I've been brought a gift...

[HidingUnderMyDuvet]

So HidingCat has just brought me a lovely gift of a mouse... Still alive... In the middle of my lounge...

I managed to get her to take it back outside but she then proceeded to play with it... I know it's nature but it seems so cruel! And of course when she came back in she demanded attention and recognition for her efforts...

What gifts do you get from your cats?

I've been lucky for years. Seniorboy is now pretty elderly and would likely look with uninterest if a bunch of mice went past in marching band formation - and The Lodger used to deal with all outside business outside.

Gawd help me if I get another cat who likes gift giving. My mother used to get presents lovingly placed on her pillow.

I had a little rescue cat who had been found in the bins at about 10 weeks old. For years he'd bring back anything & everything. Memorable favourites include:
A whole chicken carcass
A tennis ball
Half a pizza
One of those giant yorkshire puddings
A deep frozen toad

I do miss him

Partially consumed takeaways. Also, not strictly gifts, but she's got a thing about the baby's balled up socks. If I leave them out she takes them into her basket.

awww princesskitkat he sounds like my british short haired garfield used to bring back takeaway containers, cigarette packets, leaves, twigs, basically he was a one cat street cleaner mission cat and he used to shout as he brought them into the house he was so proud of himself

Dead rat still attached to a moustrap! I just wonder what the neighbour made of his mouse trap disappearing

A deep frozen toad ?

Rats and lots of them at the moment. The rain is forcing them all out.

Wow! From the sounds of things I should be grateful that I only got a little mouse!

My late lamented old cat Sydney. His gifts included:

Half a pigeon (maybe he thought I couldn't eat a whole one)
Two live frogs
A furball
Something we thought was a dead mouse but turned out to be a bit of matted fur from Sydney's undercrackers

My Coon boy used to steal...
Dummies!!!
He started with Ds2's...could pinch them and walk round the house with them in his mouth .When DS2 ditched his he started hunting them down and found quite a few in the street as we live on a path to school.
He also had a watch fetish and would steal them. We solved that by buying party bag toy watches and he would happily wander round with one in his mouth!

Girl cat on the other hand is a killer and has brought us MANY shrews, lovingly presented on the door step, and on one memorable occasion, a live baby rabbit!

Oh and the mummified blackbird we found behind the sofa when we moved house...

While on a course I stayed overnight at the house of one of the other participants. She had 2 cats and we made friends that evening.

The next morning there was a dead mouse outside my bedroom door. My hostess was mortified, but I was actually chuffed and felt very privileged :)

Sparkling Cat brings us slow worms and grass snakes. She runs down the garden and it looks like she has a big green droopy moustache.

My father's cats kill birds when they are in Wiltshire. When in Pembrokeshire they kill shrews and lizards which shed their tails. The contrast is extraordinary - you can see them thinking as they get out of the car "where are those lizards" whilst totally ignoring Pembrokeshire's birds. And equally they've never killed a mouse/shrew in Wiltshire.
Why the different prey in the different counties?

New game, I suspect. Different animals and reptiles will behave differently and it's 'good fun' for a cat to try out different methods of hunting. Sort of like the buzz when you introduce a different toy into the household and it becomes No 1 attraction for a short period. You'd probably find they'd adjust if they were permanent residents.

(The availability of prey would likely also figure - if there are a lot of a particular prey around.)

Badgercat has only managed to catch one mouse and one bird which fell into her mouth in the 5 years we have had her

She attempted to bring both to me live, but sadly had a back door slammed in her face both times, poor kitty

I've had lots of dead mice. When I wasn't suitably impressed, he brought me a live shrew (I had to google it!) which I had to shake out of DP's freshly washed trousers then chase round the living room in my underwear trying to catch it in a coffee jar. Safely released up the road, away from RCat.

His most impressive was a dead squirrel, when we lived in the middle of the city. DP got rid of it, but not very well because RCat brought me half a dead squirrel the next day. I'm sure he didn't manage to catch 2 - he was only about 8 months at the time!

Since we've had the cat flap fitted, I find them deposited at the bottom of the stairs in a morning