Cats in New Zealand

I don't much like cats these days, although I had a lot of affection for my childhood pet cat, Bib, who rubbed heads with me most mornings and used to lick my hair! Somehow I believed that enzymes in a cat's spit actually aided healing! I used to allow bib to lick my wounds.

Another cat I had was Toodles, who was a real character - not at all affectionate and not that very dependent on me. We shared space and he would follow me around.

One Gareth Morgan (an economist) has advocated that cat owners should not replace cats that died, so eventually due to attrition, cats would die out in New Zealand.

I will list my complaints against cats: Cats rub against you to wipe gunk from their eyes and their teeth! Cats can slobber and that spittle it not healthy around the house. Cats find soft soil to defecate and urinate - a nurseryman's nightmare as he has to cover stores of peat and potting mix! Cats have dandruff which can be a severe human allergen. 

Gareth Morgan is correct that cats are killers of birds, lizards and larger insects! 

Cat-lovers are correct that cats kill rodents and rabbits and many claim that their cats do not touch native birds.

Cats do not distinguish and I suppose the killing comes in many instances from 'rough play'.

TV interviewed the SPCA man who threw in that doing away with cats 'would upset the balance of nature'. Hardly here in New Zealand - a little bat is the only indigenous mammal New Zealand was blessed with. So if you take the SPCA point of view, cats have already upset the balance of nature. Cats cannot be claimed to be within nature's balance in New Zealand.

Around here, people release cats 'to fend for themselves' when they decide they no longer want to care for them. Most usually those cats die, and I have found carcases but the rabbit numbers are exploding indicating that the cats have little effect.

Personally, I don't think domestic cats have much effect on birds, lizards, insects, rodents or rabbits - they get the easy ones. Feral cats are different but I have not heard of an effective control for them.

The thing is though, cats do contribute to the economy. How many Vet jobs would be lost without cats? What about the retailers who sell/manufacture food and cat comfort stuff?

An economist has no way of quantifying the value cats give as comfort to people, young and old, and a learning tool to the young.

On balance, even though I'm not fussed on them, cats probably do more good than harm.

Aroma sticks

'Filling the air with fragrance' actually does my head in, and when I smell this stuff in a house, I usually exit as fast as I can - the fragrance mat linger, but I won't.

There was one of these on a motel we stayed at recently, so I just shoved it outside. Then there was on in my sister's room - sorry I put up with it as long as I could.

Anyway, I was given a tarpaulin and I noticed the fragrance of oil on it. And yes, the 'giver' admitted that she had spilt a little oil from an aroma stick bottle on it.
Well I stored it in the shed were I was unlikely to smell it.
A few weeks later, I needed a tarpaulin and while the smell still lingered, it was dry [as it was when I took possession of it].

I placed the tarp on the grass as a clean surface, and to my surprise, the area of grass was desiccating! I now have a patch of dead grass on my lawn caused by this fragrant oil.

So if it kills my grass - what is it doing to the lungs of those who breathe it in?