Bloody cat bringing prey into the house.

[Sparrowlegs248]

I have two cats. Cat1, massive, cPL cat, older. Doesn't hunt. Mice can run or stroll past him and he just watches.

Cat2 is 2 yes old. She brings mice etc in quite frequently. Sometimes dead, often alive. We have had to catch live mice loads if times. But now she has really honed her skills and I know has left at least a couple of live mice in the house that we've not caught.

We have a cat flap. I have said we should put the cats out before bed, then call them in at bedtime and lock the flap. They have a litter tray. Cat1 can go all night without using it. So cat2 should be able to. Dh locks the flap then cat2 goes crackers in the night so he let's her out but won't lock her out. So this morning l, a mutilated body and blood all over the floor. And an ominous smell when I used the grill so fairly sure there's a body in the cooker ffs.

Other than locking her in or out, is there any other deterrent? I'd just lock her in or out but bloody husband won't. I'd rather get up at 2 am to call her in than to catch a mouse.

[Bubbles24]

You are going to struggle stopping at cat from doing this. I have to say I am lucky with my cat I have now she is to ditzy to manage to catch anything!

What room does the cat flap going into could you shut the door at night so the cat and any mice are only In that one room?

[Sparrowlegs248]

It's a husband problem really isn't it. It goes into the kitchen, which is a haven of small hidey / crawling and dying places.

[TeacherBob]

I think locking her in/out would be really unfair.

Because that is natural cat behaviour. Would you expect your little one to be punished for behaving like a child?

[YesItsMeIDontCare]

It's a husband problem I'm afraid.

Your cat will get used to staying in over night - it's hardly the height of cruelty to keep a cat in a warm comfy safe home for a few hours! Yes she'll go nuts a few times, but it's something you'll have to ride out. Apparently you can do clicker training of sorts with a cat, so might be worth looking in to?

[Sparrowlegs248]

I'm not objecting to her killing things. But bringing them into the house. Locking her in or out is the only way I can think of to solve it. I have a tiddler and am pregnant again, I've had to locate dead bodies by following the smell, and swept maggots up.

As well as catch live mice at all bloody hours of the day and night. I think plenty of people don't have a cat flap at all? So their cats would effectively be locked in or out.

[Weedsnseeds1]

Current cat is an avid hunter, previous ones haven't been really (unless they didn't bother bringing things home). He prefers to bring his prey back to the designated torture zone on the landing, where the victims have a nice long area to run around in, which makes the game more challenging for him. He knows full well he's not supposed to bring them in the house as, if spotted, he slowly reverses back outside. He's shut in at night but will happily kill in daylight hours too. If yours is a night time only hunter then you need to ignore the demands to go out and keep the cat flap locked. There's a litter tray available so the cat can use that if necessary.

[TeacherBob]

That is the problem when people buy animals without thinking of the consequences.

In this case, the consequence of keeping an animal that is likely to kill others, is that they will bring them into the house.

[PosiePootlePerkins]

Plenty of cat owners keep their cat locked in overnight for safety reasons. I can't see anything wrong with it and it may help curb the killing.

[Fluffycloudland77]

My Bengal has to stay in at night and he's adapted to it.

It is a husband problem, you're going to have to put your foot down.

[Sparrowlegs248]

What a ridiculous comment Teacher and really helpful too. Fwiw, I didn't buy the cat, she was handed to me as a starving 3 weeks old kitten, with eye infections and riddled with fleas. She wasn't able to sickle, and someone, knowing of my experience with cats, thought I could help. So I hand-reared her. Quite well it seems.

My previous cat was a hunter but tended to kill the peer and leave them in full view. I think this one mails them and they crawl away to die, (hence maggots) or just drops them fully alive.

[Watto1]

Have you tried a bell on her collar? That really helped with Wattocat. We also kept him in overnight.

[Palomb]

We keep ours in at night for this reason. A
Couple of weeks ago we forgot to lock the cat flap when we went to bed and came down stairs to a half eaten dead mouse and five fully formed mouse fetusus on the living room rug. We haven't forgotten to lock it since! Blurgh.

[lizzieoak]

We had to stop using the cat flap for this reason. Kill away, moggies, just keep the corpses outside!

I don't think bells work. Your husband must be trained - if not for your sanity then for the little ones' health (in case they touch maggots, etc).

[shouldwestayorshouldwego]

We don't have a cat flap. Generally they have adapted to being in at night having been semi-feral before. One sometimes pushes the boundaries and isn't in so comes in like a guilty teenager who forgot their keys in the early hours if one of us wakes up. He then makes sure he is in by curfew in future. He does catch things but never brings them home. I work at home so they can come and go during the day. I would say that you have a dh problem. I hope he cleans up the mess. Probably risky for you if pg. Just keep them in all night.

[RubbishMantra]

Keep her in at night. Not just to prevent waking up to her little murders, but to keep her safe from RTAs, piss-heads with fireworks etc. There may be some tantrumming, whinging etc, but she'll get used to it, and begin to sleep through the night.

Can you tire her out before bedtime with hunting games, like a Flying Frenzy, followed by a snack? Fulfills their hunt/kill/eat instinct.

You could also invest in a couple of humane mouse traps from Amazon, only about a fiver each, with a blob of peanut butter inside, (it's a myth mice like cheese). They trap the mouse, but don't kill it. Then you can release captured mouse into a nice field.

Just remember to check the traps daily, to ensure there's not a little mouse in there.

[RubbishMantra]

TeacherBob, are you the same poster who hurled a rock through a motorist's windscreen? But it was OK, because you were only 14?

[BratFarrarsPony]

it is natural cat behaviour and you should be grateful to her for keeping the mouse population down....:)

[RubbishMantra]

*...whilst they were driving.

[BratFarrarsPony]

Did you really do that TeacherBob?
Did you get caught? What was the outcome?

[Sparrowlegs248]

We do have two sorts of humane mouse trap, neither have ever caught anything!!

[BratFarrarsPony]

I am sorry i do not see the point of a 'humane mouse trap'.
You get a cat to catch mice surely?

[Sparrowlegs248]

^^^ ah hahaha. No. We didn't have nicely the house before this cat. We are rural, so there are plenty outside, but no causing any problems.

[TeacherBob]

Nah RubbishMantra is misleading you on purpose. Because s/he disagrees with me and that is what happens on mumsnet sometimes.

I said my mate and I were 'having a laugh' and lobbing stones at each other when we were young. One accidently hit a car and shattered the window. (This is from the thread were I said children who throw eggs aren't scum). In context, I have said all along it was wrong, immature and twats, but that I thought scum was the wrong word to use.
I used my example of kids just playing without a thought of the consequences. And I never at any time said it was ok either. I said we were twats and it was dangerous. But at the time, in the moment, to us we were just playing and the thought something, let alone someone, could get hit, hadn't even crossed our minds.
Of course, mumsnet turn that into 'you think it is ok to throw rocks at cars and kill people' so I left the thread.

As for your question:
The outcome was I did get 'caught' because I didnt run off (the car was driving at the time), and I got a serious bollocking. The guy took my name and number (I gave him my real one) and said he would ring my parent's.
Luckily for me he didn't cause my parents would have beat me silly (and I don't think legally much would have come from it, we were on a beach open to the road and were genuinely just playing).

And a further outcome was that neither of us did it again. Not because we were scared or caught, but because it was at that point we realised how dangerous it was. I wasn't scum, I was just not thinking of consequences.

My point being, on the other thread, that throwing eggs doesn't make you scum. It makes you silly, and twattish and immature.
I just think the word scum is too strong for what is effectively kids having fun and not realising the consequences (in the situation given in the thread)

[RubbishMantra]

I have my cats as pets/companions. I didn't adopt them as working animals, no.

My Devon Rex cat wouldn't know what to do with a mouse if it bit him on the arse. He's a lover, not a fighter.

[BratFarrarsPony]

oh really?
When I got my cat I made it very clear to her that she had a job to do....:)