My cat's bringing in mice to play with - help!

hotcookie101

ninky wrote: »

cats do this with their kittens in the wild. generally they start with an inanimate item (e.g. dead) and then work their way up to very injured and less injured. this helps the kitten learn hunting techniques.

one very convincing theory is that cats will do the same thing for their owners. by chasing the mouse around they think you are learning to hunt (well you are, actually!) however, by releasing the mouse again you just prove you are not yet able to catch and kill prey - so your cat will do it again. however, take the fact the mice are alive as a compliment - your cat obviously thinks you are advanced enough to handle moving prey!

.

Thats what I was going to say
I was at a cat behaviour lecture recently and the speaker was very funny describing the cat thought processes, in feral cats thats exactly what mum does with kittens to teach them how to hunt-they obviously think we are REALLY thick as we just don't get how to feed ourselves-and when we bin the dead bodies, they roll their eyes to the heavens and just have to try harder to teach us the right way to deal with them (mm mouse for dinner anyone:eek:)
However, my cat obviously doesn't really care about me as he just scoffs everything he kills-I often come home and it looks like he has had a pillow fight-feathers EVERYWHERE

Gloomendoom

KimmyCustard wrote: »

I dont think there is an answer, although my mum's friend has a huge mog that once tried bringing a live rabbit through the catflap, she could just hear the bonk, bonk, bonk of the rabbit's head on the flap as it was being tugged through the hole! So I shall stop moaning about ours in case she finds a bison or equivalent down her phantom hole one night .......

My mother had a cat like that. He worked out that he could get the rabbits in if he went through the cat flap backwards. It was very funny to watch.

Catching the terrified rabbits wasn't so much fun though... although the cat seemed to enjoy watching us.

ninky_2

hotcookie101 wrote: »

Thats what I was going to say
I was at a cat behaviour lecture recently and the speaker was very funny describing the cat thought processes, in feral cats thats exactly what mum does with kittens to teach them how to hunt-they obviously think we are REALLY thick as we just don't get how to feed ourselves-and when we bin the dead bodies, they roll their eyes to the heavens and just have to try harder to teach us the right way to deal with them (mm mouse for dinner anyone:eek:)
However, my cat obviously doesn't really care about me as he just scoffs everything he kills-I often come home and it looks like he has had a pillow fight-feathers EVERYWHERE

the main reason cats were domesticated was for their hunting instincts - to keep down rodent numbers around human homes (and used on boats too). quite possible humans in the past would have been less squeamish about despatching a mouse so the live prey would have been less of an issue. we can't really expect them to change their ways just because our lifestyles and needs have changed.

saintscouple

Our cats are kept in at night, they go to bed at 8pm and wake us up at 7am.
Chip, who is the oldest at 2yrs is the hunter of the 3 and started by bringing in live mice for the other 2 to catch, but recently things have got worse for us. Chip seems to think the other 2 have advanced a stage in that he now brings in live magpies and pigeons!
This causes us 2 problems, 1 being that the other 2 are scared of the birds and run out the house, the 2nd being that the birds are scared and fly around the house pooing everywhere!
It's not too bad if we are in at the time, but if we have been out it can be a right mess.
Hopefully this phase will be over shortly, but dread to think what the next stage could be lol

LuckyBiscuit

We moved to the country 8 months ago with our 2 cats, 9yrs nd 18months, the eldest can't be bothered, but the youngest brings home mice, birds and rabbits almost everyday!!!

As i was starting to type this we spotted him in the garden with a bunny and a chase started, its like something from movie, the rabbit is running, the cat is chasing the cat and the three of us are chasing them, we managed to get it after it decided to jump in the stream but it doesn't look like its going to make it. Sometimes we manage to save them after chasing them around the house or if not he eats them. Its discusting!!!!
I wish there was a way to make him stop.

suered

Ah, the joys of being owned by a cat. My owner (came off the streets of Hackney, so "well 'ard") excelled herself one Sunday a couple of years ago.

2pm: large East End rat delivered - still very much alive and not amused. Cue barricade of lounge door (gap underneath large enough for desperate rat to squeeze under) and much chasing of rat round lounge, behind furniture etc etc until finally cornered and mad enough to bite onto the end of a garden bamboo pole at which point I legged it out of flat and down pathway to security door onto road and flung it out. I SWEAR it turned round in mid-air to try and get back.

5pm: large East End rat delivered. This one made it under the door before I could stop it and legged it into the kitchen and under the cooker. Plaintive plea to lovely large heavily muscled neighbour (LLHMN) to help drag it out - but no rat in evidence. LLHMN then upends cooker and we see that the bottom is open rather than sealed and he opines that rat has legged it INSIDE the cooker. "No worries" says he - and turns the oven on full blast and says he will come back in 20 minutes. Which he does. And we open the kitchen door just in time to see hot and sweaty rat legging it for the back of the fridge-freezer. LLHMN then drags out fridge-freezer and we spend 20 minutes with him round the back, poking at rat with the bamboo cane and me crouched at the front, armed with towel, ready to leap on escaping rat. Finally capture rat, leg it to security door and toss on road.

9pm: just out of shower and more than ready for an early night after the afternoon's exertions. Large East End rat delivered! Hurridly (sp?) barricade lounge door, leg it out of French doors and back in through front door to bedroom to exchange towel for clothes. Back to lounge. Chase rat round lounge (any of this starting to sound familiar?). Corner rat behind table. Rat then climbs up tablecloth and approaches ACROSS table. Yank tablecloth away and rat disappears. Find rat down the back of shelving unit. Feed cat down back of shelving unit. Cat exits shelving unit, yawning and curls up for a nap. Swear at cat (not for first time). Short rest. Decide to try to catch rat again. Rat is nowhere to be found, but sure not left lounge. Disembowel sofabed in attempt to assure self rat has not taken up residence there. Rat still nowhere to be found.

By this time it's about 11pm and my flatmate has come home to find all cushions etc of sofabed piled in heap on floor and another heap of tablecloth and blankets that protect sofa cushions from bed mechanism. Flatmate raises eyebrow. I explain. Flatmate unimpressed with idea of going to bed leaving rat loose - as indeed am I. Search for rat again repeatedly. Swear at cat again. By 1230 not only were we chain smoking, but we had decided that glasses were completely unnecessary in order to consume amount of vodka we felt we needed in order to cope.

1am: notice pile of blankets/tablecloth is moving. Check level of vodka bottle. Agree that vodka cannot be held responsible. Sneak up on pile, grab it and shoot outside, slamming door behind. Shake pile. Exit rat. Oh - and at this point the bloody cat wakes up and decides she wants to play again! Re-enter flat when rat safe and consume more vodka before finally going to bed.

Wanna swop anyone?

saintscouple

suered wrote: »

Ah, the joys of being owned by a cat. My owner (came off the streets of Hackney, so "well 'ard") excelled herself one Sunday a couple of years ago.

2pm: large East End rat delivered - still very much alive and not amused. Cue barricade of lounge door (gap underneath large enough for desperate rat to squeeze under) and much chasing of rat round lounge, behind furniture etc etc until finally cornered and mad enough to bite onto the end of a garden bamboo pole at which point I legged it out of flat and down pathway to security door onto road and flung it out. I SWEAR it turned round in mid-air to try and get back.

5pm: large East End rat delivered. This one made it under the door before I could stop it and legged it into the kitchen and under the cooker. Plaintive plea to lovely large heavily muscled neighbour (LLHMN) to help drag it out - but no rat in evidence. LLHMN then upends cooker and we see that the bottom is open rather than sealed and he opines that rat has legged it INSIDE the cooker. "No worries" says he - and turns the oven on full blast and says he will come back in 20 minutes. Which he does. And we open the kitchen door just in time to see hot and sweaty rat legging it for the back of the fridge-freezer. LLHMN then drags out fridge-freezer and we spend 20 minutes with him round the back, poking at rat with the bamboo cane and me crouched at the front, armed with towel, ready to leap on escaping rat. Finally capture rat, leg it to security door and toss on road.

9pm: just out of shower and more than ready for an early night after the afternoon's exertions. Large East End rat delivered! Hurridly (sp?) barricade lounge door, leg it out of French doors and back in through front door to bedroom to exchange towel for clothes. Back to lounge. Chase rat round lounge (any of this starting to sound familiar?). Corner rat behind table. Rat then climbs up tablecloth and approaches ACROSS table. Yank tablecloth away and rat disappears. Find rat down the back of shelving unit. Feed cat down back of shelving unit. Cat exits shelving unit, yawning and curls up for a nap. Swear at cat (not for first time). Short rest. Decide to try to catch rat again. Rat is nowhere to be found, but sure not left lounge. Disembowel sofabed in attempt to assure self rat has not taken up residence there. Rat still nowhere to be found.

By this time it's about 11pm and my flatmate has come home to find all cushions etc of sofabed piled in heap on floor and another heap of tablecloth and blankets that protect sofa cushions from bed mechanism. Flatmate raises eyebrow. I explain. Flatmate unimpressed with idea of going to bed leaving rat loose - as indeed am I. Search for rat again repeatedly. Swear at cat again. By 1230 not only were we chain smoking, but we had decided that glasses were completely unnecessary in order to consume amount of vodka we felt we needed in order to cope.

1am: notice pile of blankets/tablecloth is moving. Check level of vodka bottle. Agree that vodka cannot be held responsible. Sneak up on pile, grab it and shoot outside, slamming door behind. Shake pile. Exit rat. Oh - and at this point the bloody cat wakes up and decides she wants to play again! Re-enter flat when rat safe and consume more vodka before finally going to bed.

Wanna swop anyone?

Thank you so much for posting.....very funny. :rotfl::rotfl:

kimmee

OMG suered, no I do not want to swap thanks but great post that made me :rotfl: (though I do feel sorry for you)

I think the best quote I ever did see was that 'dogs have owners, cats have staff' :rotfl: and I am certainly PA to mine

Since my last post we've had two more mice, one I managed to capture in the humane trap and another was being chased round the living room by Murph late last Friday evening, both DS's were away for weekend, so it was just me - I got fed up and went to bed and found it had pegged out on the floor in the morning :eek: