Letter: Just a pussycat

Sir: Our cat is 14 years old. As my wife and I are both retired, we have ample opportunities to observe its conduct.

We have never known it to kill any living thing. When a blue-tit flew through our open bedroom window and stunned itself, that cat went upstairs, picked it up and brought it down to us. We placed it on a hanging flower basket and after a while it recovered consciousness and flew away. A neighbour's cat chases spiders but never manages to catch them!

When we lived in a basement flat we had a cat who used to study the amphibia which gathered outside the windows. It never tried to catch them. I find the story about hooking newts out of a pond difficult to believe: at this time of the year British amphibia have become terrestrial and, in any case, their skins produce a secretion that is toxic to cats and dogs.

I suggest that Charles Maybourne (letter, 6 December) buys some cat food for the offending moggy in order to discourage it from its distressing activities. How does Mr Maybourne feel about blackbirds killing such garden wildlife as worms, and hedgehogs eating slugs?

LESLIE P HARPER

Cheadle, Cheshire