How do you stop a cat catching birds?

jonnyd281

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Keep her in the house at prime hunting times. Cats learn to hunt without ringing the bell anyway, just like they learn to move stealthily.

Tried that one, we're currently on the third cat flap in as many months (thank good for people selling second hand ones on ebay).

At least one poster only has sparrows, mine have decieded that pigeons taste really good, the feathers you get from them are like Christmas Tree needles....finding them for months afterwards.:D

hcb42

you cant.

You have to get used to dead mice, dead voles dead birds. dead brains of dead birds.

however all of the above can be preferable to live birds, live mice etc, whch mine also bring in regularly lol :eek:

tankgirl1

jonnyd281 wrote: »

Tried that one, we're currently on the third cat flap in as many months (thank good for people selling second hand ones on ebay).

At least one poster only has sparrows, mine have decieded that pigeons taste really good, the feathers you get from them are like Christmas Tree needles....finding them for months afterwards.:D

I often regret placing a cat flap..... the slightest sound of it at night and I am up! Checking if they have brought something in (thankfully for some reason no birdies)

If I could afford a new door I would get rid of the cat flap - as I said my 2 can headbutt it open when they want to, and often do! Daren't invest in a microchip catflap, as they would just batter that to death too!

Bloody animals eh? It's a bloody good job I love em!

tankgirl1

hcb42 wrote: »

you cant.

You have to get used to dead mice, dead voles dead birds. dead brains of dead birds.

however all of the above can be preferable to live birds, live mice etc, whch mine also bring in regularly lol :eek:

Ooooh! Your kitties must see you as promising hunters if they are bringing you live prey to catch!

peachyprice

jonnyd281 wrote: »

At least one poster only has sparrows, mine have decieded that pigeons taste really good, the feathers you get from them are like Christmas Tree needles....finding them for months afterwards.:D

My tortie did this last summer, after many attempts she realised it was far too wide to get in the cat flat, she left it dumped on the doorstep for me in the end

jonnyd281

peachyprice wrote: »

My tortie did this last summer, after many attempts she realised it was far too wide to get in the cat flat, she left it dumped on the doorstep for me in the end

We've had rabbits and all sorts, and three guesses what one of the 7 month old kittens was devouring in the bath room this morning....yep she wanted small bird for breakfast and not wiskas fishy flavour, feathers everywhere. Still love all four to bits though.

pigeonpie

we had a burmese cat once who was a terrible hunter. We put the world's largest cat bell on him, but he learned to hunt with his chin pressed down to muffle it (:D) so we decided he'd outwitted us and just let him continue his carnage - regularly used to find 1/2 grey squirrel cos he'd eaten the rest.
Totally horrible, but what cats do.

Fire_Fox

jonnyd281 wrote: »

Tried that one, we're currently on the third cat flap in as many months (thank good for people selling second hand ones on ebay).

At least one poster only has sparrows, mine have decieded that pigeons taste really good, the feathers you get from them are like Christmas Tree needles....finding them for months afterwards.:D

Barricade the cat flap with bricks or the like, many do so overnight because some determined cats - inside or out - have learned to burgle locked flaps! Apparently the microchip flaps are least easy to break into due to their design; apparently one of the main manufacturers has excellent customer service if you need a replacement part. I am sure more info will come up if you run a search.

Fire_Fox

tankgirl1 wrote: »

I often regret placing a cat flap..... the slightest sound of it at night and I am up! Checking if they have brought something in (thankfully for some reason no birdies)

If I could afford a new door I would get rid of the cat flap - as I said my 2 can headbutt it open when they want to, and often do! Daren't invest in a microchip catflap, as they would just batter that to death too!

Bloody animals eh? It's a bloody good job I love em!

Many years ago I arrived home to find my girl headbutting the magnetic flap repeatedly: unfortunately it was a blackbird's head not her own. With the bird in her mouth her neck was not getting close enough to trigger the mechanism!

bagginslover

Has anyone tried falconry bells? They are much bigger,louder and more sensitive to small movements than the standard cat collar bells.

Sadly, in Britain, its not natural for cats to catch things as they aren't native animals, theyare responsible in part for the declining numbers of many native wildlife species.
I do agree it is very hard to stop them (I too am a cat owner, and my cats do hunt, though rather unsuccessfully) but saying its just nature is a little ignorant.