Why do they actually EAT their kills?

[JonSnowKnowsNothing]

Obviously they love the hunt, and playing with their poor victims. But why do they often eat them? They can't be hungry as I feed them twice a day.
Feeling very sick as girl cat took a poor vole behind the TV cabinet and devoured it, minus head and bowels. Now I have to move about 8 pieces of furniture to clean it up and feeling highly pissed off. I don't mind picking up a dead animal, but entrails on a sunday morning...?

Oh my god. That sounds hideous. I have no idea but wanted to give you a bit of virtual support in a Sunday morning :(

Thank you! Usually I can cope but today I just feel very unwell and pissed off. The other week I picked up what looked like a marble off my floor. Then I saw it had teeth. It was a mouse head.

They always leave the same parts don't they? :o

I'm not sure really. Maybe mice taste better than cat food? Or they're a bit peckish so decide to go for it. It's not exactly a massive amount of food.

When I was young pur two cats caught and ate a baby rabbit and were then sick everywhere.

Oh how horrid, Bertie!!

Yes - I went away for 2 nights this xmas and came back to vomit that had animal parts in it.

Why the hell do we keep these vomiting, murderous bastards?!

Instinct. It's horrible but at least you can be reassured that they'd survive if you weren't around to feed them.

PS - and if you saw what rodents do to eg electrical wiring, I'd be giving them good praise and clearing up the detritus willingly!

This is true. I must draw the line at letting her give me a big slobbery kiss and cheek rub as she's just tried to do, though!

I think I promised to tell this one winter night or day.

The story of 'Cheeky'

Many many moons ago (I was about 10 or 11 years old) I went with my BF to a cat show in Glasgow. There was a beautiful 'young neutered tom' needing a home so I took 'him' back in a cardboard box. I was only young so I hadn't a clue about colouring but - and you guessed it - 'he' was actually a pregnant tortie girl.

Thinking back on it, never did I admire my mother more than that moment. She was a country girl admittedly but she didn't give me gyp and Cheeky had 4 kits (quickly reduced to two ginger boys as was the way in those days via the vet.)

So there was Cheeky - ensconced in the greenhouse with the local Top Tom in residence with her. (And he would allow her kits quite amazing familiarities!)

But she couldn't stay. (Firstcat wouldn't permit it) And - to get back to the OP, she was a killer. The garden was littered with corpses every morning.

Luckily, my Mom had a friend who owned a farm on a large Scottish offshore island. So Cheeky went there to improve his cat stock. (The local cats all being pitifully small and inbred.)

And she promptly killed an entire pen of his prize young turkeys.

They forgave her. And here's the thing - the other farm cats hated her and so she wouldn't eat with them or associate with them.

And then the other cats were poisoned. (It happens in country areas.)

So Cheeky, because she ate by herself, survived. And became, as I recall, the matriarch of much of the island.

She'll be long dead now but hail to her still.

Ours don't eat their kills, I wish they did. terrible waste otherwise.

That's a brilliant story, Cozie! I LOVE top cats like that. When I was a kid the matriarch cat of my dad's farm was a lovely tortie. Every time she'd birth a litter people were desperate for one and we often gave a couple away. One time though she birthed an entire tortie litter....and one that was the spit of a Siamese! Honestly, you'd think it was in the wrong litter. Beautiful thing he was.
Dad pretends to hate the cats be still feeds them every day - but he did somehow get them all to the vets to get spayed. :-)

Blimey cheeky was a little legend.

Ours only eats rats, which are still poisoned and makes me panic he will be poisoned by them.

I still feel queasy when I think of our old tortie eating a week old-skinned by ants-baked in the hot summer sun-dead mouse. It was vile.

I was thinking about this earlier. BettyCat only eats the finest cuts of her rats and pigeons, so usually there will be heads, entrails, feet and wings left. However, she does prefer tinned tuna to these things, I now keep a tin close to hand so I can distract her from tormenting baby rats to death and capture them.

I think I have a photo of her somewhere - sprawled on the back step with her two ginger kits. (Before she went island hopping.) I'll see if I can find it.

Last night I went out to call 3 of my 4 cats in. The smallest, aged 1, (Little Muff) was indoors but waiting to greet her 3 older friends by the door.

As I opened the door the 3 big boys ran in & I saw one had left a deceased gift for me on the step......unfortunately so did Little Muff. She shot outside, & grabbed the mouse & moved about 6 feet down the path. I asked her nicely to put the gift down but she just looked at me, almost grinning, bit its head off, crunched it & swallowed it. Needless to say I was gagging. She then trotted back indoors leaving the 'meaty' bit outside for breakfast!

She wasn't even sick.....can't say the same for me!

I honestly don't mind too much. I'd much rather have mouse entrails than have to pick up dog poo.

I was going to say 'Fair Point' but then it occurred to me - why do the blighters do it in the middle of the best rug rather than eg the plain floorboards or the bathroom lino?