We have new neighbours, which is fine, except for one thing – they have a cat that they don’t keep in at night.
This cat is friendly enough, a bit skittish, but happy to come and say hello to us, and tease the girls out the front window. Alas, the cat is also very friendly with our birds, which is going to be huge problem.
Currently, our birds are in cages on a table outside, as they wouldn’t be safe from the girls inside. They have been out there since we moved here several months ago, safe and sound from the girls, and with no prowling cats until now.
This cat is beautiful, I’ll admit that being a cat person. It is one of the tailless varieties, most likely a manx, which I love. It does seem to be well fed and well looked after, though lacks a collar, which all cats in Queensland must have. I doubt it is micro-chipped either, which is a shame.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m more than happy for my neighbours to 
have a cat, but they aren’t keeping it in at night and Pusca (that’s what I call it), is going to cause us big problems. Our neighbours are barely there during the day, and at night, it is all hands to the work stations getting the girls off to bed.
The way things are, our options are to get rid of the birds altogether, drag them in at night and when we go out, or leave them out there with Pusca where they run the risk of ending up on the floor (some of the cages are such a cat can easily push them over).
Calling the RSPCA is an option, but they will only take the cat if we don’t know who it belongs to, and it is pretty clear where the cat lives. Pusca only started to come around after they moved in, and there have been no other cats on the prowl up until then.
The laws in Queensland now are that a cat has to be registered with the local council, it must be desexed (unless they are registered for breeding), the cat must be micro-chipped and wearing a collar with a bell on it, the cat must be taken indoors at sunset and stay indoors all night and the cat owner is responsible for any deaths to local wildlife that their cat has caused.
Decisions, decisions. Might just be easier to get rid of the birds after all.