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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

if you have a cat do you feed the birds?

30 replies

ReadyToRumble · 02/04/2013 18:34

Before I got my cat I used to love feeding the birds, throwing out bread, seed etc and buying those fat balls.

I have had my cat just over a year now (a lovely black and white thing called Bob Grin ) but I havent fed the birds because im frightened if I tempt the birds in the garden Bob might kill one. Up to now his only victims that I know of are a small mouse and a spider Sad

So suppose im asking if you own a cat do you feed the birds? By the way Bob never ventures far from the garden hes still only young.

OP posts:
tilder · 02/04/2013 18:37

Sadly not. He is a keen hunter and it just made it too easy for him. He just sat under the feeders and waited. Only downside to having a cat.

Love the name btw.

RightUpMyRue · 02/04/2013 18:39

No. It would be like setting a trap for them Sad

My neighbour, unfortunately, hasn't realised this(despite being told it aint a great idea) and is still putting out food for birds on my shed roof which the cat takes full advantage of.

Original poster
ReadyToRumble · 02/04/2013 18:39

Thanks tilder Grin

Thats a shame dd is just coming to the age where she would really enjoy seeing the birds in the garden.

Suppose its common sense really Blush

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 02/04/2013 18:40

We have one of these and a bird table. Sparkling Cat hasn't managed to catch a bird from them yet.

Original poster
ReadyToRumble · 02/04/2013 18:47

Oh no RightUpMyRue does the cat catch many birds? Its only instinct for them I suppose if the temptation is there! Poor birds though Sad

Thanks for the link Sparkling that may be the way forward Smile

OP posts:
GingerPCatt · 02/04/2013 18:51

I think if bob isn't a hunter you could try it and see. My parents have a cat and still put food out for the birds. The cat ignores the birds so there's no issue. I couldn't since one of my cats is a bird killer. It would be carnage.

RightUpMyRue · 02/04/2013 18:52

She perhaps has one a month/every other month so isn't making a huge dent in the garden bird population of West Herts but she tries many more times unsuccessfully.

Phineyj · 02/04/2013 18:53

Yes. Cat is very lazy indeed and considers the birds 'cat TV' if she even bothers to get up off the sofa. Grin

Sparklingbrook · 02/04/2013 18:53

Sparkling Cat never does that 'talking to the birds' thing many cats do. She watches them put of the window, ears flat and the end of her tail twitching. But she brings back grass snakes just for a change. Sad

pepperrabbit · 02/04/2013 18:53

I have spent a small fortune a lot time trying to find feeders that the birds are safe from the cat, the food is not hogged by ginormous pigeons and magpies and the squirrels can't get at it...
Feeders suspended from the trees or a crook seem to work, though the squirrels can climb the crook Hmm
In winter I hang peanuts from the flower hanging basket hooks which the cat can't access.
My cat is 15 though, and talks a good game, but can't really be bothered with more than looking ferocious now.
I wouldn't throw food on the ground though, we get foxes as well.

Clearlymisunderstood · 02/04/2013 18:54

I do, but my cat doesn't spend a great deal of time outdoors and is totally disinterested when the birds land right next to him anyway

Sparklingbrook · 02/04/2013 18:54

Food on the ground is never a good idea. Rats, Foxes etc.

Original poster
ReadyToRumble · 02/04/2013 19:11

Thank you all I will get a couple of hanging feeders to give it a go. Bob doesnt like to go out until very late at night and then its not every night so we might be ok. He is as daft as a brush anyway Smile

OP posts:
Lovethesea · 02/04/2013 19:50

No, I had to stop feeding them once we got Cat1 last May from the Rescue.

Cat1 sees the hedgerow as a sushi bar as it is, it would save me a fortune in catfood pouches if I enticed more poor things in, but doesn't seem ethical somehow!

I am however getting to see the richness of Norfolks bird and mammal life, and the DC are getting close ups of shrews, wrens, blue tits, pigeons, mice and obviously intestines. They are 4 and 2 and seem unperturbed by the gore.

HazeltheMcWitch · 02/04/2013 19:56

Yep, we have 2 cats and still feed the birds. I've got a crook thing like the one that Sparkling has, and some other feeders, and a table. Key for me has been to not site the feeders anywhere with ground cover - ie nowhere that the cats can hide and pounce from. And make sure that any hangy things and tables are very high - I need to use a little stepladder to refill, and I'm quite tall.

bruffin · 02/04/2013 19:56

Have been feeding them since Christmas on a bird table similar to linked above. Rosiecat will sit and talk to the birds but never shows any inclination to stalk them.

NorksAreMessy · 02/04/2013 20:03

Yes, we have a hanging bird feeder like sparkling's. In fact we have five. I LOVE watching the birds.
We also have a cat who is a demon hunter. She brings back something every single day for our dinner...very considerate puss, although how she thinks one vole is going to feed four adults and three dogs, I don't know.

Of all the prey she brings back, maybe 1 a month is a bird. Tiny mammals are so much easier to catch

BUT we live on a farm where mammals are very plentiful and there are piles of hay and straw and cow barns and mammal-friendly places

cozietoesie · 02/04/2013 20:06

Yes I do. But I'm careful about what and where. You might find this article useful, Rumble.

\link{http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/cats/birdfriendly.aspx\bird friendly gardens}

Fluffycloudland77 · 02/04/2013 21:19

I use a bird table. He does catch some of them, but he's going to catch them anyway. If not my garden then next doors, I've seen him take them from the front garden where I don't have a bird feeder.

Original poster
ReadyToRumble · 02/04/2013 22:20

Thanks everyone for the info. That article is very helpful cozie Smile

OP posts:
gobbin · 02/04/2013 22:39

I've stopped using the table and got a couple of hanging feeders on 's' hooks in the front rowan tree. No issues with the cats so far. They like to sit in the bay window and watch 'bird tv'!

SummerRainIsADistantMemory · 02/04/2013 22:57

We feed everything: birds, cats, foxes, rodents of all sizes, badgers, hedgehogs, pinemartens, badgers.... Remarkably few murders occur, although fat cat attacks the foxes and grey kitten teases the magpies.

We get occasional rodenty gifts but only about one bird a year.

Shaky · 02/04/2013 23:08

We would never have a bird table. We have 2 cats that both look like the Felix cat food cat.

LovelyShakyCat is gorgeous, timid, loving and will give you a pussycat snog within minutes.

EvilShakyCat is a different story. He is an evil, psychopathic twat. He kills EVERYTHING!

I have seen him eat birds, mice, rabbits he even killed 2 moles! He regularly eats mice and just leaves the stomach and the head outside my bedroom door

He is the most vicious creature ever...

Free to good any home Grin

sashh · 03/04/2013 05:31

I don't. It's not just my cat, there are 5 next door and one over the road and about 5 regular visitors.

I'm in a bungalow with a 6ft fence between me and the other half of the semi.

The cats use the fence to get on the roof and steal the baby sparrows. But mum and dad sparrow still nest in the loft year after year.

The blackbirds are not much better.

In the year I've had Misty she has brought in a non script brownish coloured bird - maybe a baby black bird and a robin.

I screamed at her both times and I think she has got the idea not to bring them into the house. The evidence for this was the large patch of magpie feathers in the garden.

thebestpossibletaste · 04/04/2013 20:03

I have the same bird feeder as sparklingbrook.