To think that if you've got a cat which hunts prolifically you should either

[ArseHolio]

Keep it in or put a fucking bell on it's collar.

I've just seen a neighbours new cat leap from the ground and grab a goldfinch from one of my feeders. Yesterday I found 2 piles of feathers and the day before a dead sparrow on my doorstep. In 4 years of feeding I've never had a cat problem untill this new one arrived.

I'm going to have to stop feeding them, I feel like I'm luring them to their deaths. Sad as it sounds I'm gutted, feeding the birds is something I get immense pleasure from.

I'm really quite pissed off

That's ok Doodley - leave him in the litter tray - he wouldn't be able to get out, so you'd always know where he is!

A lot of cat rehoming places say not to put collars on cats now as collars are considered dangerous.

Hunting cats will learn to move without making the bell jingle when stalking.

Lots of cats refuse to wear a collar, mine goes out with a collar and comes back an hour later with no collar looking very pleased with herself. I have no idea how she gets it off.

I wish I could stop my cats bringing birds in. I feel sorry for the birds but also for me having to clean up dead ones, catch live ones and get them out. I was woken up at 3:00am this morning by a toad squealing loudly in the dining room as the cat chased it about. I never knew toads squealed!

Our cats are hunters, we put collar on them as someone said on here it would stop them cathcing any prey.

Not a bit of it. They still bring in animals they have caught. Mostly it's mice, but we have had a few pigeons.

Can't keep the cats in, unless they are used to being house cats from kittens I think it is cruel.

I do get upset by treading on dead or dying mice which are bought in, but think it is just the downside of having cats. Don't know what else to do to stop it.

I have recently been adopted by a cat that was living rough. We are very keen bird feeders with a choice of fat balls, niger seed and sunflower hearts. Said cat has obviously had to hunt to survive and so far she has brought 4 mice, 3 pigeons and a goldfinch to our doorstep to thank us for her nice new home. We keep her in from 7pm til 7am (partly to try to make sure she uses her litter tray not neighbours gardens) and we have recently attached a bell to her that is so loud I feel a bit guilty as it must be SO annoying. The longest any collar has lasted is a week. She has only quick release collars as she managed to get an elastic one over her leg so she was running around like a keen netball player in primary school. Left like this these collars can cause real damage. The feeders we have are positioned too high and on too flexible a string for her to grab the birds off them. The danger is when the feeders are running empty and the birds congregate on the floor so my tip would be to keep them at least half full. On the plus side, living in a rural area, I'm quite chuffed she is a great mouser and spider catcher - and yes bring on gentically engineered cats that selectively avoid the birds!

It's pretty difficult to stop a cat hunting tbh.........it's instinctive. I did once put a collar and bell on my cat before he went out. He came back an hour later without it.........f**k knows how he managed that!

I love cats but I would never have one again as the wildlife in this country is struggling enough without the extra pressure from cats.

Poor goldfinch - I'd be gutted too op. Feeding the birds is a great contribution to conserving birds (yes, it is recommended by the RSPB all year round) and it's a shame if you feel forced to stop.

The bottom line is you can't stop them hunting- they have been specially bred to be killing machines.

When we lived in the ME, cats had to have a collar and municiplaity tag if outside or they'd be rounded up as strays and put down.

Ours used to get her collar/bell off every day and then bring it to us all proud and expecting us to be impressed with her cleverness, whereas this bascially just meant we couldnt ever let her out.

The worst thing my cat brought in was baby birds straight out of the nest (naked), for some reason she brought them in hardly damaged and I had no idea where she was getting them from.
Tried looking after two of them but they died after a couple of day .

Another cat that I used to have, brought in live baby rabbits into the house. Lots of fun we had trying to catch them

oh god please can someone tell me how I can stop my cats doing this? They used to catch the occasional mouse etc but since we moved to the country it has been rodent carnage with one cat, and the other one has gone from being a useless hunter to suddenly figuring out how to catch birds - over the last few weeks we've gone from a fledgeling blackbird to an absolutely massive bird tonight. I have no idea what it was but it was pretty big. We have little ducklings nearby and I'm terrified she's going to get one. We got collars with bells but they have both figured out how to get every type we've tried off so they just keep coming back without them (and even when they did have them on it didn't seem to make much difference.

I realise this is a ridiculous request, cats being hunters and everything...but it's like the house of death in here.

shrews - 2 one in tin an hour, lost one in the house, found it again and then a second appeared. They make a lot of noise btw!

My cat has 2 bells on his collar, he recently brought a baby mouse into the garden but has never really brought anything in apart from the odd bit of bread which a few of my neighbours throw onto their shed roofs for the birds,

I do wonder sometimes why my next door neighbour does this as my cat practically lives on my shed roof and has done so for the last 5 years, they moved in a year ago and put almost a whole loaf of bread up there for the birds and squirrels every morning, our sheds are joined, He sits up there waiting for them but is never quick enough as he is lump and the bells seem to help. Think he would come off worse in a fight with a sqirrel anyway,

Ive had to keep him in since last Sunday as he hurt his paw but its better now so let him out today, was gonna leave it till tomorrow but he was so grumpy and kept attacking me cos I wouldnt let him out,

Nup, mine rips his collar off in the undergrowth within a day if I fit one.

I feel really bad when he gets the birds, but as he seems to be killing a ton of rats at the moment I'm not feeling bad at all.

I have a fat baby cat who has the face of an angel but is a sadistic bird/mouse/frog killer. Nothing stops her, apart from keeping her in and she's an outside cat so that isn't an option.
She learned to hunt with two bells on her collar. I've seen her run while not making a sound.
She saw a squirrel a few weeks ago, twice the size of her, and she almost passed out cackling with excitement.

Get feeders with a cage around them

have same problem.

The owners of the cats (I have 2 that roam my garden) don not like collars on cats so they say.

Found a whole nest of dead baby swallows (cat climbed up there) and DC were really upset.

It`s nature I suppose.

Still, I secretly hate those cats!!!

I did put my feeder somewhere the cat can`t get to.

There are a few things you can do to protect your feeder - you can get cages or buy some wideish wire mesh so the smaller birds can get through, protects them from squirrels as well, change the pole to a metal one or proof it with some plastic bottles tied around it, I've even heard of people growing climbing plants around their bird feeders to make it harder for the cats - something thorny or with weak steams so the cats more likely to lose it's balance - won't bother the birds in the slightest. If you've a pond, I'd seriously consider erecting your feeder in the middle of it, moat protection!

I've a houdini cat that can remove collars in an instant, I only let her out at night and she's only ever managed a fledgling. It's harder during the summer, but if you only let them out in the dark their less likely to find a bird and are more distracted by night creatures like mice.

'Tis the Circle of Life I'm afraid. Cats eat birds.

Who bangs a drum for all the poor, innocent worms ruthlessly slaughtered by the evil bastard finches?

YABU survival of the fittest. The whole point of little birds is to be caught and murdered by bigger birds and other predators. Sad but true.

Sometimes it's dangerous to put a collar on a cat if it's very outdoorsy - they can strange themselves if it gets caught.

Btw am not biased. I have a cat, but he is a right lazy bastard and won't even crap outside.

songbird populations are declining for a whole range of ecological reasons, mostly the destruction of hedgerows. Cats have been kept by humans for about 9000 years.

People are so rude about cats. The oppobrium poured on cat owners really aggravates me. Cats are amazing, gifted creatures and anyone lucky enough to share their house with one knows that.

We have a cat and a feeder - metal pole 8 feet off the ground and well away from fences etc. Our cat can watch the birds but not get at them.