Cat catching birds

dawnydee73

My cat has just brought in her 2nd bird within the last 2 days, its alive but I can't get to it,

I have got the collars with bells on, but because of the safety catches they come off easily. I know that cats bringing in birds is meant to be like a present but I can't cope with this, is there anything I can do to stop her catching these poor little birds

dawnydee73

I have been looking on the internet and have seen some collars that are elasticated, I will try these, they might not come off as easily

Alikay

Our cat just learned to creep up on the birds so that the bell on her collar doesn't ring! I've found that the only thing to do is discourage birds from the garden.....sad, I know, but I got fed up of her slaughtering every baby bird that made it to it's first flight! I don't put food out or have bird boxes, and I guess you could hang a few bits of fluttery cloth, like bunting, from any trees in your garden to act as bird scarers. If I catch her creeping up on a bird or lurking under trees when there is a lot of tweeting, she gets a quick blast with a water spray.

mjburton

Please avoid elasticated cat collars. Cats can catch them on branches etc as they jump out of bushes and trees and catch them.

It is not uncommon for cats to hang themselves this way. Their heads don't always slip out, especially if they twist.

I know it's annoying that the clasp collars come off easily but that is the idea of them, and it's not worth the risk.

Does your cat have easy access to vulnerable birds (young or exhausted)? Is there any way that you can reduce access to the areas that your cat is using to hunt?

dawnydee73

There are alot of trees where I live, I think it could be differcult to reduce access. Plus they never seem to go very far, as soon as I shout them they appear very quickly

mary43

I've got three cats, the youngest has now found out all about birds and sadly we've lost a few. I don't want to put collars on the younger two cats as they can esily get caught in something. I did think about hanging some bells or chimes around the trees in the garden to warn the birds is a cat was getting near but then a breath of wind would make them chime. Very often the birds will outwit the cats by chirping so loudly and all the other birds tend to join in and Ive managed to rescue a few birds and send them safely on their way.
It's just the cats nature.............in the wild thats how they would survive and I don't think there's much you can do really

liz545

The Liberator collars have mixed reviews - they seem to work better on some cats than others - but it might be worth a try?

LittleTinker

Lots of birds learning to fly at the moment so cats will get the weaker ones that fall.

Its nature.

Riq

Natural selection I am afraid, the world is a cruel place.

cheepskate_2

We have the same problem with our cat and birds.
He seems to have sussed that if the birds sit on the goallie nets, when he springs they at times can get caught in them, either that or its easier to catch as they don't have a clear runway.
Tried loads of bells and nothing seems to work, law of the jungle i suppose.
At least if he ever gets lost at least they will be able to fend for themselves for a while.

globalds

Nice to see lots of responsible cat owners commenting ...Lets hope you can be so accepting when someone allows there dog to do what is it's nature .