Cats and mice

hayleyc_2

k60sav wrote: »

If we caught one of the cats with it in its mouth we would make them drop it, and they got a smack!

All we keep on doing is show them how annoyed we are with them, and never praise them.

Please don't hit your cat. If you get a good book on cat behaviour then this will help you understand why your cats are bringing their prey inside. Usually, it's because they are trying to be nice to you and bring you presents. You should never hit any animal. It doesn't teach anything except not to trust you.

I appreciate that bells don't always work but they may at least cut down on the amount your cats can catch. Also keeping cats in at night, and dawn/dusk usually reduces the amount they catch as these are the times cats are most likely to hunt. If you have a garden, then there may be things you can do if your cats have a regular place they hide to stalk their prey.

Good Luck

Hayley

asea

i know it's horrid but they are cats & they are just following their feline instincts - it's one of their ways of saying that they love you. much as us humans hate this kind of thing it's not really fair to punish a cat because it's doing what cats do... i agree with hayley - Never hit an animal - they can't defend themselves and probably don't know what they are being hit for, it's unfair & cruel

Jei70

I was quite proud the first time my 2 hunters brought me their prey :T

However, as we found no less than 5 rat carcasses in the corridor within the last 48 hours, I'm getting a bit miffed! :rolleyes:

Sorry, no advice, just understanding...

Bun

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

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

Bang some fish-fingers loudly with a rolling pin - sorted!

seven-day-weekend

Jei70 wrote: »

I was quite proud the first time my 2 hunters brought me their prey :T

However, as we found no less than 5 rat carcasses in the corridor within the last 48 hours, I'm getting a bit miffed! :rolleyes:

Sorry, no advice, just understanding...

But where would the rats have been if your cats hadn't killed them.........:eek: :eek: :rotfl:

seven-day-weekend

I always have told my cats just to catch rats and mice - not birds or frogs.

Doesn't actually make any difference, but I always tell them....

Jei70

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

But where would the rats have been if your cats hadn't killed them.........:eek: :eek: :rotfl:

LOL, I was thinking that myself... but not in the house, anyway!

pippamannequin

hayleyc wrote: »

Please don't hit your cat. If you get a good book on cat behaviour then this will help you understand why your cats are bringing their prey inside. Usually, it's because they are trying to be nice to you and bring you presents. You should never hit any animal. It doesn't teach anything except not to trust you.

I appreciate that bells don't always work but they may at least cut down on the amount your cats can catch. Also keeping cats in at night, and dawn/dusk usually reduces the amount they catch as these are the times cats are most likely to hunt. If you have a garden, then there may be things you can do if your cats have a regular place they hide to stalk their prey.

Good Luck

Hayley

OK rephrase a TAP on the backside like a slight touch, for goodness sake!
All my cats trust me completely, i dissaprove and thats what i do to get them to drop them when they are holding a living animal in their mouth which i dont want them to kill!!! It works so I'd rather 'tap' my cat on its backside and not have to watch it rip a mouses head off!! We've never had any problem with trust with our cats, they all sit on our laps and are very affectionate!

hayleyc_2

k60sav - I appreciate it may be a light tap, but as you'd said 'smack' in your first post I was concerned that the OP or anyone else reading this thread may follow this example and smack their cat. I know it's distressing when cats catch mice etc (my dog has a habit of trying to eat hedgehogs - so i know how it feels! ) and your first instinct is probably to get the cat to drop it however you can. I just don't think advising people to smack or tap their animals is ever a good idea as you never know how far other people may take things. In general it does not stop the behaviour, it just makes the animal hide or run away from you at the time so you can't get to it. It's always best to look at the reasons behind a behaviour and try to train in a positive method. I wasn't trying to get at you so appologies if it came accross that way

Avoriaz

Miss_Scarlett wrote: »

..I have 2 lovely cats who are just over a year old. ….

We had the same problem with our two female tabby moggies and we never found a solution.

Mice, voles, snakes, frogs, toads, birds and even the occasional rat all appeared dead, half dead or very much alive (I’ll never forget the large brown rat jumping over my head from the top of the fridge freezer :eek: ) in our kitchen and house on a regular basis.

They slowed down at about 10 years old and now, at 14, rarely bring anything dead or alive home.