Cats will be cats

Wow. Nothing much happening in the world when a reputable tabloid [sic] devotes the whole front page of a weekend edition with Mr Kumar armed with a shovel disposing of cat poo and scaremongering with the old worn draw card of the toxoplasmosis organism which can be present in a number of sources.

This purely personal topic was unheard of a couple of years ago. It depends solely on your viewpoint. Living in the manmade condensation of the suburbs, cats have always climbed trees and jumped fences. I have always had a number of neighbourhood cats crisscrossing my garden and couldn’t care less. Same as birds pooing on the washing.

Microchipping/licensing is just an expensive piece of bureaucratic machinery which will not stop a cat being a cat. Every year the problem is cats having more kittens – so the logic is a desexing bylaw.

The toxoplasma gondii parasite can be transmitted through meat, accounting for half toxoplasmosis infections, according to experts, fruit, veg, water, raw shellfish, chopping boards and kitchen surfaces. Not all cats carry the parasite and shedding will go away on its own. It is all basic hygiene.

Kathleen Mccaughtrie Hamilton

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