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Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

Original poster

My cats keeping bringing me mice :(

33 replies

delilahbelle · 26/04/2012 21:41

And live energetic ones at that.

I can cope with dead mice, but I am getting one live mouse every couple of days dropped at my feet - and I then have to spend the evening chasing the damn thing.

Any tips to stop my cats being such avid hunters?

OP posts:
girlywhirly · 27/04/2012 12:36

You can't stop them hunting, but you can restrict their access to outdoors at dawn and dusk. This brings its own set of problems, howling, scratching to be let out, needing a litter tray available etc.

I do sympathise; we had one that stayed in our house for 5 days before we finally had to get poison bait. It is the only one I have ever failed to catch, and the cat couldn't either! It even avoided the humane trap that we bought. We think it came out at night and ate the cats dried food. Fortunately it hadn't chewed any cables, unfortunately we never found its body!

ragged · 27/04/2012 13:14

I keep mine in at night, too. Which has worked out completely fine. Maybe because they've never been allowed out at night.
I imagine they couldn't bring mice in if you didn't have a cat flap at all (pleased we don't).
Are your cats belled, OP?

Finocchio · 27/04/2012 13:19

I thought the mice and torn-apart birds were bad, now one of my cats is onto rabbits. Finding 1/4 of a rabbit in the pantry is not fun. I am still wondering where the other 3/4 is.

RightsaidFreud · 29/04/2012 23:32

We keep ours in at night now, hes got into the habbit of coming home around 10pm and then we keep him in. If he goes out any later than this he ALWAYS brings us mice, and usually live ones, like yours.

It will take a few days/maybe a week for your cat to get used to being kept in at night, and mine always wakes me up at 6am to be let back out, but its better than chasing a live mouse around your messy bedroom at 2am whilst your boyfriend pretends to be asleep.

Jux · 29/04/2012 23:59

They love you! They want to teach you how to hunt, and kill your prey. They'll be taking you out in the garden next to show you how to prowl through grass silently and then you'll have to learn how to wiggle your bum and pounce.

They are worried that you are not eating properly, too.

dondon33 · 02/05/2012 16:14

My cat has done it once and I nearly wet myself with fright :) he had been out and I was watching him come back in through the dining room window and he had the mouse in his mouth. He looked so proud of himself too, little bugger. I immediately jumped a mile high while screaming at my boyfriend to catch it and locking the cat out of the room. We managed to get the little mouse in a box while Alf ,our cat was going crazy to get it, we let it go free in the garden.
We always get dead ones and birds on the front step from him and it drives me crazy when he does it. I understand he needs to hunt and I wouldn't mind so much if he ate them but he doesn't...you just see the teeth marks where he killed them, he never eats even a little bit. I don't like how he tortures them either :(

rainbowbreeze · 04/05/2012 17:25

My cat used to hunt all the time voles, mice, birds, rats and I came home at Easter weekend once and there was a dead rabbit on the stairs Smile
She seems to have grown out of it now and since we've moved we've not had anything brought in.. gone are the days of chasing rodents round the house trying to catch them thank goodness !!
I dont think theres anything you can do to stop them, the only suggestion ive heard is to get them a bell on the collar but then they're not supposed to wear collars as they're a danger if they get stuck..

pinkhebe · 04/05/2012 17:26

I get them during the day too....

bitofcheese · 05/05/2012 19:25

we got one once. i was sobbing whilst trying to humanely catch the live mouse running around my feet whilst our cat sat there triumphantly, nightmare. it hasn't happened since but when she comes back in of an evening (we don't have a cat flap) i have to look at her mouth first to check she isn't holding onto something before she comes in. i love mice you see, so i find it really upsetting (our back door is by a window next to our back door light so quite handy). dh had to batter the mouse in the end as the cat had broken its back legs, it was running around using its front two hands, upsets me even typing this

Lawrene8 · 05/05/2012 19:28

Our cat brings in live frogsGrin doesn't eat them but entertains herself watching me try and catch them!

dondon33 · 05/05/2012 19:41

We get frogs in our garden, there's a big pond close to us. My cat is scared and amused by them. I've never seen him try to kill one- he'll lick it and when it jumps he does too in the opposite direction then go back for more.

Bitofcheese- its awful isn't it when the sods hurt/torture the mice. I don't know how many times I've seen Alf tormenting a mouse he wants to kill, he brings them to the garden to do it, so if I see what he's doing from the window I'm straight out there to stop him screaming like a banshee lol mostly he runs so I can't bring him inside but I like to think I gave the mouse a little chance to escape :)

Jux · 05/05/2012 22:04

We have a pond with frogs. Our cats bring them in too. They think they're toys, like watching them bounce.

Do your frogs scream? Ours do. I've never heard anything like it, poor things. At least it alerts us and we can catch them and take them back outside.

dondon33 · 06/05/2012 14:10

:) no Jux, not that I've heard anyway. They just make normal frog noises-which freaks the cat more lol
I'm shocked he doesn't try to kill them, he can be quite an evil lil sod. We live on the coast in UK and get lots of birds- mostly seagulls- it's hilarious watching him trying to get where they are, he'll go on his tummy like a snake in the hope that they don't see him, but they hear as I have attached a bell to his collar :) he looks devastated when they fly off. I still haven't fathomed why the mice don't hear him coming though??

pinkhebe · 06/05/2012 16:07

Toads certainly scream. We've had 2 brought into the house. They don't eat them at least!

JuliaScurr · 06/05/2012 16:13

Are they house mice or field mice? (different species) If house, we found mothballs worked(in container with holes -smell puts off mice but cat can't eat mothballs) If from outside - bell?
Horrible murderous creatures. Why do we still love them?

RandomMess · 06/05/2012 16:16

My cat took on a huge seagull and the seagull won Grin

He got a huge diamond shaped bald batch on the top of his head where the bird peck him - how on earth he thought that it would have fitted through the cat flap I have no idea!

dondon33 · 06/05/2012 22:55

Years ago when Alf was young (maybe 1/2) my BF lived in an area that had wild birds roaming the grounds (first let me point out that Alf was Bf's cat first but now mine :) since we have been together) and he thought no harm would be done by letting a little cat outside to play each day. How bloody wrong he was.... Alf only got a huge peacock by the throat, Bf and his mum were straight outside to stop him but it was too late and they were actually scared of Alf and that he would attack them, said he looked wild. I've seen these eyes and it's not a pretty sight, like he's feral. They had to bury the bird as they were afraid they would have to leave or that even Alf would have to be put to sleep, needless to say he was kept inside after that.
Aww Random- poor cat but still probably won't learn a lesson. LMAO at the cat flap. We have an extension on the side of the house and I always leave the door to the garden open, one day I opened the kitchen door leading to it and nearly died of fright- the idiot AKA Alf had managed to get a pigeon in and was hanging on one of its wings while it was trying to escape, it was quite a trauma to get him to release the damn thing and I got pecked for my troubles.

nothinglefttolose · 07/05/2012 19:48

My boy brought me a dead baby rabbit this am.

He loves his mum

Takver · 07/05/2012 20:30

Yep, rabbits here too. Cat has taken to bringing them to feed to the dog, which is kind of sweet in an unhelpful and messy way.

Loveleopardprint · 08/05/2012 14:55

My cat Vladimir the impaler ( should have called him fluffy) is banned from the cat flap as he brought so many creatures in. This morning I had a dead rabbit outside and over the weekend 4 shrews and one moor hen chick! Really sad.
We have a new puppy and think he is trying to prove his worth by killing half of Devon!!!

sophiaaka · 13/04/2017 15:33

:( my cat is bringing in a alive mouse every week, then lets go of it in her mouth. I have to leave my flat some nights as im too scared to get to it. She doesn't understand and no matter what im doing she keeps doing it. I've tried to keep her in at night but she did it again last night just before her curfew. HELP!!!

Weedsnseeds1 · 13/04/2017 15:45

Mine is an absolute horror for it. A week or so ago he bought in 5 in one hour. Every time one was taken off him or he killed it, he just went and got another. One was mislaid and discovered two days later in the wardrobe gently decomposing. One mouse and one bird so far this week ( but he was on holiday for 4 days of that so indoors or on a lead and no murderous opportunities).

sophiaaka · 13/04/2017 16:06

OMG that is AWFUL- you poor thing. there is me thinking my cat is the only one doing it and yours is worse!! What will you do?? I am at my wits end with this girl, why bring them in and let go of them alive in the house?!! she uses a cat flap and comes and goes as she likes so im thinking to stop her of a night or stop her using the flap. I really don't know what else to do. Does he/she use a flap??

Weedsnseeds1 · 13/04/2017 16:16

He uses a cat flap. His peak killing time is early evening as he snuggles up in bed with me overnight ( and breathes mouse breath on me), so difficult to shut him in as he sleeps most of the day too, so it's his only outdoor time! 5 in an hour is extreme even for him, I assume he got lucky and found a nest! Normally one a day or every other day. Slower in the winter when he doesn't fancy going out so much. Luckily I'm not squeemish Smile

Weedsnseeds1 · 13/04/2017 16:18

I think they just like to bring them in to play with on their own turf. They aren't hunting for food, but the instinct is hard wired in them.