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Message: <blockquote data-quote="David FG" data-source="post: 1405764" data-attributes="member: 15636">I understand (I think) your point:  it is indeed possible to argue that anything which is, is 'natural', but I think we are getting into the realms of semantics rather than ecology.By a 'natural system' I mean (and I know this is very much a simplification) a system which has evolved over a long period of time, and which is - over time - in a state of apparent equilibrium, and which doesn't rely on external input to maintain it.Cats do indeed have a part in some natural systems (the Scottish Wild Cat for example), and their numbers will be limited by the territories they can maintain and the food available to them and so on.  The domestic cat is not 'natural' in that their numbers would be completely unsustainable in a wild state and there are no limitations upon them.  They are not subject to the constraints of wild predators:  they don't need to maintain a territory or hunt and kill to live, for example.</blockquote>