Cats having a constant source of protein from the garden

[FluffyBoots]

MY cats are very very good at catching small fluffy things of the rodent variety. Think shrews and baby mice. They are a team to contend with, and often I come down at night and they have several holed up in different corners of the house. it is a nightmare. They often behead them and leave bits (they don't like the tails) of intenstine, often gall bladder.

I could leave them outside, but they are terrified if they can't get in and will shout a lot to be let in (my fault, that old talking to them thing when they were babies making them more vocal).

Should I

• YABU - allow them to bring takeaway's into the house. It is their home. I have ny own takeaways. YANUB - harbour them under lock and key so that they can't go hunting.

NOTE - Some of this may perhaps be tongue in cheek x

Get them in and lock the cat flap for the night? Making sure they have a litter tray they can access.

OR lock them outside, but that seems a bit harsh.

I couldn't open my windows over summer because of a tortoiseshell I had. Mine used to bring them in alive, so would my current male cat. It's the possibility of fleas etc as well. So I'd shut them out, so you could check if they have anything. My male gives a distinctive cry when he has prey.

I try not to let mine kill anything be it furred, feathered or 8 legged.. It isn't easy though!

Keep them in from dusk? Although granted, as dusk will be 4pm quite soon that may not work (mine would kill me if I tried that).

Shut them out for periods of time and only let them in when they don't bring in their snacks? I've got a Ring doorbell which is great for seeing if they have something with them.

Or just accept that they're cats and it's what they do. They grow out of it at around 18 or so (years, that is). But don't lock them out for too long, after all it's their home and they let you live there. Mine hate being locked out for long and make me feel guilty.

Mine catches them alive and lets them loose in the house. 2 months it took me to catch his last playmate.

.. the thing is .... and this is a serious issue, When they let them loose I often catch them, put them into a safe place, and then try to return them to their homes - ie, a v v long way from cat-land. Sometimes they are already injured. Do you release the seriously injured ones, or somehow do away with them/ ie put them out of their misery?

Fair play!

Make sure the cat can only get into one room. If cat flap is in back door then close all doors out of that room.
Have some humane traps to capture escaped live ones.
Bell and collar.

Could you get one of those special cat flaps that (apparently) don’t let them come in with furry things?

My cat, who isn’t good at catching things. Managed to bring in a live rat (which I think another cat had caught and injured first). I am still traumatised from catching it and getting it outside (when the other cat then came and got it).

He ate a butterfly yesterday which was horrific and he has been eating baby frogs all summer. Lucky he’s cute.

ZeroMOUSE, or somesuch. There are probably a few different products. You attach them to your cat flap, and they have a camera.

Perhaps. Had forgotten about those. Do you think that they would eventually learn? I love my cats, but they are immeasurably stupid.

Unfortunately my house is open plan.

Keep them in at night, surely?

Might be worth a try. It certainly would stop the dread of coming down to a sea of carnage…. I looked it up once and the reason they bring “gifts” into the house is apparently because we feed them and they want to return the favour to their loved ones. It’s a sign of endearment!

Zeromouse does work well..... no more gifts inside

Many thanks for these recommendations. I am finding out about the Zeromouse.

I currently have two cats, one each end of oe of the dressers. They've been there for hours. Occasionally getting v excited. We defo have a visitor behind the furniture. Hopefully it's a v clever wee thing that will make it's escape when the cats get bored!

I feel your pain! You need to deploy a dedicated mouse welly. You place the welly at the item of furniture the furry friend is hiding behind. Ours is almost always the piano because the cats can get under most other things. The hostage will seek refuge in the welly and you can then take it outside for release without too much trouble on your part. If they’re grievously injured I have been known to help them on their way. However we do also have a shoe box that we’ll put lesser injured ones in to give them time to recover before releasing them.

I completely get where you are coming from - my two girls are definitely of the hunter variety = live in the countryside and this time of year there are often little 'presents' displayed on the kitchen floor - mice, voles and small rats! But, I can cope with them, they are usually deceased and if close to death don't last much longer, I put them in the long grass behind the house or keep them in a box until they recover a bit.

What I can't cope with are THE BATS!!! Every so often they will bring a bat in - sometimes a big one and then there is all the flapping and strange meows (they have a special noise if they have caught something). I then have to very carefully catch said bat whilst wearing thick gardening gloves - can take some time as it flies around the kitchen - take it outside to release it - then check cats for bites as we have to be careful here in France. I will try to attach a photo of one they dragged up into the shower after I left the door open - it was HUGE and took a long time to usher out of the bathroom window ....

I have had to kill injured rodents before. It’s awful but I couldn’t let them suffer and ultimately die a worse death. Depending on how mobile they are it can be difficult though ☹️

Mine brought in three RATS over the course of a week this summer! All decapitated - I guess the head is a delicacy.

I set the cat flap so she could get out but not in again. Figured that way it’s her choice. She’s obviously doing the street a favour by clearing up the rats nest under the neighborhood bins anyway.

I do try and rescue the prettier birds and take them to the vets. Pigeons are fair game and she normally eats all but the wings.

I doubt she’d even notice if we moved house and left her here to be honest.

Luckily mine leaves them outside the door, unfortunately there was a rabbit out there once that was very upsetting

I have an onlycat cat flap. Best thing I've ever invested in.
My ginger boy is a prolific hunter, we've had squirrels, mice, gliss gliss, bats, rats, birds.
Problem was him leaving them to run around the house and losing interest. And the other cats were never fussed enough to help me.
After sharing my bedroom with 2 live rats for over a week I decide enough was enough.
It is actually amazing to see just how many of the neighbourhood cats try and come in to my house though!

My girl cat is a ferocious hunter. At one point she had 5 bells in her collar. Didn’t make a bit of difference. She brings prey home for my DD and the meows are always different.
She eats her prey I’d say 95% of the time. The vet says it’s a contribution to her oral health being better than boy cat.

boy cat also hunts but doesn’t have the killer instinct. His prey is often alive and we are able to rescue and release most of the time.

I have had to put some small animals out of their misery.

To help stop this hunting (and it’s almost impossible, it’s deep seated instinct) we try to offer high quality food and playtime.

Hopefully they’ll slow down as they age.

This. It will sense the prey and not let them in, they have to put it back down to activate