Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK

Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Sarah_Jane on September 19, 2011, 12:12:01 PM

Title: do you do it?
Post by: Sarah_Jane on September 19, 2011, 12:12:01 PM
mate came over last night, and as were sitting the biggest spider ever (any one else noticed how big they are this year?) ran across the room. so i did what i usually do woke twix up showed him it prodded it so it moved so he could play with it and eat it, mate was horrified said i was cruel!! I said i was looking after twixel and keeping his hunting abilities well tuned after all spiders and flies are they only prey he gets since he dnt get to go outside, so does any one else see a spider and think wheres the cat instead of grabbing the glass and paper???
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Lindsey (thefunkyinuit) on September 19, 2011, 12:19:16 PM
I'm a big believer in leaving house spiders be (hubby isn't as keen!) so we have a special spider catcher because he gets scared like a big girl  :evillaugh: BUT saying that, in Lacie's younger days she would play with spiders and i'd let her because its just nature! The spiders in my sister's house don't stand a chance, her big boy Azzy absolutly loves them, he swallows them whole.  :innocent:
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: mumtomaz on September 19, 2011, 12:28:09 PM
Maz isn't that interested in spiders (and we've only seen one this year so far, hopefully not many more because I'm not keen on them) but she used to be a lifesaver when it came to maybugs.  Where I used to live there were loads, they came in through any open window in the evening and I really, really don't like them!!!  Maz would come running as soon as she heard me shrieking her name and bring them down.  Then just keep them immobile on the floor until I got enough courage to trap them and put them outside.  Horrible things, just thinking about them makes me shudder.  Maz is an angel-superstar-lifesaver though  :Luv2: :Luv2: :Luv2:
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Rosella moggy on September 19, 2011, 12:38:20 PM
 :shocked: :shocked: :shocked:

Definite glass and paper spider (and any other life form) life saver here.  OH likewise. 

OH not that keen on teaching our lot to hunt by playing with Da Birdy and Da Mousey either but we turn a blind eye to that as they love playing with them too much................
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: maddercow on September 19, 2011, 13:21:52 PM
If I see a spider I will definitely try to save it, they are nice chaps.  However, usually Izzy gets there first and most mornings there will be several sad little corpses lying on the floor. I don't know what she does with them, she doesn't eat them.... they always look a bit flat so my guess is she just steps on them! I also save bees and butterflies 'cos they are cute and wasps as am scared they will sting her.

She can have flies, mossies and daddy longlegses no problems.

Jo
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on September 19, 2011, 13:22:33 PM
mine dont like them anymore than i do, well that was un til lupin arrived and he will chase anything that moves.
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: sheryl on September 19, 2011, 13:26:05 PM
Have to agree with your friend - it does seem a bit cruel .

I always try to save them if I can - sometimes I am too late and one of the cats gets there first but I would never deliberatley "feed" a spider to them
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: jezebel on September 19, 2011, 14:51:30 PM
I usually evict spiders (mainly because I'm stupidly scared of the very big ones and don't want them wandering around!).

However, if the cats are outside then anything's fair game - although they mainly just chase (and lose!) butterflies.
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Sarah_Jane on September 19, 2011, 15:22:30 PM
spiders seem to be a bit like marmite then lol i wudn let him get a butterfly moth or anything with a stingy but since we get a lot of spiders living so close to farms and they are big and he loves em and he all upset cos he his foster buddies are all gone and i cant resist givcing him what he want  lol ile agree it is a mean on the spiders though but he eats them
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Teresa Pawcats on September 19, 2011, 15:31:21 PM
A spider is a living breathing creature and as such deserves to be respected.
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Janeyk on September 19, 2011, 15:53:15 PM
Never, always save and if my cat was after one I'd stop it.  My Pep is blind so he wouldn't see one anyway but other cats I've had I've stopped them.  I'm a bit squeamish of them but would still feel sorry for them, I could never harm anything. 
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: nickynoo93 on September 19, 2011, 15:58:49 PM
I get OH to get rid of them outside, but if Poppy sees one before us she will have it, she only plays with it, doesn't usually eat it. Pats it and jumps around it.
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Tiggy's Mum on September 19, 2011, 19:40:26 PM
I can't stand the things, they make my blood crawl and even typing this my face is scrunched up with disgust - I've even slept in the car before when there was a big one that evaded capture when I was living at home with my parents! There's no way I could catch a spider so they either get eaten (by Riley, Lu is a rubbish spider catcher) or I use a fly swat  :shy:  I have conkers by all windows, screens on any windows that ever get opened and 'spider spray' around all windows too so luckily *touch wood* I don't get that many.
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: nickynoo93 on September 19, 2011, 21:12:38 PM
My Mum has Conkers in the corners of her living room, My brothers little dog, pinches them though!!  :sneaky:
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Tiggy's Mum on September 19, 2011, 21:13:26 PM
My Mum has Conkers in the corners of her living room, My brothers little dog, pinches them though!!  :sneaky:

They're one of Lu's favourite toys too!
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Cat_Crazy on September 19, 2011, 22:27:23 PM
Generally I leave spiders alone, after all they have a job to do too!. OH is scared of them, so its up to me to rescue them and put them outside. The cats are curious when it comes to spiders.. they will sniff and gently nudge them.... then run off quickly when the spider runs over their paws!. They go mad for moths though. 
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: JenGeorgieBob on September 20, 2011, 09:58:18 AM
I have to admit to pointing them out to the cats to play with (they are also indoor only so I figure it gives them something different in their environment) but they don't like them, preferring to eat flies and moths. If it is a little spider then it is left, big ones are relocated outside!
Having a lizard though I probably have a different attitude as she likes to eat certain bugs so I am selfish in that I prioritise her needs over the bugs life.
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Bren22 on September 20, 2011, 10:54:43 AM
I quite like spiders because I HATE flies.  The cats do chase them but the spiders in my house seem to know when it's safe to come out.  I encourage spiders to spin in odd corners so they can keep the fly population down (that's my excuse for not doing housework, and I'm sticking to it!)
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Rosella moggy on September 20, 2011, 11:45:59 AM
I'd never heard this conker thing before last Friday when met our "gardener" in pub.  He came up to me and said "feel me bum"   :shocked: :shocked: :shocked: :shocked:   

He had been collecting conkers to sort out spiders for him and neighbours (I thought he was joking) and they were in his jeans back pockets  :evillaugh:  He kept asking peeps if they had a bag as it hurt to sit down  :evillaugh:
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on September 20, 2011, 14:21:11 PM
I have never heard about this conker thing till now LOL

When I go to FOD next weill ne looking for conkers  ;D

How does it work and why?

Pity I cant put them in upper corners or rooms.........sigh
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Rosella moggy on September 20, 2011, 14:39:37 PM
The chap said something about them not liking the smell.  I've never thought of spiders as having a sense of smell  :-:  He puts them under the bed.....

Debunked myth?

http://www.communicatescience.eu/2010/08/results-are-in-spider-vs-conker-myth.html
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Kirst on September 20, 2011, 18:34:27 PM
Spideys are very welcome in my house - if one of the boys gets them , then thats nature for you , but i would never encourage them to chase them. I even feel a bit guilty about getting rid of cobwebs , but I do have some standards......... :evillaugh:
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on September 20, 2011, 18:43:57 PM
Oh well lol...................sigh
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Susanne (urbantigers) on September 20, 2011, 18:57:18 PM
I hate spiders.  I know I should leave them be but I'm phobic about them so they get short shrift.  I have killed about 10 in the past couple of weeks.  I can only summon up the courage to kill them because the alternative is scarier.  There was one on the wall this  morning out of reach and I was about to leave for work so I left Mosi to play with it.  He spotted it  before me.
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: tab on September 20, 2011, 23:15:00 PM
Have to admit Ive spent years gloating that I dont get spiders... After Mogs died and when Amber was in the cattery I suddenly foumd 3 spiders which I set free....Since Amber came home theres been none... I dont know if shes got them or if they havent appeared because of her lol...

That said she did the other get a moth which I would have rescued if it hadnt already been sucked to death... as it was I should have taken it anyway as she threw up before morning  :evillaugh:
love
Tab
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: thekittensmittens on September 21, 2011, 00:18:04 AM
Miyagi is a great cat fo catching anything that crawls or flys....he tuly is like M Miyagi fom katate kid as he sits watching them with his eyes following the movement then he just quickly claps his paws together to catch one :wow:
he then eats them though :sick:
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Sarah_Jane on September 25, 2011, 11:56:35 AM
i leave the little ones be but we had a daddy long legs in the other night and when i put twix near it hewas scared of it bless him so that got wafted outside.  :rofl:
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: sheilarose on September 25, 2011, 12:43:11 PM
If there's one stuck in the bath I leave a piece of toilet tissue draped over the edge as a "ladder" overnight - it's invariably escaped by morning.

My house is home to many creatures and I never knowingly kill anything except slugs (ugh I hate slugs), which shows me to have shallow double standards, sorry.

One spider that came in this year was so big I could hear it's footsteps across my wooden floor, so yes, I do think they're bigger this year!

Pursley and Sly will pursue a spider until it's dead - even if this means camping out for hours by the washing machine/fridge/litter tray or wherever it has hidden.  By morning it's usually upside down with it's feet all tied in knots, so I know they don't eat them (unlike bluebottles which Sly thinks are the tastiest things since dweemies).  :rofl:

I don't get involved as this is nature's way, but I wouldn't steer the cats towards any critter I'd spotted first.

The others aren't bothered about spiders in the slightest but they all, without exception, find moths irresistable.
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Janeyk on September 25, 2011, 12:56:53 PM
This thread made me think when I was I pegging out washing this morning, at one end of my line is a web but seems to be getting bigger, washing now starts a third of the way in because I won't get rid of the web  :innocent:
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Sarah_Jane on September 25, 2011, 15:40:06 PM
 :rofl: janeyk i d feel kinda guilty about showing twix the spiders now after reading these but twix loves em so twix gets em lol
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: sCATty on September 25, 2011, 16:50:01 PM
I hate spiders.  I know I should leave them be but I'm phobic about them so they get short shrift.  I have killed about 10 in the past couple of weeks.  I can only summon up the courage to kill them because the alternative is scarier.

 :-[ me too! I've been phobic since I was a child and almost didn't discover a dead one lurking in my muesli  :sick: been scared of spiders and cereal with raisins in ever since   :-[

My first thought is usually arghh!kill!squish!die! but if there's a cat nearby I have been know to point the spider out and let nature take its course  :naughty:  but my husband is all for setting them free outside so if he's around I get him to deal with them.

Have found a few dead ones around the house since spraying the place for fleas though so that was pretty good, no squishing involved.

Flys I zap with one of those electrocuting swats and feed to Aubrey the venus fly trap.
 
Title: Re: do you do it?
Post by: Gill (sneakiefeline) on September 26, 2011, 16:38:14 PM
aubrey the venus fly trap...............love that  :rofl: :rofl: