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CatAlert FAQS

Frequently asked questions 1. What is CatAlert? 2. How does the collar work? 3. How effective is CatAlert? 4. Is it safe for my cat to wear a CatAlert? 5. Is it not natural for cats to hunt? 6. What effect do cats have on wildlife? 7. How can the CatAlert collar help? 8. What are the advantages of the collar? 9. Are there any further developments planned for CatAlert? 10. Can cats catch bird flu? 1. What is CatAlert? CatAlert is an electronic sonic device contained in a small box attached to a standard safety cat collar. It beeps every 7 seconds to alert birds to the presence of stalking felines. The collar can be switched so that it automatically stops beeping when it becomes dark. It is driven by a CR2032 3V Li battery that has a lifetime of 2 years. The battery is of a type often used in hearing aids and replacements are available from Willana Lifesciences (£2.00) camera shops and large pharmacies. The device is weighs 10 grams. Very few cats object to the collar or the beeping 2. How does the collar work? Cats use a silent approach during stalking to reach a position where they can pounce on their prey. The collar ensures that they make a loud approach and so alert birds to the danger. The birds soon become accustomed to this and learn that if a bush beeps then there is a cat behind it. 3. How effective is CatAlert? The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) tested CatAlert in 4 independent trials during the Spring , Summer, Autumn and Winter of 1999. Their results have been published on our website and indicate that bird kills by cats wearing the collar were reduced by two thirds. The results were very robust in that they were the same during all four seasons. CatAlert collars were also tested by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and found to be much more effective than bells in protecting birds. CatAlert is the only device of its type which has been subjected to independent scientific trials. 4. Is it safe for my cat to wear a CatAlert? The collars used have an elasticated portion which allows cats to wriggle free if gets caught up in a tree or fence. Extra catches can be supplied for owners to attach the CatAlert box to another type of collar. The Feline Advisory Bureau http://www.fabcats.org/index.html advise the use of collars with a safety catch or elasticated section. 5. Is it not natural for cats to hunt? Although cats make affectionate pets, many domestic cats hunt as effectively as wild predators. However, they differ from wild predators in four important ways: - a. First, people protect cats from disease, predation and competition, factors that can control numbers of wild predators, such as foxes, bobcats, raptor birds or coyotes. b. Second, they often have a dependable supply of food provided by humans and are, therefore, not influenced by changes in populations of prey. Whereas populations of native predators will decline when prey becomes scarce, cats receiving food subsidies from people remain abundant and continue to hunt even rare species. c. Third, unlike many native predators, cat densities are either poorly limited or not limited by territoriality. Cats hunt in other peoples gardens d. Fourth, unlike some predators, a cat's desire to hunt is not suppressed by adequate supplemental food. Even when fed regularly by people, a cat's motivation to hunt remains strong, so it continues hunting. These four factors give the cat a great and un-natural advantage over their prey. CatAlert tends to even out the odds. 6. What effect do cats have on wildlife? World-wide, cats have been involved in the extinction of more bird species than any other cause except habitat degradation and are contributing to the endangerment of several rare mammal populations. Britain's domestic cats, alone, are said to kill at least 75 million birds annually and pet cats in the USA are estimated to kill more than 1.4 billion birds each year. In Australia, a recent report suggested that the country's up to 15 million feral and domestic cats were killing 96 million vertebrates per year including 186 native bird species.

7. How can the CatAlert collar help? One of the main advantages cats have is the silence and stealth of their stalking procedure. They hold their heads very still during this approach (bells don't ring). The beeping collar gives the birds a "heads up" warning and they can escape in time. This is very important during the nesting season when the birds are actively foraging to feed their young. The loss of a single parent bird during the nesting season can result in the death of all the chicks in a brood. 8. What are the advantages of the collar? Many cat owners are distressed that their pets attack wildlife but are reluctant to keep them locked in all the time. Cats fitted with a CatAlert collar can roam outside with little effect on birds. Cats retain their traditional freedom to roam while the local wildlife are continuously alerted to danger and can keep out of harm's way. 9. Are there any further developments planned for CatAlert? Yes, we plan to develop a radio-controlled collar that will switch off automatically when the cat comes home. Some news should become available on this in March 2006  10. Bird Flu and Cats Austrian health authorities have confirmed that three cats in a southern Austrian animal shelter at one point were carriers of the H5N1 bird flu virus but two have since fought off the deadly strain. Oskar Wawschinek, spokesman for the Austrian Health and Food Safety Organisation (AGES), told AFP that mouth swabs taken from the felines on February 22 tested positive to H5N1. Subsequent testing showed however, that two of the cats no longer carried the virus. "Nothing remained, nothing developed, they did not become ill" he said, explaining the cats had fought off the virus as humans can fight off a cold virus to avoid becoming sick. Mr Wawschinek said that the third cat infected with the H5N1 virus was still under observation and was undergoing tests to confirm its presence. The felines were being kept in the Noah’s Ark animal shelter in Graz, the site of the European Union’s first poultry infection which had been discovered in chickens a week earlier. On Monday, Noah's Ark's director, Herbert Oster, told AFP that the cats could have come into contact with the birds. The head of the province's veterinary services said transmission probably took place via food or excrement. AGES is concerned that for a few days at least, the cats were carriers of the highly pathogenic strain of bird flu and could have passed it onto other animals in the shelter. Further tests were being carried out on the 170 cats that were being kept at the animal shelter, which had now been closed. Pandemic fears Health officials across the globe are currently preparing for a feared mutation of the bird flu virus to a form capable of being transmitted between humans. There has been increased alarm since German authorities announced on March 2 that a cat found dead on the island of Ruegen had H5N1, the first infection of a mammal in Europe. Initial tests suggest that the animal apparently caught the virus from eating infected wild birds. H5N1 has previously killed domestic and wild cats, including captive tigers, in Asia in 2004 but authorities aren’t taking chances and are investigating all infections, bird or mammal. The news led hundreds of German cat owners to dump their pets at shelters. Spreading broadly In the latest bird flu developments, the virus was confirmed to have spread to Poland and to Serbia for the first time. Hong Kong has imposed restrictions after the neighbouring Chinese province of Guangdong reported a new human victim. Hospital officials in Indonesia confirmed a 25-year-old woman who was five months pregnant died with symptoms of bird flu after being in close contact with chickens. In Bucharest, five southeast European countries agreed to set up a joint centre dedicated to researching and fighting bird flu.