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Ah, the domestic cat. Few creatures divide opinion among birdkeepers so completely. Are our cats furry sinners or fluffy scapegoats? My all-time villain was a dreadful ginger tom called Pancake, who tended to leave birds in peace and devote his energies to moles. He would station himself next to a molehill, flat on his belly, literally for hours. If he saw the soil twitch, he would tear the hill to bits in a trice and seek to wrench out the poor old mole. The awful thing was that, once in a while, he’d succeed and bring a trophy indoors for his owner to admire. Once, he excelled himself and left a half-grown weasel by the downstairs loo. It was dead, of course – sort of. Some grisly memories there, which have biased me a little, I admit, against the family feline. More balanced altogether is David Alderton’s piece on page 16, where he points out the pluses of having an established territorial cat in your garden. It will soon ignore your birds, explains David, and will see off visiting mogs who might be interested – though it may still freak out your birds. David has almost won me over... does your experience match his? Do write and let us know. ■ A hearty welcome in this issue to a new contributor of budgerigar articles, the talented and ambitious Sam Wildes of Trent Valley BS. Sam’s debut piece appears on page 19. ■ If you’re placing a Bargain Box or classified advert in Cage & Aviary Birds, please note that the contact information has recently changed. You’ll find the new details at the top of the coupon on page 27. ■ Owing to an infuriating technical glitch, the open show calendar in last week’s issue repeated the show details for October. The correct information for your November diary dates will appear next week. Apologies, and thanks to those readers who have pointed this out.