Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Pets

Join our community on the Pet forum to discuss anything related to pets.

Original poster

Cat hunting mice

36 replies

MumofSpud · 12/07/2022 18:12

Please no judging at me having a 2 year old cat, who loves going outside.
She would jump up and down at the patio door trying to get out when she was little.
So I have a tracker on her and she stays quite near - and all has been ok for the last 18 months.
But.....
In the last 3 days she has brought home 1 live mouse and 3 dead ones.
How can I stop this?
I know that this might be a completely stupid question and that cats hunt but....
She wears a bell too so they have warning!

OP posts:
WeAreTheHeroes · 12/07/2022 18:15

You can't. She's a predator and she's doing what comes naturally. The only thing you can do to stop her bringing them in is physically letting her in yourself, making sure she doesn't have anything in her mouth.

Jalisco · 12/07/2022 18:18

Please send her around to my place. I have a rural home and mice are always trying to move in. The bloody dog is a useless mouser! But he likes cats!

Yarnasaurus · 12/07/2022 18:22

You can't stop her hunting when she's outside.

You can keep her in at dawn and dusk which is typically when cats do most of their hunting. This is what I've done with my latest rescue. She has a curfew from around 5pm to 7am. We do 'playtime' after she's come in and she's quite happy with this routine. Sometimes she falls asleep or gets distracted in the garden and is late in and she's not happy if we won't play!

CornedBeef451 · 12/07/2022 18:23

You just get rather blasé about disposing of the tiny corpses and get much quicker at catching the live ones!

I have four cats so get a mix of mice, frogs, birds large and small, worms, moths and slugs although those are stuck on fur rather than brought in.

Dead is easiest, live is best but hardest work, injured is the worst because of the mess and the guilt. An injured pigeon once sprayed blood all the way down my hallway, carpets, walls and radiators while I frantically tried to chase the cat away without its bounty.

Good luck, you will get used to it.

MarshaMelrose · 12/07/2022 18:25

You can't. That's what they do. Ugh, that purring/mewing sound when they bring a little gift for you into the bedroom at night!

SallyWD · 12/07/2022 18:28

You just get used to it. You can't stop it. Apparently bells work with birds but not mice. I'm now very quick at catching them. I put a tupperware container over them, then very carefully slide the lid underneath. If my cat's out at night I close all doors so he can only bring mice in to the hall. Then it's easy to catch them as they have nowhere to hide.

PrincessCarolyn · 12/07/2022 18:36

I have heard that average daily kills for a feral cat are around 9 so although four mice in three days seems like a lot, if she wasn't being fed it would be 27 mice.

She may be trying to teach you to hunt or simply offering gifts. Whatever you do, don't let her see you're not happy. One of our cats once brought DM a dead wren, whereupon DM scolded her for killing a songbird. She promptly went out and returned with...another dead wren. The first gift hadn't found favour so she immediately went out to get another one.

Whatodoaboutit · 12/07/2022 18:45

Weirdly our 4 year old has, for the first time ever, just had a a couple of weeks of leaving us dead mice at the door. No idea if someone nearby has a new nest, or if she has just got better at catching them, but I’m not happy with her.

She was playing with one on the lawn in the middle of the afternoon the other day. She shredding my arms as I grabbed her to rescue the poor thing! I do hope it got clean away. I know it’s natural instinct, and after the misfortune of having a mouse in a previous house I’m glad to know one wouldn’t move in now, but it does make me feel guilty every time I have to pick up a little body.

stillherenow · 12/07/2022 20:31

Mice are nothing it's the live birds that got me with my dcat! Coming home from work to a flat full of feathers 😫

Zazdar · 12/07/2022 20:35

Mine killed two dozen in one weekend, that I know about. We were infested with the things so he got an extra cuddle.

RedSquirrelRoar · 12/07/2022 20:43

I’ve found an extra bell (attached at a different point on the collar) cramps their style a bit!

Anunusualfamily · 12/07/2022 20:52

My cat is a regular present bringer dead and alive. Mice shrews rabbits birds most impressively was an adult pheasant which he brought in and hid under a chest of drawers. All be is preferable because animal guts on the living room floor first thing in the morning is not fun.

Hes either in or out at night so he can’t bring anything in.

Forgothowmuchlhatehomeschoolin · 12/07/2022 20:54

I ask myself this question constantly - my boy is a hunter and just loves leaving me gifts and recently has decided to leave them at the front door too. Yuk!! I manage it by not having a cat flap so he can't bring his prey indoors.

stillherenow · 12/07/2022 21:00

I was desperate to stop mine but she didn't stop until she was quite old. Although it did calm down a bit . At one point when she was a teenager she had too many to bring in of a night and there'd be a massacre site on my patio every morning .

watcherintherye · 12/07/2022 21:11

My cat is a regular present bringer dead and alive. Mice shrews rabbits birds most impressively was an adult pheasant which he brought in and hid under a chest of drawers.

Shock I don’t know whether to be horrified or in awe! I’m assuming he didn’t have to get it through a cat flap?!

lanbro · 12/07/2022 21:18

Since moving house my cat has become an avid hunter, some I've managed to save (although they possibly die of shock afterwards anyway) most are bagged and binned unfortunately. She has a bell and isn't out overnight but it still happens weekly...it's in their nature, and they think they're bringing you presents that you'll love🙄

Iphigeniaa · 12/07/2022 21:21

My friend's cat once brought home a whole squirrel with its tail lolling out of its mouth.

My rescue cat was pretty inept at life in general and could only capture the odd tiny baby mouse.

Mellowyellow222 · 12/07/2022 21:22

Mine has recently developed a taste for frogs. No idea where she gets them! Poor froggies.

Nsky62 · 12/07/2022 21:25

Why the fuss, my old girl at 13 stopped, never bothered by gifts when younger

Cervinia · 12/07/2022 21:25

Yup two squirrels here, frequent frogs, a large goldfish and dozens of birds and mice.I’ll take the mice.

Original poster
MumofSpud · 12/07/2022 21:31

Oh Good Grief - I am going to have to get used to it aren't I !

OP posts:
DrinkingAllTheGin · 12/07/2022 22:24

Had my DCat 2 years and he presented me with a mouse to mark the day.
I feel very loved.

Georgeskitchen · 12/07/2022 22:32

My cat has brought several pigeons home, clamped in his jaws, some still alive, wings flapping. Luckily never got in the house with them !!

easyday · 12/07/2022 22:55

Mine have tags as well as a bell so can't move at all without jangling. No mice yet.

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 12/07/2022 23:02

Perk of the job. Ours is eight now and never caught a thing until two years ago - no idea what changed! We don’t have a cat flap and she is kept in overnight, plus we have a utility room between the kitchen and the back door to check she is “empty-handed”.

I’ve rescued numerous little mice but found them dead on the patio later (with madam safety inside) so I think their tiny hearts just give out. The dead bodies are always spotless with no blood too actually.