Some advice needed please, one-cat killing machine to slow down!

[VertiginousOust]

We have a rescue cat who we've had about 8 months. She's a very prolific hunter. We already keep her in overnight because we were getting several bodies overnight and that slowed her down for a month or so. Now she's picked back up again and is bringing in mice, shrews and birds continuously (we're averaging 4 a day).
The children are finding it really upsetting - dead things they are fine with (although not so much with innards strewn across the floor), live things they find quite fun. But it's the damaged, injured, dying creatures which are starting to get to them. My daughter who previously adored the cat said she hated her this morning 😞.
I don't know what to do! I've had cats all my life (with a break over the last 5/6 years so it's really the children's first experience) and never known a hunter like this. Although we now live very rurally so she has access to lots of wildlife.
What can we do? Obviously with cats you accept a certain amount of dead creatures and I know she's just being a cat but this seems crazy.

Have you tried a bell on her collar?

She hasn't had a collar yet, so we will try that but I've never found them particularly effective before. My last cat would get a new collar, go out and promptly return collarless, so I got out of the habit of putting collars on!

I'm not sure bells help, they just learn to hunt more stealthily, to avoid setting the bells a-tinkling.

You could always put one of these on her, but she'll probably be incredibly offended.

I know you said you keep her in overnight, but from what time? Cats do a lot of their hunting at dusk and dawn.

How does she bring them in? Through a cat flap? You could lock it against entry.

We don't have a flap, so anyone out at human bedtime stays out. Any gifts are disposed of in the morning (one shrew & one sparrow today). I assume the maimed ones are finished off & eaten...

Meant to say - the gifts are carefully place on the doormat & praised lavishly then popped into the dustbin when the cats aren't looking, so as not to hurt their feelings

Sorry I've just realised that you keep her in overnight.

Mine had bells on their collars until recently. One in particular was being menaced by next door's cat & I realised that she couldn't avoid her because she was noisy with the bell. I removed the bells & things are much better. She's also stopped over-grooming her tummy & making it bald, so clearly much less stressed. We have had a small increase in the bird count but not in the small furry tally.

Lord, those cat bibs are something! I'm almost tempted to try one. She's a very small cat though, so hope it wouldn't drag on the floor.
She doesn't seem to be bringing them for gifts (she's very anti-human as well!), just for herself. She does eat quite a few too. She was a stray when she was initially found so presumably very used to fending for herself.

Once you've found a method please share to save the rest of us haha. Our cat used to bring in one every other day and when she had to have a leg amputated due to a car accident we got told she probably won't be able to catch as many. And now almost as making a point we get at least one every day! Shes 15 as well and the numbers seem to have increased over the years instead of getting lower. We tried a collar but being the cat she was she used to get out of it

Ha, we thought ours wouldn't be much of a hunter as she only has one eye. Fuck knows how many she'd bring in if she had both.

poundland sells decent-sticking collars with bells, £1 for 2 usually.
Trick is to make them quite tight (still 2 fingers).
Put extra bells on, too.
Reduces rather than eliminates.
Luckily most of what my cats bring home are considered agricultural pests, anyway.

I laughed at the Cat Bib. It must guarantee one grumpy looking cat if it's made to wear one!

Some of the cat bib reviews are funny.

I dont think we have any danger of Ernie catching something however much enthusiam he has. OH had a mouse in his fishing bag and it jumped out right in front of Ernie and he missed it