Cat ate a mouse

[ScottishMummy12]

Sorry this isn't an AIBU but posting here for traffic.
I am watching my friends cats and one of them brought a mouse into the house. The cat had eaten about half the mouse. Do I need to take the cat to see a vet? If not is there any signs I should look out for?
I tried to check google but was getting very conflicting information.

My cat eats at least 2-3 mice, voles or rats a day (and that's just the ones I know about..that he brings in) In fact he's off mousing right now.
He's also never been sick
He does eat cat food but his rodent intake does save me a bit!

@ragged I thought the cat would eat the cat food. As I have said previously I have no experience with cats so I was just asking advice. I was only asked to look after them this morning so didn't have anytime to research what is normal cat behaviour.

Bet it was a vole or a shrew or some other rodent. Not a shrew. They're vicious little creatures. (Could have been a baby rat)

Not if you tame them.

Won't hurt your kitty @ScottishMummy12 but you wait til he/she voms it back up, half dissolved! BLEH!

This doesn't actually happen does it . I'm getting ready to start letting my cat outdoors and this has put me right off!

I thought the cat would eat the cat food He'll eat the cat food. But that's in addition to the mouse. It's also quite normal for cats to drink alternative sources of water, eg from ponds, toilets, puddles. They like a bit of flavour.

Cats are carnivores. It's normal (instinct) for carnivores to go out & find their own food by killing something. Don't watch peregrine nest sites (on web cams) if you're shocked by what the cat got up to.

My cats bring home the odd dead shrew. I suspect mine also get ~60% of their intake from hunting. Their preference.

Mine brings in shrews. She prefers slow worms though.

The cat will be grand. But you'll have to worm him.

He'll be full of worms within a week! 😱

Bloody hell, don't panic OP. OP does not need to worm the cat after a single mouse (probably one of dozens this week). Leave worming for the owner.

My cat fillets small animals, he often leaves the intestines but eats most of the rest, he usually leaves the tail.

I'm so glad my cat never hunts

Just make sure you keep him wormed, OP.

My front garden currently looks like a scene from a slasher movie - severed mouse heads aplenty. The furry psychopath in my life is well over a hundred kills now. As a PP said, wait till you find vommed up mouse on the carpet (the tails don't dissolve- bleurgh).

Just mention it to your friend in case she wants to worm the cat otherwise don’t worry about it

Looks like you have plenty of advice but my boy is always bringing us home half eaten presents and he is young, fit and healthy. Don't worry.

My cat likes to eat half the mouse then trail the bloody body through the house. I often come home to what looks like a crime scene.
Who knew mice had so much blood in them

I am sure she gets worm and flea treatment from the vets for the cats as she has asked me to treat them with it if she's not back by the 15th. I don't want to worry her if there's nothing to worry about as she has been called away because her mum is dying.
This has totally put me off getting a cat though I am definitely not cut out for dead or alive wild animals getting brought into the house.

@ScottishMummy12 they're not all hunters. Mine would be reading this thread going "but why? I just send the human to get yummy food!"
He brought me a leaf once, and a tiny white feather the day of my cousins funeral
He cries if he sees a spider

I didn't know they ate mice either.
One down the road from us brings us a present most nights and leaves it half dead in our garden. No idea why it doesn't take the mouse to his owner. Certainly doesn't eat it, I wish it did.
It leaves half dead birds too, no sign of them being half eaten, just pulled to bits.

It's a cat. I'm afraid that is what they do.

There's a reason why throughout history they have been used to control the rodent population. For example, on ships, in castle and palace or hotel kitchens etc. Young cats are often rather good at it.

My old cat used to bring back so many things in his young days. He once brought back a large blackbird that he had caught. He put it in his bowl and began to feast on it before DH put him and his bird outside in the garden. He also delighted in bringing back live frogs and toads and set them
hopping around the house, with me shrieking and DH trying his hardest to direct them outside.

Kashali, not all cats can be arsed to hunt. Some are lazy sods.

For those who catch mice, many do eat them, but not always. They can catch them, chase them around, play with them and eventually kill some of them as a form of sport.

My cat brings me agonising bloodied mice early in the morning, straight to bed. I am pretty sure by now she actually tries to teach me to hunt for myself. And that look of disdain on her face, "ah you useless human, it looks I'll just have to provide for you for the rest of my days!"

@ScottishMummy12

I think some breeds have little to none hunting instinct, it was fully bred out of them. E.g. a Maine coon or a Siberian won't leave a single nest untouched in its roaming area, but I am still to hear about a Persian or Siamese showing an interest in a mouse that was not stuffed with catnip.

@silvercuckoo our old stable cat was Siamese. Knew exactly what she wanted, and woe betide anyone who stood in her way. Ferocious hunter and would return with two mice, rats, rabbits, once even dragging a pheasant. She tried to take on a deer once

Don’t be daft. Cats are employed on farms to keep rodent populations down.
Our dog ate a squirrel the other day; it should have scooted up a tree quicker.