To be really upset with my cat

[elprup]

I adopted a young male rescue cat last summer. He’d been living stray and had a difficult start in life, so I thought I was doing a good thing.

About six months after letting him outside he began catching quite a lot of mice, which although not ideal, I could just about cope with.

However, he has now moved on to birds and has caught about four in the space of two weeks. I’m so, so upset by it.

This morning he came into my bedroom for a snooze and then went outside into the garden. I went down about 20 minutes later to find him in the kitchen with another dead bird in his mouth. I can’t believe he’s managed to kill another one just 20 minutes after being let out this morning.

He’s a lovely cat apart from this but honestly, I’m really regretting adopting him now.

I’m considering a collar with a bell but have read they can cause injury to cats if the quick release mechanism fails or doesn’t work fast enough.

I just hate to see all these lovely birds being slaughtered. What can I do?

I love this cat and dog interaction

@elprup it isn't pleasant being faced with a dead bird/mouse, especially first thing in the morning 🤢 and especially if they're not fully dead!

please don't be angry/upset with him though, it's a cat's way of saying thank you. He is presenting you with his catch, which is him showing his appreciation towards you.

I have a cat that did the same (I'm a vegetarian, so not particularly pleasant). A collar with a bell works, you just need to ensure it fits correctly. Also ensuring you're not actively encouraging birds to your garden (bird boxes, bird tables, bird seed, etc).

Adopting animals can be hard and you do have days when you ask yourself "why? For the love of god why?!", but stick it out, it sounds like he really loves you ❤️

My cat normally eats the body and just leaves the head on the door step, not too sure what that says about his love for me? 🤔

Do you have a cat flap or door access? I had bells on my back door the birds were pre warned that the cats were coming out

I don't put collars on my cats, even the two that like to hunt. Mainly because the safety catches are so efficient now, that the collars come off within half a day and get lost. I just clear up the carnage when needed.

Cats are apex predators. It is a bit annoying/upsetting when its birds, but youll be grateful hopefully when he keeps the mice and rats away the rest of the year

It’s why a cat will eat it’s dead owner but a dog will lay beside your body faithfully

LOL. Run that past the next funeral director or police officer you meet and see how long it takes them to stop laughing.

Cats gonna cat, OP. You're going to have to choose between a tiny chance of the cat being injured by its collar vs a lot of dead birds.

@elprup also, I should add that apparently cats hunt more at night. He's probably more likely to catch mice at night and birds first thing in the morning when they're looking for worms.

This is why I have cat proofed my garden. I'd far rather have birds than cat shit in the garden.

Put a bell on it - poor birds.

He's a very young cat, so the novelty might wear-off as he gets older.

I don't like collars, but think I'd get him one in this case.

it's a cat's way of saying thank you. He is presenting you with his catch, which is him showing his appreciation towards you.

I’m not sure about this theory, as when I walked into the kitchen he grabbed the dead bird and ran outside I did say “Out!” in a raised voice though.

Fishcat was fitted with a collar and a bell when he brought a bird in the house (fortunately I managed to free and release the bird). He has not done so since. Our old cat didn't have a cat flap and stupidly I fitted one when I got Fishcat. He's brought mice (live and dead) and attempted to bring a frog in. I now have to lock the catflap from about 9pm and he has to be let in by me once he's been checked in case he's considering bringing anything in.

This is why am a dog person, I don’t like the predatory aspect of cats.

@prawnsword my dog is just as bad given half the chance - he caught and killed a rabbit last week and has come close to bringing down a wild deer before too.

The reason most dogs don't chase and hunt is because we have them on a lead most of the time, or because we've trained them well enough to come back to us. Cats don't give a shit about being trained to recall

He's not doing anything wrong. He's a cat, it's in his nature. I have a cat who's a ruthless hunter, he doesn't usually eat his 'catch of the day' instead he leaves them in the garden for me as "gifts"

An old cat of mine used to bring in live baby rats into the house. My mum started to refuse to let the cat in unless she was 100% sure she was rat free

YABU, he's a cat and they're predators. It isn't pleasant when they kill little animals, but it's what they do. The cat I'm currently in the process of getting is a young one and an outdoor cat, so I've accepted the possibility that he'll kill animals. As others have said, put a bell on your kitty and it'll scare the birds away, but don't be angry with him for doing what comes naturally to him.

Collars with bells never stopped my hunting obsessed cat. He usually lost them and even while he had one he still continued to catch and kill rodents and birds.

My cat is the same bringing me dead things the whole time. I got him a bell collar and he wears it so loose that I can take it off over his head if needed it's also a quick release one just in case. Hasn't stopped him though 😂

I wouldn’t use a collar, too dangerous. He can’t help catching things.

Our cat brings baby rabbits home to disembowel on the lawn.

Dogs can be just as much as cats ... remember this ... poor man lol

just as much trouble ... arrgh! my hands are giving me trouble this morning :(

Pretty sure your dog will wait longer to eat you than a cat.

Dogs are also scavengers not just hunters. I do have a terrier mutt with a strong prey drive but she can’t climb trees to get at birds & she has no idea how to stealthily hunt like cats can

@Mileysmiley FENTON!!

OP "oh I hate this, what can I do??"

99% of MN "here's a solution, it's not 100% safe but it's better than the alternative"

1% of MN "oh no, don't do that! It's really dangerous! It happened to me!"

OP "oh god, it happened to them! I can't risk it. I'll just carrying on bemoaning the fact that I can't do anything about my problem and not listen to any of the actually helpful advice".

When I lived rurally the cats killed the rabbits, ate the head & my little terriers would pluck the body & eat the rest, leaving the intestinal tract. Being a city girl this seriously disturbed me at first. By about half a dozen rabbit kills it stopped phasing me.

You’re upset with him for being a cat.

Being a stray he would have had to catch wild prey to survive, and you should have factored that in when you adopted him.

From the cats that I’ve had I don’t think a collar will make any difference. Some cats are hunters. Any self respecting hunter will get rid of a collar ASAP.

He was a stray, he had to feed himself. I got a very young stray, about 4 months old. He started off by bringing us worms, which broke my heart as I think that was all he was living on. He soon progressed to frogs, mice and birds.

He caught 4 in one week and I got him a bell collar and in a year he has only caught 2 birds and 1 pigeon (but loads of mice).

The quick release do work as he on average loses them about once every 2 weeks. Make sure they are tight enough so that don't catch on things, you should be able to get a finger under the collar.

I also get really upset with anything he catches and try to save them, but I am not upset with the cat, it's what they do.

Here is a link to the ones I use.

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07552GYPW?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

If anyone gets them cheaper, please tell me.

I have a cat that was a stray who has horrific old injuries that affect his movement, the vet thinks it is from a collar as there is no tissue left around his elbow. If you do go down the safety collar route, then I'd bend the plastic pins on the catch in a bit so that it really does release easily, some are pretty strong and if a front leg gets through won't necessarily release. Also make sure it's fitted correctly, not too loose and not too tight.
The best thing is to keep him in during dawn and dusk, as this is when birds are most vulnerable. There are lots of young birds about at the moment that won't be as savvy, which might be a factor into how many he's bringing in at the moment.
As awful as it is, cats taking birds is unlikely to affect the bird population according to the RSPB "Despite the large numbers of birds killed by cats in gardens, there is no clear scientific evidence that such mortality is causing bird populations to decline. This may be surprising, but many millions of birds die naturally every year, mainly through starvation, disease or other forms of predation. There is evidence that cats tend to take weak or sickly birds.

We also know that of the millions of baby birds hatched each year, most will die before they reach breeding age. This is also quite natural, and each pair needs only to rear two young that survive to breeding age to replace themselves and maintain the population.

It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season, so cats are unlikely to have a major impact on populations. If their predation was additional to these other causes of mortality, this might have a serious impact on bird populations.

Those bird species which have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines. Research shows that these declines are usually caused by habitat change or loss, particularly on farmland.

Read more at www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/animal-deterrents/cats-and-garden-birds/are-cats-causing-bird-declines/#UZZoJMKZ9M53spLT.99"

If it's any consolation many cats can be prolific hunters when young and slow down as they get older. If he didn't hunt he probably wouldn't have survived, and humans do far worse things when they should know better.