My cats are killing everything!

My cats are killing everything!

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bernhund

Original Poster:

3,767 posts

192 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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What can I do to minimise the slaughter? Even though my cats wear collars with bells, they are killing everything that breathes! Seriously, everyday there are animal parts on my doorstep. Usually just the kidneys!
Yesterday I came home to 2 new born chicks, a mouse and a shrew. The chicks must have been taken from the nest. The day before one of the cats was looking through a window with a rabbit in his mouth and the same again happened a couple of days before that. As for mice..I'm surprised there are any left around here.
I should point out this is a rural location, but nonetheless, it's all a bit sad. So what can we do? My wife says we should feed the cats up as much as possible, but I think they just want to kill all day long.

KrazyIvan

4,341 posts

174 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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Feed them less, that way they'll eat what there killing, you won't see it and save money. Win win.

Seriously though you live in the country and have cats, There is little you can do to stop them short of keeping then in all the time.

R8VXF

6,788 posts

114 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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KrazyIvan said:
Feed them less, that way they'll eat what there killing, you won't see it and save money. Win win.

Seriously though you live in the country and have cats, There is little you can do to stop them short of keeping then in all the time.
what he said.

Seriously, you have pets that are notoriously efficient hunters yet don't like the fact that they are doing what they do best.

Have you tried playing with the cats with a laser pointer, this may tire them out and satisfy the hunting urge. You do need to remember to give them a reward afterwards else they will feel frustrated. Our cats have the Zebedee catnip mice which they love to play with.

bernhund

Original Poster:

3,767 posts

192 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
R8VXF said:
KrazyIvan said:
Feed them less, that way they'll eat what there killing, you won't see it and save money. Win win.

Seriously though you live in the country and have cats, There is little you can do to stop them short of keeping then in all the time.
what he said.

Seriously, you have pets that are notoriously efficient hunters yet don't like the fact that they are doing what they do best.

Have you tried playing with the cats with a laser pointer, this may tire them out and satisfy the hunting urge. You do need to remember to give them a reward afterwards else they will feel frustrated. Our cats have the Zebedee catnip mice which they love to play with.
Yes, it's a fact they are very good at what they do and we do appreciate it keeps the mouse population down etc. These are just so much better at it than other cats we've had! We're used to one or two corpses per week, but this is like a slaughter house. They do have toys in the house, but we've not tried them with the catnip mice.
Maybe we'll get them bigger, louder bells. So heavy they struggle to move!!laugh

MarshPhantom

9,658 posts

136 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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Some cats are worse than others. Ours aren't really a problem.

pidsy

7,959 posts

156 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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one of mine rarely kills - spends his time sleeping and laying on the bed.

my other cat is a killing machine. we've had :

mice (10-15 per week)
Birds (small)
blackbird x1
squirrels at least 3
magpie x 1
several pigeons

he's a nightmare.

i just think its his nature, he is constantly out hunting. he is really healthy and seems to live for hunting.

StoatInACoat

1,352 posts

184 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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We don't really get kills but we get an awful lot of stuff released in the house. God knows how she gets them home and through the cat flap completely intact but we've had in the last year:

Loads of mice mostly alive. Often they run off into the lounge and the cat falls asleep which is exactly what you want on a Monday evening after work.
5 Rats (nice)
3 Birds
1 dead bird but I think that was a recapture after it had died from the shock of being "saved" by me.
1 Goldfish. I couldn't save this one.
Get the odd shrew as well but she seems bored of them now.

Had a mouse left outside which I trod on popping out to do the recycling. I am getting good at catching stuff now and have found a pint glass the best method.

Only way we have found to limit it is to try and hold the cat hostage overnight as this is when they are at their most efficient apparently. Issue with this is that she wakes me up at 3 in the morning and if I don't relent has a massive steaming poo in the litter tray that I can smell one floor and several rooms away and then starts emptying the washing bin.

dmitsi

3,583 posts

219 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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One of our two is a good hunter. We get live frogs released into the house on a regular basis, I've never seen them kill one and sometimes they'll be a frog sat in the kitchen with the cats, maybe they want to be friends.
Mice are generally killed unless I hear her come in with them, she makes a distinctive squeaking when she has some live prey.
Last year she took down a few magpies which upset the other magpies a lot, so far this year no birds but we have lots nesting nearby.
The best was a few weeks, I saw her playing with something on the lawn. I then saw an orange flash from the grass, she's got hold of a small koi. After it stopped flipping about and died she just left it outside. We then went out for the evening, when we got back the koi and been moved inside and presented to us in her food bowl. I'm sure there is an upset neighbour nearby missing their fish.

dmitsi

3,583 posts

219 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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Oh and a very large dead rat a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure how it fitted through the catflap. The scream from girlfriend on that one was quite impressive, I was very proud of the cat on that one.

bernhund

Original Poster:

3,767 posts

192 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
Well it's all part of the circle I suppose. Nature doing its thing. But if you've ever heard a rabbit screaming, it really is disturbing!
I'm getting a bit cheesed off with the blood stains on the doorstep. Admittedly, these moggies do generally eat what they catch. But kidneys are left strewn everywhere! Interestingly, the new born birds were not eaten yesterday.

bexVN

14,682 posts

210 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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A rabbit scream is one of the most awful things to hear frown.

I don't mind if cats efficiently kill mice, playing with them is just badness!! And I hate if they kill birds but unfortunately there is no explaining that to a cat.

Short of shutting them in there is little you can do.

Simpo Two

85,150 posts

264 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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It may be sad to you, but it's simply nature. It's what cats do. Animals eat other animals.

Sell them to a farmer and buy a goldfish?

jesta1865

3,448 posts

208 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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dmitsi said:
One of our two is a good hunter. We get live frogs released into the house on a regular basis, I've never seen them kill one and sometimes they'll be a frog sat in the kitchen with the cats, maybe they want to be friends.
Mice are generally killed unless I hear her come in with them, she makes a distinctive squeaking when she has some live prey.
Last year she took down a few magpies which upset the other magpies a lot, so far this year no birds but we have lots nesting nearby.
The best was a few weeks, I saw her playing with something on the lawn. I then saw an orange flash from the grass, she's got hold of a small koi. After it stopped flipping about and died she just left it outside. We then went out for the evening, when we got back the koi and been moved inside and presented to us in her food bowl. I'm sure there is an upset neighbour nearby missing their fish.
i had a cat that also got a koi in the garden, alive, it died despite me getting it into water. problem was i asked around the street and no-one had a pond, so god only knows where she got it from and how she got it so far back still alive.

she also brought another fish home with her, except this was dead already as it had been fried, i think it was a large bit of cod, she loved eating it, but i suspect some poor pensioner was somewhere trying to report being mugged by a small tabby cat for their lunch smile

Patch1875

4,893 posts

131 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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Mines have brought home nothing other than a feather sticking out his mouth... I'm a bit disappointedbiggrin

R8VXF

6,788 posts

114 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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bexVN said:
A rabbit scream is one of the most awful things to hear frown
Ever heard a Frog scream? Horrible!

okgo

37,860 posts

197 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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Isn't this what all the bells and stuff are for?

Munter

31,319 posts

240 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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okgo said:
Isn't this what all the bells and stuff are for?
There is a theory that it can just make them better. Some learn to move so the bell doesn't jingle. Which (so the theory says), just happens to make them extra stealthy.

MarshPhantom

9,658 posts

136 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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Munter said:
okgo said:
Isn't this what all the bells and stuff are for?
There is a theory that it can just make them better. Some learn to move so the bell doesn't jingle. Which (so the theory says), just happens to make them extra stealthy.
Ninjas of the Cat world.

Simpo Two

85,150 posts

264 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
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In 27 years of cat ownership (3 cats in all) I've only had about three birds and two mice delivered - all alive.

pidsy

7,959 posts

156 months

Thursday 23rd April 2015
quotequote all
okgo said:
Isn't this what all the bells and stuff are for?
mine both remove all collars. we've given up now (plus it used to give the dog something to grab onto through the bannisters)