Cats and many, many mice

[ETsmum]

Is there any way we can dissuade our cats from bringing mice in? I know it is normal for cats to catch and kill mice, and we were expecting the odd one. But we are on 2-3 a night at the moment, and now they are often not killing them, which means lots of fun and games for dh We are lucky that we can prevent them getting all over the house....and in some ways I am pleased as lots of mice mean that the cats are going into the fields and not anywhere near the road.

Short of not letting them out (which isn't an option) is there anything else we can do?

Don't see how you can stop cats bringing you furry presents - they do it because they love you and want to provide you with some food!

Maybe attach a bell to a collar so mice hear them coming and have time to escape?

All you can then really do is limit where they can bring them - ie whichever room the cat flap is in, keep the door from there closed so they can't be introduced into the rest of the house. Bit mean on the cats maybe, but also avoids the muddy footprints on the bedclothes scenario

I can't see how to stop them, they are hunters. You could reduce the amount you feed at night so that they eat what they catch. Once the weather gets colder it should slow down anyway.

My old cat was a really great hunter she used to catch birds and they bring them in live to play with them. It usually only happens if they have been sterilized IME as I have taken in alot of strays who never did it. What we did was if you go to the pet shop they will put two bells on the collar and although they will still get lucky and/or get rid of the bells eventually it does slow them down significantly to about one a week. Good luck.

if you find out how to stop them, you'll make a fortune.

I have 5 cats, all have bells on their collars and we still have live and dead things on a daily basis.

It is the only bad thing about cats though