indeed nothing but trouble. It has taken years to convince Shiva to avoid them. No matter how many claws she gets to the face, she will keep going back for more. For a smart dog, she can be pretty dumb.

Thanks for this very helpful post!

georgia little pea said...

Kristine! i was wondering if anyone might pick that up! i know that thongs mean something quite different for most other people :p was your gran aussie?

Team Kenzo said...

Glad to read Mr. Thumper had such a great day. The ice bottle must have melted down in seconds. Kenzo and Viva have a cat in the house they really would like to get rid of and know how difficult it is to put them on their place. Good for Mr. Thumper he has such a thick coat like us. Watch the nose though, Mr. Thumper!