So last night my cat brought home her first catch [sad].....

[DrNortherner]

A little bird that was making loads of noise, lots of feathers missing and puncture wounds on its back.

We put it in a shoe box, gave it some water and some weetabix and left it overnight. This morning it had really perked up and was hopping about although he could not fly.

Took him to vets this morning and he was a baby blackbird, but his wing was broken and they had to put him down.

Ds is very upset, he really enjoyed helping him

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Poor birdy - the big downside of having a cat sadly.

Ours isn't interested in birds but I am getting used to clearing up the remains of baby rabbits

On our wedding day I opened the bedroom door to find a big fat dead rat at my feet. A wedding gift perhaps? shudder

Christmas Eve one year we had a starling swinging on the landing light fitting, took all bloody afternoon to catch it and get it out of the house.

We've had one rat, one pigeon, loads of smaller birds particularly blackbirds, many mice etc. some live some well dead.

Fortunately the cat is aging now but just this week he brought home a dead sparrow and left it for us to find in the morning.

She's only 10 months old - I hope this is not the start of a busy hunting careeer.

I remember how proud my cat was when we woke up in the morning to find her first catch, or what was left of it. She was prancing around and purring. I had to congratulate her.

Cats eh? I think it's good for kids to see cruel nature in this way. Mine love to watch spiders catch and roll up their prey. It's all part of life and eeath and the universe and all that. They can't be wrapped in cotton wool.

My friends cat catches wild rabbits

Poor birdy,but this is what cats do, be prepared for more catches

get her a collar witha bell and she shouldnt be able catch them, had to get one for my cat a few weeks back when she brought me a headless mouse

I always cfeel really sorry for cats who've had bells attached so that they can't do their cat thing any more.

I'm vegetarian btw.

Our cats have found a nest somewhere and have removed two baby birds in two days. We have started following the cats hoping that wecan intervene before they kill of the whole family.

I have to say I agree with Spidermama that I would not like to hamper my cats with bells, I would feel like i was interfering in nature which in some ways is daft as I already have done exactly that by domesticating a wild animal.

they still get to chase them just not catch them and bring them back, it also reduces their risk of illness, what they catch carries diesies

had not thought of that.

My vet told me however not to put a collar on our cats as they run the risk of getting caught on something.

I think you have to respect your cat's catness. I feel so sorry for the humiliated, emasculated hang-dog cats with their collars and bells. Dogs don't mind as they're pack animals, but cats are lone hunters and not fluffy toys for our entertainment.

NO way I would own a cat without a bell on it. I resent cats without bells...Cats are major predators for wild birds -- heavily implicated in recent decline of many songbirds. Our neighbours' cats hunt the wild frogs in our garden. I didn't invite the beast onto my property, to take frogs and toads which instead do help us by eating slugs.

Did you know that cats pick up toxoplasmosis from wild birds? But they never warn pregnant women to be careful handling their pet cat's kills, do they?

Yes I have two cats and a dog and they are very different creatures. Our springer loves to entertain and make us happy whereas although the cats will come and sit on our knees it is on their terms and more often than not they don't give a f*.

Pregnant women are given lots of warning about their cats.

I used to own two male cats, one of which still managed to hunt nad kill with a bell on.

As this one is chipped we decided agains a collar, also the vet says they do more harm than good if cats get stuck.

There are safe collars for cats - the type that snap open with a bit of pressure so that they then fall off. The elasticated ones are not safe however as cats can still get caught up on them on sticks etc and can get legs stuck through them that cause some really nasty wounds. My cat has a collar and small bell - occasionally he comes home without it. I have a couple of spares at any one time to replace it.

Hunting - still happens even with a bell but I like to think the hunted have a fair chance at least. Cats are only doing what comes naturally.

lljkk It's pesticides etc which have done for the birds. Cats have always caught birds. It's a basic tennet of the food chain and it's not their faults wse've messed things up with our pesticides.

As for toxoplasmosis, that's a bit of a myth. It really only seems to exist in theory as the number of people who've contracted it from cat poo is something like 1 recorded case in 160 years.

Effectively an urban myth.

I love your posts, you always sound v intelligent

Article in Independent today describes how increase in cat ownership is a major factor in declining wild bird populations.

(Crikey, never expected to find such a current reference!)

Feral hunting cats are a big problem in the USA, too.