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Original poster

Do all cats bring their owners "presents", especially birds?

51 replies

Heated · 01/11/2008 22:45

Have been thinking for a while about a getting a pair of cats, rather than kittens, probably from a re-homing centre.

But as dh points out, cats bring home "presents" and as he knows I'm not overly keen on rodents but I detest birds, to the point I would say I am phobic.

So, I need to know do all cats bring home birds? Do they do it a lot? Is there any way of choosing a cat who won't do this or a way of dissuading them?

OP posts:
WhizzzBangWhizzzOOOooAhhhh · 01/11/2008 22:47

well ours does - mostly alive. It's their nature to hunt but I'm sure some are better than others. Our cat seems to go through phases, nothing for a while & then 2 animals on consecutive days!
Unfortunatley you can't really tell (unless you go for rehomed cats where you can get a bit of past history on them & their habits!)

WhizzzBangWhizzzOOOooAhhhh · 01/11/2008 22:48

You can put a bell on their colour (ours has one - but it doesn't stop her!)

notnowbernard · 01/11/2008 22:48

A live mouse the other day

Didn't stay alive for long

WhizzzBangWhizzzOOOooAhhhh · 01/11/2008 22:48

thats COLLAR not colour !

Pixel · 01/11/2008 22:48

None of my previous cats ever caught anything but the one I have now is a terror. He brings in lizards, grass snakes, all sorts.
The others were all girl cats, I don't know if that is the reason.

IAteMakkaPakka · 01/11/2008 22:48

No, some do, no and no. Some people will tell you to put a collar with a bell on it to scare off the birds before the cat can catch them but IME they catch them anyway and they're at risk of norrible injuries if the collar gets caught.

You could rehome an indoor cat? Unless you have a budgie (I'm guessing this is unlikely) there's no chance of an indoor cat presenting you with a dead bird.

IAteMakkaPakka · 01/11/2008 22:49

*horrible injuries

shopaholicDIVA · 01/11/2008 22:49

i think its common experience. i dont have cat but my 3 friends have, and hearing what they had is a bit scarry if you cant handle. 2 friend keep cat in after fall dark, as they both had mouse and it was alive. other one had plenty as she got three of them, and seems ok to handle, as cat dont eat bird or mouse, its present for you so when they die they leave it, so she just bins it. to me pretty scarry i wont even handle dead fish in the pond myself.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 01/11/2008 22:49

Not all cats do this - my female has access to the great outdoors and has never brought me anything. I live on a farm that sustains at least two feral cats, so there's no shortage of prey, including loads of birds. However, many cats do bring presents, so if you're looking to take rescue cats it's something you might be able to ask the previous owner, in which case you need some way to contact that person. (Or have the resue centre contact them, if possible) I don't suppose it's a question routinely asked when folk seek to rehome their cats, though.

I'm not being very helpful, am I?

WhizzzBangWhizzzOOOooAhhhh · 01/11/2008 22:50

If you get a collar - get a safety collar that comes apart & falls off easily if caught on anything

hotwaterbottlesrule · 01/11/2008 22:50

we get a lot of mice as I think they are super thick so easy to catch. Birds are more wily and we have rarely had them. WhizzzBang is right too difficult to tell as kittens but there are loads and loads of adult cats desperate for a home

sheilatakeabow · 01/11/2008 22:50

Mine didn't do too much of the gifting until I had ds, and then she got a bit too maternal. A live frog was the worst - it stayed alive for a good eight hours under the washing up bowl i dropped on it until dh returned to save us

othersideofthefence · 01/11/2008 22:50

I've got 6 cats and some do, some don't.

Although, I have to say most do ...

Until the cat is living with you you don't know

I know some people will say put a collar on the cat, but 2 of mine (all are rescues) had horrific collar experiences.
The worst was found with his collar tangled in a front and back paw and his flesh had grown over the collar. The vets had to cut an inch and a half into him to release it and he was a mass of scars when I got him, so I am passionatly against cat collars.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 01/11/2008 22:53

A friend of mine confided that the perfect solution to the deceased and dismembered prey left lying about the house by her cat was....

a dog.

They'll eat anything. [barf]

expatinscotland · 01/11/2008 22:54

ours brings us field mice and shrews.

she keeps the good stuff - birds - to herself.

pinkteddy · 01/11/2008 22:59

You could ask for an older cat. They are a lot less light on their feet and tend to not go out as frequently.

Our two young ones bring in loads (mice, birds, frogs!) but our old codger tom cat didn't bring in anything in his latter years bless him!

WhizzzBangWhizzzOOOooAhhhh · 01/11/2008 22:59

ooo I am stressing the SAFETY collars that come apart really easily to avoid snagging

elkiedee · 01/11/2008 23:02

Our two cats have brought in two mice and a robin between them, all dead when found by us, in nearly 10 years.

dooneygirl · 01/11/2008 23:04

Our cats bring us presents, but I'm never sure what animal they were, because they keep most of it, and thoughtfully only deposit things like hearts, intestines, and various other organs by our front door.

akhems · 01/11/2008 23:04

my cat is nearly 3 years old and has never brought me anything.. I don't know whether to be relieved or offended, lol

bella29 · 01/11/2008 23:08

Some do, some don't. Some presents are alive, some dead and some are sadly in between (those are the ones I really hate).

OldLady absolutely right about the dog - if I had a pound for every time I have seen a bemused cat watch as a little sparrow's legs disappear down one of my dogs throats...

Original poster
Heated · 01/11/2008 23:20

Thank you for your replies, I think! Am fine with frogs which are in the garden sometimes because of the nearby brook, they manage to leap ahead of the lawnmower (mostly!). But thank you, will give the choice of cat/s more consideration or book myself in for some bird aversion therapy.

Can imagine the re-homing center are going to look at us when we ask for:

  • 2 non-bird gifting cats
  • dh, who claimed disinterest, wants 'good-looking cats' ?!
  • and dd, aged 2, wants the cat out of the Tiger Who came To Tea and ds (4)wants to know will they sleep on my bed?

I reckon we'll end up with ScarFace Claw x2!

OP posts:
Gettingbiggernow · 01/11/2008 23:22

Our male cats have generally hunted, mainly birds/mice. Like dooneygirl, they are usually just dismembered bits by the time they are passed over. You do get used to it, because you have to.

Our female cats have never in my memory brought us any gifts.

BTW the girl cats have without exception been sweeter natured, more affectionate and more docile than the boy cats if we were to get another one it would definitely be a girl

Agree re collars also - the best are those which snap open under pressure. One of our cats will not wear one under any circumstances tho and I have watched her get her bottom jaw/teeth wedged under the collar as she tried to prise it off. That was a snap-open one but there wasn't enough pressure to snap it open. I had kept her indoors after putting on the collar as I suspected she would do herself a mischief as she had reacted so violently to it when I first put it on. If she'd have been on her own when it happened she would have been seriously uncomfortable for a long time. I don't bother with a collar for her now, she is microchipped anyway.

mabanana · 01/11/2008 23:34

They are 'presents' by the way. The animal isn't giving them to you, they are simply bringing their prey into their inner territory.

Jux · 01/11/2008 23:35

Two of our cats do and one doesn't (but she's very old and prefers to sleep - when she was young she brought me worms ). Not all cats do. You should be flattered by it as they mean your cat has accepted you and is teaching you how to survive in the wild. So they say