(Cats) Hunting problem

My cat Candy is adorable, love her to bits, BUT, she has a 'lovely' habit of bringing live mice and birds into the house to kill them. If she feels very kind, she lets them go in the house so my friend can catch them for her.

I know she is doing what cats do best, but if it was bodies we were clearing up, it would't be so bad.

She has a very loud bell, we can hear her coming home 2 minutes before she reaches us so we think we are giving the poor creatures a fighting chance but what really puzzles me is why she brings them in alive? Does she think we are very stupid kittens who need training? I can't shut the cat flap as she goes berserk if she is locked in or out!!!

Any advice anyone?

She brings them back alive as a gift. Its natural for predators to bring back live prey for their offspring to practise on.

Ive got exactly the same problem! My cat sicked up a mouse in the porch the other day!! Ive had rats, mice, birds and rabbits!! Its a nightmare - I even phoned the vet for advice!! Basically all you can do is attach 2 or 3 bells to their collar! Ive even tried the collars that are 10 quid that has a flashing light and apparantely gives off sounds to birds etc when the cat makes any sudden movements - yeah that didnt work either!!

Thanks for that princess! Was thinking that one of those collars could be our next move! I won't waste my money!

There really isn't much that you can do except to restrict their access to outdoors at the major risk times for hunting (night and dawn/dusk), although that won't do much for the poor bird population.

You can also try offering lots of toys for your cat to play with, and spend time playing with these toys with the cat. If you grow catnip, or buy some good quality dried catnip and make some toys with that, you can make toys a bit more exciting for your cat.

There is evidence that bells on collars do very little to warn birds, as the frequency of the bell makes the sound blend in with background noise. The jury is still out as to whether it makes any difference in rodent catching.

None of mine are major hunters (thankfully!) but I used to have an old man cat (he was 13 when I adopted him) who seemed to take pride in being a frighteningly efficient despatcher of everything furry and feathery. He would bring his catch back to the house and line them up on the doorstep, and frequently got into double figures if he was out overnight (I don't really agree with them being out at night, but he was an outdoor cat for his first 13 years and it's hard to change long term habits). Opening the door when he'd been out was a bit like seeing a rodent St Valentine's Day massacre. It was all done for me though- he took care to bring them in and put them at my feet.

Hard to be angry with them when they're caring for you so well isn't it?

Thanks Medusa, I do love her dearly and don't mind the bodies so much. It's just that she gets fed up of the live ones sometimes and leaves them to sit under the washer. I am convinced we will be over-run with the damn things.

She's 2 now and was with her brother till he died last year, do you think that this could have caused her to be 'over-protective' of us? We didn't have this problem when our gorgeous boy was with her?

an old man cat (he was 13 when I adopted him)

Tetley? :)

Tetley? :)

How did you guess?

Thanks Medusa, I do love her dearly and don't mind the bodies so much. It's just that she gets fed up of the live ones sometimes and leaves them to sit under the washer. I am convinced we will be over-run with the damn things.

 

She's 2 now and was with her brother till he died last year, do you think that this could have caused her to be 'over-protective' of us? We didn't have this problem when our gorgeous boy was with her?

It's pretty natural for some cats as they grow up to start treating their humans as family members that need looking after, and one way of looking after you is to train you to hunt and bring home tasty treats for you. It's probable that your cats used to do these sorts of things for each other (but if they were out playing together you simply wouldn't have seen them).

Thanks Medusa

It's been especially hard for her recently because both Him Indoors and myself have had times when we have been away from her and she has missed us both very much ( him more than me cos she's a Daddy's girl)

We wondered about getting her a friend but she seems very happy as an 'only cat'

( Loz sighs deeply and walks around the house with her trousers tucked in her socks for the rest of her life!!!!! )