Help. Cat keeps bringing in birds

[biscuitkumquat]

My cat is, just over, 12 months, and isn't the most affectionate cat in the world, and spends a lot of time out & about.

He keeps bringing in birds, and I am, entirely irrationally, scared of them.

He doesn't kill them, so when he lets them go to play with them, they fly all over the house, and DD14 has to try to catch them to let them out.

Last time we were at the Vets, I asked for his advice, and he said definitely not to get a collar because cat climbs A LOT, and could be dangerous.

I'm at the end of my tether, I just don't know how to persuade him that continually (2/3 times a week) bringing home birds, is just not the done thing.

Any advice?

A quick release collar with a bell on it? I agree a traditional collar with a buckle is dangerous but that is why quick releases were invented!!! I would never let a cat out without a tag and find that vet's advice odd! I was trained in rehoming cats and giving advice to new owners when I worked at a rescue and no cat was allowed to leave without a collar!

I got one of the quick release ones, and showed it to the Vet, and he said that they were just too dangerous, and I should accept that cats catch birds, it's just what they do.

The cat is chipped though.

If your cat is catching birds every day and you won't put a collar on it then the only responsible thing to do it keep him in.

I put collars with bells in my cats and they are fine.

I would be very reluctant to use a collar on an outdoor cat too tbh. I've only ever used quick release collars and have at some points been replacing them almost daily - so the cats are getting into situations where their necks could get snagged every day. The other extreme is that a couple have tightened up from the cat scratching themselves but not released.

If you're keen to try a collar, adjust it to fit your cat and then sew the two pieces of collar into place, if you see what I mean. So it's no longer adjustable. Cats generally learn to hunt so the bell doesn't tinkle anyway.

How is your cat bringing birds in? Do you have a flap or is he using the windows to get in? I would be restricting access until you can check he doesn't have anything. I feel your pain as one of my sadly now passed cats was an amazing hunter - she would bring home 1-2 mice a day in the summertime.

Huntercat is as the name suggests a demon for raw feeding himself, though he does normally eat the birds whole which beats the 'guess the owner of the intestines on the hall floor' game.

I don't put a collar on him as they can cause horrific leg and neck injuries and he climbs trees and through hedges daily. Quick release are not great from people I know who've tried them. Either off all the time or still not fast enough to avoid injury.

Perhaps lock him out at times he normally brings you gifts? Otherwise for me it's just having a hunting cat, I don't feed or encourage birds into the garden at all but the fields here are full of them so he will catch them and occasionally bring them in.

I don't put a collar on a cat as I had a cat that lost its leg once due to getting tangled in a collar - came home in an awful state. And the quick release ones they were losing at the rate of one a day. Just stuck a paw in and flicked them off.

It is horrible - mine mostly brings in dead things - but has lost mice under the sofa.

Er, how does the cat get in the house? Close the cat flap or window & make him meow or scratch to get in. Then the birds won't come in with him. Why is this not a solution?

My outdoor hunters wear (wore) belled collars quite safely, seem to bring home birds 1-2x a month (each). I suppose a few live birds in the last 4 yrs. They devastate the small rodent population instead. Got a bat the other day, though (argh).

Oh you'd be surprised what a cat can get through a flap trout. Ours can get a baby rabbit in easily.

There's no easy answer to this one.

Not if the flap is locked shut. Sorry I didn't make that clear. By "close" I meant: do not have a cat flap or lock the cat flap down tight so that someone would have to physically damage it to get thru.

Unless cats are picking locks now, I dunno.

our cat flap is locked to one way so that she can get out at night if needs loo but cant bring mice in.....very stressful trying to catch them. she just has to wait to come in now....she sleeps at night and is out most of the day...she can shelter in the greenhouse if its cold/rainy