ok well i know the title sounds a little weird, but if anybody cud answer this question it wud be great. rite well i was thinking of getting my son and myself 2 kittens but my partner thinks that they are dangerous to horses and sheep as in they can cause abortion.he has horses and besides he's not a big cat fan unlike myself and son.. and there is sheep around to belonging to others. well anyway cant find much info on the net about this other than the usually toxoplasmasis(not sure of spelling) that can cause abortion in sheep but not horses. the thing is there is other cats about that i have seen. and cats can only get toxoplasma from eating raw meat as in their prey if they go hunting!!!! anyways i have asked one vet and she said if the cats are wormed every 3 months they shud be fine and im waiting on another veterinary hospital to ring bak but the lady did say she knew it cud be dangerous to sheep i assume she is talking about the faeces or urine of cats!!! any advice guys. has anyone heard of this???
and besides he's not a big cat fan unlike myself and son.
Therein lies the truth 😀
I think you and your son should gang up on him!
Tell him cats are rife on farms and the animals seem just fine.
If he's adamant, tell him it's okay, the cat can be an indoor one. 🙂
Cats are a positive becase they will hunt rodents that eat the feedstuff. Virtually all farmers I know have cats, and see them as an essential working animal. So I think the risk is more about discouragement.
I would also add because I've seen it claimed on these boards. Foxes do not kill cats. A fox will stay away from a cat out of mutual respect, just watch them out in my back garden. I have 3 cats and if one of them is in the garden the fox will keep clear of them.
HTH,
Myarka.
Cats are a positive becase they will hunt rodents that eat the feedstuff. Virtually all farmers I know have cats, and see them as an essential working animal. So I think the risk is more about discouragement.
I would also add because I've seen it claimed on these boards. Foxes do not kill cats. A fox will stay away from a cat out of mutual respect, just watch them out in my back garden. I have 3 cats and if one of them is in the garden the fox will keep clear of them.
Clearly an "alternative" fox:p.
Foxes are opportunistic and will have a go at anything they see as danger/food. A small vixen may not want to tackle cats. A large dog-fox will.
Cats are quite happy around horses and vice-versa.
David:)
A large dog-fox will.
Sorry, I totally disagree. I've lived with cats for nearly 50 years, a lot of that in rural areas where there are a lot of foxes. I've seen many meeting of cats and foxes, every time the fox has given the cats a wide birth.
There are a lot of Urban myths about foxes and cats, but generally they are wrong. A fox will have a go at an ill or injured cat, but that's rare. A fox knows that it can't afford to be injured that's why they avoid cats.
Myarka.
Sorry, I totally disagree. I've lived with cats for nearly 50 years, a lot of that in rural areas where there are a lot of foxes. I've seen many meeting of cats and foxes, every time the fox has given the cats a wide birth.
Myarka.
Hi,
First to admit I don't have your breadth of knowledge when it comes to foxes/cats, but I do know that foxes will attack cats. As you say, its probably the weak or ill ones they attack. They are opportunistic animals.
In towns they proably give cats a wide berth and stick to a nice Macdonalds:D
David:)
In towns they proably give cats a wide berth and stick to a nice Macdonalds:D
Here's a couple of close encounters:
Myarka.
Wouldn't want the fox in the first video near my cats, looks like it has a nasty case of mange.
In answer to the original question, I have horses (and I do breed occasionally) and cats and and have never thought of this as an issue. It is rare for horses to have a problem with toxoplasmosis.
Sheep are susceptible to it and can be a danger to pregnant humans around lambing time, but to be honest a lot of farmers that I know have feral cats for rodent control, so they can't be too worried about it.
I know if I didn't have my stable cats I'd be overrun with rodents.
I lost my beautiful young male tabby to what we presume was a fox only a couple of hundred yards from the farmhouse. It was not far from a pen housing some chicks and we assume the fox thought that it was its territory. We found our cat in the centre of an area of laid corn about 4 ft in diameter and it had obviously been attacked by something. I was really upset :(. I don't think it is common, but when food (even perceived source of food) is at stake then that can be a different matter.
As for cats and horses and sheep - we have them all on the farm and have not noticed any problems. We are aware of the possibility of cross infection for toxoplasmosis, but they all get wormed regularly. Apart from which there are enough feral cats roaming the countryside that could be carrying the problem.
As far as I know cats have been here for many decades and are necessary to help reduce the mouse and rat populations. The rat situation was awful for ages after the floods pushed them out of the sewers and into the countryside. We used three quarters of a ton of bait last year - put out by a registered pest controller I hasten to add. Too many rats for our two remaining farm cats.
Methinks it's more a question of not liking cats!
Cats and sheep
The main way infection is passed on to sheep is by cats using bags of feed as a litter tray as faeces can be ingested by the sheep so the usual advice is to keep cats out of feed rooms or keep food in secure bins.
Toxoplasmosis is zoonitic, i.e. it can cause the same symptoms in humans which is why pregnant women are advised not to clean out cat litter trays (or work with sheep at lambing time for that matter but that's because of Enzootic abortion which can also be passed on to pregnant woman.) However, as long as cats are wormed regularly, there is no need to be overly concerned. We have 3 cats and 300 sheep and no problems.
hey guys thank u all so much for ur wealth of knowledge and experiences!!!:) i guess he may just be trying to put me off getting them and
Louisa as for indoor cats well that wud be a big no no for him!! can just see his face now hahahahha if i told him ill keep them indoors no problems to horses then. i'll have to get them a shed or something like that. the funny thing is the horses arent directly beside the house and its a big open area that they may not go near the horses at all!!!!! i had a call from the vet saying if i wormed them every month there wudnt be a problem. rang 2 vets both said no problem only difference was one said worm every 3 months another every month so i guess i wud go for every month to be on the safe side!!!! thanx u guys xx
Off topic slightly
Just saw this on the BBC Scottish web site, about a suspected puma attack on a horse.
:(:(:(