bird killing cat,help!

[hellymelly]

Next door's lovely cat (male,not neutered,about 14m old) has just started killing off the birds in my garden.I have a dog who has previously chased all cats away,so the birds are used to being safe,and I have bird feeders etc.I love my birdies! My dog and ND's cat are friends so he is in our garden a lot,also they don't have a cat flap and he likes to cosy down in our shed,or our conservatory,when ND is at work. Today he killed a robin in fron of my horrified and upset small daughter,what can be done? Do bells work? will I seem a right old bossy boots if I buy ND a collar for the cat with a bell? All the birds are nesting now,we have full nesting boxes,and he has killed two blue tits,the robin,a collared dove and another bird this week alone.It is horrible,any ideas?

bump

no idea tbh - cat proof your garden? 14 months is quite old to introduce a collar to a cat I should think but I would ask the neigherbours if you could try.

Does arsenic work on cats ?

Cyanide ?

Landmines ?

Ha ha.He is a nice enough cat,but somehow he is very good at catching birds.I used to have cats and have had many over the years but somehow not bird killing cats.Rat killing and mouse killing a plently but hardly ever a bird so I have no idea what works and also he isn't my cat.May ring RSPB tomorrow for advice.

Have a friendly word with your neighbours and get him a collar with a bell. Though not all cats take to collars - ours was so distressed by it we had to remove it.

He had a collar for a while but it must have come off somehow.I just can't bear the idea that he will probably kill off all this year's fledgelings along with half the parents.The robins in my garden are so tame

Our cats have collars and bells and have done since they were allowed out, however, one of the has brought 2 birds in recently (they're both about 13 months old) whilst the other brings in worms and mice. The one that brought in birds also brought in a mouse once.

I don't think there's a lot you can do tbh. As I said, ours have bells but still manage to catch things.

our cat has a bell too but he still manages to bring home birds, mice, rats and rabbits.

you can't stop their instincts and only keeping the cat indoors 24/7 will stop it, which wouldn't be fair for an animal used to going outside.

Our cat was always dragging birds in we put a collor on with two bells one big one small so they bang together and slow it down alot although she still brought the odd one in I am afraid.

Natural instinct, so tricky to deal with.
Best bet ime is to squirt cat with water from hosepipe to discourage it from your garden.
Explain to the cat's owners what you're doing.

Try a collar with lots of bells.

Bells don't stop them from killing wildlife but it does reduce the amount they catch, apparently, so maybe try the bells and also put your feeders out in the open so the birds can see the cat, feeders near bushes, trees etc. anywhere the cat can hide before it pounces, are dangerous for the birds. Mine never seem to catch any birds or anything for that matter, maybe they are just lazy!

Yes I have moved my feeders,I did that after the first blue-tit killing,as they were near the hedge and so offered the cat some cover.I didn't see him catch it but I was concerned that the feeders might have been a factor.Now they are near a tree so the birds have protection near the feeders but they can see a cat clearly. The robin was just pottering about at the bottom of the hedge apparently.My DH suggested two bells,aparently cats learn to move without clanging one bell but with two it is much harder,so I guess I will buy him a collar and bells and hope that my neighbour is ok with him wearing it.

Have a chat with your neighbour and ask if they ever feed the cat meat. I started giving my cat the odd pouch of meat when she started hunting and it stopped her.

Hose pipe/super soaker. Harmless to the cat but he wont come back after that.