What to do with the cat and his presents

spugzbunny

You should be fine if everything is washed well re germs. I actually pick the mice up with my bare hands now as I have got so used to getting them!

It's funny becasue he can go months without bringing anything in then he goes on a killing spree. I think he finds a nest. A few months ago he brought one in and whilst I was packing it away in it's mouse house I watched him trot across the garden with another! 2 in less than 5 mins!!

Wait till you get a live bird! They are much worse! With mice you acn release them and hope they will be ok. Birds are usually brought in less a wing or a foot and then what do you do? I actually took one to the vets who kindly 'dealt' with it for free for me!

seasalt_2

No cat now as DD is allergic - the mice come in by themselves! But we once had a hunter and no amount of bells and whistles stopped him - they only jangled when he pounced and by then it was too late. He once brought home a huge and beautiful goldfish (koi carp?) and the poor thing was flapping around on the carpet so I put it in a washing up bowl of water while I tried to find an owner - no luck though - no one with a pond for streets around - ended up tipping the goldfish into the river to take its chances - probably not very good as easy to spot prey for a heron etc.

JimmyTheWig

spugzbunny wrote: »

You should be fine if everything is washed well re germs.

Yes, that was my thinking, too.

caz74

Our cat occasionally brings in mice - if any are left alive we catch them with a humane mouse trap & let tem goat a fair distance away.

As we live in the countryside, he brings in a lot of rabbits - sometimes 2 or 3 a day in spring & early summer when they are quite small. Mostly they are already dead, and although we used to try to rescue those that were still alive it was difficult to stop him getting straight out & catching them again so now we just leave him to it. They are definitely not presents for us as he eats them himself (saves us a fortune in cat food ). Any leftovers go over the fence into a field to get eaten by crows!

rita-rabbit

caz74 wrote: »

Our cat occasionally brings in mice - if any are left alive we catch them with a humane mouse trap & let tem goat a fair distance away.

As we live in the countryside, he brings in a lot of rabbits - sometimes 2 or 3 a day in spring & early summer when they are quite small. Mostly they are already dead, and although we used to try to rescue those that were still alive it was difficult to stop him getting straight out & catching them again so now we just leave him to it. They are definitely not presents for us as he eats them himself (saves us a fortune in cat food ). Any leftovers go over the fence into a field to get eaten by crows!

Maybe he would share a rabbit sometime with you (lol)!

rita-rabbit

Personally I would leave the mice as long as they are dead - better than a mousetrap!

I trim my Tom's claws & he still hunts - he just knows to eat whatever he catches out of my place!

birduk

caz74 wrote: »

Our cat occasionally brings in mice - if any are left alive we catch them with a humane mouse trap & let tem goat a fair distance away.

As we live in the countryside, he brings in a lot of rabbits - sometimes 2 or 3 a day in spring & early summer when they are quite small. Mostly they are already dead, and although we used to try to rescue those that were still alive it was difficult to stop him getting straight out & catching them again so now we just leave him to it. They are definitely not presents for us as he eats them himself (saves us a fortune in cat food ). Any leftovers go over the fence into a field to get eaten by crows!

Exactly the same with my two! I have lost count of the times that I have merrily saved a rabbit one day, only to find a dead one the next day on my living room carpet with its throat ripped out :mad:

Funnily enough he doesn't eat his dinner on those days...

purplepardalis

I'm fascinated by these stories as my cat has zero interest in catching anything except moths and the occasional daddy long legs. A bit of a rubbish cat in that respect!

Kelz

I am amazed at what your cats bring home, Rabbits especially wow; I have not had a bird yet and we have two pairs that nest in our brickwork on the house every year I know they drive him mad with they're chirping and constant flying in and out but try as he might I'm pleased to report he has been unsuccesful so far. I wouldn't mind if he even ate them but he wants me too !!! And waits for me to feed him in thanks lol

I'm glad he's a normal cat then after Reading all these posts and will continue to free what I can - minus my crockery as I too agree that a nice hot wash would probably have sufficed.

Hope my other two continue to be lazy sofa surfers or I'll be in for an abundance of critters running round !

Kerry

morg_monster

My cousin lives in the country and her cat brought home a baby owl once. Actually it was still alive. He also brought a live baby rabbit. All much to the amusement of her 2 year old!