Cats and mice

Miss_Scarlett

Hi all

I have 2 lovely cats who are just over a year old. Now, I know cats hunt things, and there probably isn't much I can do about it but I thought I would ask the question.

My cats hobby is catching mice and birds, bringing them in the house and then biting the heads off (sorry if that's too graphic) I seem to spend half of my day looking for a matching pair to bury outside. They also love to bring in worms, sometimes after a rain shower I can find 20 or 30 worms in my hallway. I must have at least 3 mice or birds in every day.

Is there anything I can do to teach them to leave their prey outside? We have a cat flap and I don't want to leave them outside all of the time, also I don't want to trap them indoors, they love playing outside, climbing trees etc.

Is this just something that I need to put up with or is there anything I can try to train them not to bring things in.

southernscouser

Everytime you have a dump, take it to them. They will soon get the message.

Miss_Scarlett

southernscouser wrote: »

Everytime you have a dump, take it to them. They will soon get the message.

I'm a lady, we don't do that:D

wickedwitch_2

The best way to stop them bringing their spoils home is to stop them hunting succesfully! They're showing you what clever cats they are. And they are by the sound of it.

The simplest solution is to get them collars with bells on. The prey will hear them coming and scarper (apart from the worms of course). I think the RSPB recommends that cat owners do this.

It's probably best to ask your vet or pet shop about the best ones to get as I know some owners worry about collars not being safe for cats with the risk of getting them caught or irritating the skin underneath.

Good luck!

Miss_Scarlett

Thanks very much for that, I don't know why I didn't think of it. I'm going to the vet tomorrow to pick the little devils up some bells.

pippamannequin

We have 3 cats, female 5 yrs male norwegian forest cat 4 yrs and a maine coon 10 months old. The eldest 2 were always bringing mice in and from being the original city type where id jump on chairs, me and my youngest son started to rescue them lol
If we caught one of the cats with it in its mouth we would make them drop it, and they got a smack!
Then often the mice they just brought in to 'play' with inside before they killed them, what joy catching them, but we usually do. Unfortunately i dont think theres any fool proof method apart from collars with bells which is not 100%. Mine just pull them off though.

Recently the older cats have brought them in for the kitten, but she didnt have the inclination to kill yet and just tormented them.

All we keep on doing is show them how annoyed we are with them, and never praise them. It's so horrible to find them dead or parts, i know. Just try your best to show youre not happy and hopefully they will get the message! HTH

gingercordial

The bells aren't 100% effective but they will help. Cats kill so many small birds and it really does affect bird populations, so thank you for doing this! And of course it will help to keep your house free from sad little bodies...

Pink_butterfly_3

I don't mean to put a dampner on the bell idea but we tried that with our cat and it made no difference.

Our cat has brought birds, snakes, frogs, mice, voles, rats, moths and slugs into our house.

Everytime I hear the cat flap go, i brace myself for the 'present' she probably has in her mouth. We've tried everything to stop her doing this but to no avail.

I'll be interested to hear of any other suggestions as I HATE cleaning up dead/decapitated/still jumping <insert small animal here>...

*shudder*

seven-day-weekend

Your cat is bringing you food as she has never seen you kill any for yourself.

After over 30 years of being a cat owner (don't have one at the moment though), I have never found a successful way to stop them either hunting or bringing their prey home. It's what cats do. The only thing I have noticed is that tomcats don't seem anywhere near as inclined to hunt as females.

So.....maybe have a male cat next time!

seven-day-weekend

When my son lived in a flat he came home to find his hallway completely covered in feathers and dead pigeon in small parts. He never did find the head! :eek:

nappentass

I think it depends on the cat really.
I used to have a cat that would bring all sorts home, usually at night, with her I'd try to get her and praise her for bringing me presents then I'd pick her up by the scruff (she was still young and a tiny cat) and the present and take them both outside the door. It didn't stop her hunting but after doing this several time she got the deal and they were all left on the doorstep, which was great because the presents got more gruesome

That didn't work with the two I've got now - they would bring things in alive for me to kill - I found they usually brought wildlife in at certain times of year, so when I feel it's that kind of time I put the catflap on 'out only' overnight, but as they're getting older it doesn't happen so much. I also have hard floors which makes clean up easier and also can limit them to downstairs rooms (because of previous flea problems!)

HTH
Jill