Mind control parasite now found in Oahu feral cats (condo, school)

[hotzcatz]

Maybe if folks would quit feeding them, they'd start eating the coqui frogs.

[ScottStielow]

If people stopped feeding the Feral cats. Then they would go away, and not be there. I see people feeding the cats at my appt. complex and tell them to stop feeding the cats and they will go away. But they don't listen?

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by ScottStielow

If people stopped feeding the Feral cats. Then they would go away, and not be there. I see people feeding the cats at my appt. complex and tell them to stop feeding the cats and they will go away. But they don't listen?

It doesn’t matter if it cats or dogs. People will feed strays.

I don’t judge them.

[Tulemutt]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

Maybe if folks would quit feeding them, they'd start eating the coqui frogs.

Originally Posted by ScottStielow

If people stopped feeding the Feral cats. Then they would go away, and not be there. I see people feeding the cats at my appt. complex and tell them to stop feeding the cats and they will go away. But they don't listen?

Not sure, but I suspect Hotzcatz posted tongue-in-cheek. If you, Scott, are serious in suggesting “they will go away” - um, where do you think they (the cats) will go? Consider: there are a bazillion more cats not being fed than are being fed ... yet they endure and proliferate.

Originally Posted by whtviper1

It doesn’t matter if it cats or dogs. People will feed strays.

I don’t judge them.

True, people will always feed strays.

Good on you for not judging them in their compassion - even if it is counterproductive.

[TimTheEnchanter]

If the topic had been, "Mind control parasite now found in Oahu Politicians" we could have had an interesting conversation.

[Tulemutt]

So, a related update:

Bill to consider mass poisoning Hawaii’s feral cat population stalls in Legislature
https://www.khon2.com/local-news/bil...n-legislature/

[Futuremauian]

Originally Posted by Tulemutt

So, a related update:

Bill to consider mass poisoning Hawaii’s feral cat population stalls in Legislature
https://www.khon2.com/local-news/bil...n-legislature/

I watched the video and observed the usual tired argument from a cat lover who favors trap/spay/return. Her argument is that poisoned cats are possibly sick for a day or two before they die. I am sure that they are equally miserable after being spayed. Clearly spaying doesn't work on a widespread basis. The estimates for feral cats on Maui alone, range from 300,000 to 600,000.

A drive up north of Honolua Bay any evening will show dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of feral cats near the highway. They have to be eating the native wildlife. What else is there besides random handouts or garbage?

Their quality of life can't be very good. I see starving, mangy, cats with tails missing, legs missing, blind in one eye, etc. That has to be the result of cat fights.

I agree with the effort to poison them before our bird population becomes extinct.

[prospectheightsresident]

Originally Posted by Futuremauian

I watched the video and observed the usual tired argument from a cat lover who favors trap/spay/return. Her argument is that poisoned cats are possibly sick for a day or two before they die. I am sure that they are equally miserable after being spayed. Clearly spaying doesn't work on a widespread basis. The estimates for feral cats on Maui alone, range from 300,000 to 600,000.

A drive up north of Honolua Bay any evening will show dozens, and sometimes hundreds, of feral cats near the highway. They have to be eating the native wildlife. What else is there besides random handouts or garbage?

Their quality of life can't be very good. I see starving, mangy, cats with tails missing, legs missing, blind in one eye, etc. That has to be the result of cat fights.

I agree with the effort to poison them before our bird population becomes extinct.

I'll just say that we as a society produce a LOT of garbage, so it wouldn't shock me if this is what is sustaining the cats for a large amount of their diet.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Futuremauian

The estimates for feral cats on Maui alone, range from 300,000 to 600,000.

500,000 total cats. 40,000 feral cats. Personally - as a first step, I'd rather seen a ban on outdoor cats that are pets (I own a cat)

https://mauiforestbirds.org/invasive...-on-maui-cats/

Cats are one of the predators that were introduced by humans to the Hawaiian Islands. The State of Hawai’i Department of Health estimates that there are 500,000 cats on the island of Maui. Thousands of these are feral, non-domesticated animals left to hunt and capture prey in the wild.

https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-...pread-problem/


As part of the effort to control the island’s cat population, which is estimated at 40,000, she said the Maui Humane Society offers free spaying and neutering for community cats and low-cost spaying and neutering for pet cats. Last year was a record-breaking year, she said, with more than 4,000 cats spayed or neutered.

[Futuremauian]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

500,000 total cats. 40,000 feral cats. Personally - as a first step, I'd rather seen a ban on outdoor cats that are pets (I own a cat)

https://mauiforestbirds.org/invasive...-on-maui-cats/

Cats are one of the predators that were introduced by humans to the Hawaiian Islands. The State of Hawai’i Department of Health estimates that there are 500,000 cats on the island of Maui. Thousands of these are feral, non-domesticated animals left to hunt and capture prey in the wild.

https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-...pread-problem/


As part of the effort to control the island’s cat population, which is estimated at 40,000, she said the Maui Humane Society offers free spaying and neutering for community cats and low-cost spaying and neutering for pet cats. Last year was a record-breaking year, she said, with more than 4,000 cats spayed or neutered.

So, 460,000 "domestic" cats are living within 74,000 housing units among 164,000 residents? Many multifamily properties and vacation rentals do not allow pets.

Do the math. Every household would have to be sheltering multiple cats. Not happening.

Out of 500,000 total cats in Maui, they spayed a "record-breaking" 4,000? That's a drop in the bucket. Undoubtedly, tens of thousands were born the same year.

I don't wish to see any of them suffer but it's time to eliminate the majority of them and step up the efforts to eliminate mice, rats, and mongooses.