Cats bringing in Mice + Birds HELP!!

2boysmum

Equaliser123 wrote: »

Good for you for sticking a bell on it.

Unfortunately, though, it isn't just a little dead bird that has been destroyed but, in all probability, an entire brood of chicks which will now starve to death.

It's actually 2 bells, I stuck an extra one on after the first time she brought home a baby mouse. Unfortunately there's really not much else that cat owners can do to stop their cats from doing what comes naturally to them, except for keep them indoors, my cats have been outdoor cats since I got them both and it would be cruel to stop them from getting outside.

poppie123

It's my girl cat that's my problem, my god she catches everything and it is usually late at night. There i am stupid o' clock trying to catch and set free whatever she has caught.:(

The worst was a rabbit but she has caught frogs, birds (including a massive pigeon) newts, mice, shrews the list is endless.

My boy cat doesn't really catch much,although having said that last week he came home with a mole, yes a mole :eek:
I am convinced it must already have been dead and he found it and brought it in.

By the way mine both have super duper bells on their collars but like other posters have said it is near on impossible to stop them doing it.:(

Equaliser123

2boysmum wrote: »

It's actually 2 bells, I stuck an extra one on after the first time she brought home a baby mouse. Unfortunately there's really not much else that cat owners can do to stop their cats from doing what comes naturally to them, except for keep them indoors, my cats have been outdoor cats since I got them both and it would be cruel to stop them from getting outside.

You can, perhaps, keep it in until the fledglings have left the nest.

May be cruel to stop them going outside, but rather that than probably the cruellest death of numerous birds starving to death.

Fire_Fox

Equaliser123 wrote: »

You can, perhaps, keep it in until the fledglings have left the nest.

May be cruel to stop them going outside, but rather that than probably the cruellest death of numerous birds starving to death.

Many birds will nest at least twice over the summer; given that they don't all coordinate that means keeping cats in for months on end! Sorry but it is very cruel to keep some cats in, my Noah is fine but some will go stir crazy and wreck the house. Many people only have the one cat and work full time, so that is a lot of time without stimulation.

More practical suggestions would be to catproof your garden, only get rescue cats, neuter them, make them wear a bell, keep them in at dusk. A baby bird will starve pretty fast, even if it grows to adulthood it is not guaranteed to have a swift painless death unfortunately.

KxMx

I always keep Lily in this time of year when I know the majority of birds are nesting, and will only let her out when I think the main lot of chicks are independant.

Her new collar has a bell which is housed in a cermaic ball so it's quite loud. Her last collar I went to the craft shop and put another on!

chris1973

I had the same problem with my two cats. Often I would arrive home after work or a day out to find various 'kills' arranged around the kitchen with almost Artistic like creatively.

Enough was enough when one of them brought in a large mouse, and it escaped and crawled off to die behind the fridge, eventually the smell lead me to it!. This is always the danger, that their prey may not always be killed and could escape and then run free around the house!.

Now, I leave a litter tray and the cats in the house when I leave, and a cat flap switched to one way allows them to go out, but not get back in. They have alternative shelter, food / fresh water and cat beds in both the shed and porch, so no worries when i'm at work. This way, they cannot bring mice and birds into the house.

They both seem perfectly happy with this arrangement. This time of year they seem to stay in the house for a couple of hours snoozing, and then go out for a few hours to lie in the shade, before I return in the evening.

Oldernotwiser

When we lived in the country, the neighbours had a mouse which our cat would go in, catch it, play with it for a while and then take it back!

ellybelly89

Our 2 cats have 5 bells each but still insist on killing rabbits, frogs, many types of bird, mice, moles and voles. It's very sad to see their dead bodies lined up outside. They like bringing in alive mice too which we have to chase out. Don't know how to stop them but the bells don't seem to do the trick.

meritaten

one of my cats obviously thought i didnt appreciate his gifts of dead mice ect - so he brought me live ones - which i let go up the field. so he brought me kittens instead! he brought them in - let them share his breakfast - then took them back! (we kept the first one and couldnt understand why cat got upset! then realised he wanted to take it back!) we followed him and found it was missing from its litter! the neighbour was amused thank gawd)

Equaliser123

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Many birds will nest at least twice over the summer; given that they don't all coordinate that means keeping cats in for months on end! Sorry but it is very cruel to keep some cats in, my Noah is fine but some will go stir crazy and wreck the house. Many people only have the one cat and work full time, so that is a lot of time without stimulation.

More practical suggestions would be to catproof your garden, only get rescue cats, neuter them, make them wear a bell, keep them in at dusk. A baby bird will starve pretty fast, even if it grows to adulthood it is not guaranteed to have a swift painless death unfortunately.

Sorry but birds will not nest "at least twice over the summer". Some may have more than one brood but that is the exception.

It may be cruel to keep a cat in but to do nothing to try and stop their destruction of wildlife is, IMHO, wholly irresponsible.

Your comment that even if a bird grows to adulthood it is not guaranteed to have a swift painless death is bizarre! If nature (e.g. sparrowhawk or other predator, weather, etc) takes it, then that is just part of the cycle.

Cats are not part of the cycle.