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The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

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Original poster

Boy cat doesn't seem to hunt or bring me his spoils... :-(

57 replies

SuperFlyHigh · 08/02/2017 20:48

Got a 3 year old boy cat (Felix), half Siamese had him since he was about 4.5 months old, he was with his mum and another male cat in his old house.

He was kept in until he was 1 year old as I wasn't sure about him going outside... Just worried for him! Plus there were a few foxes hanging around and I got a bit nervous. He goes outside every day now but locked in from 6-7pm.

Anyway apart from about 4 frogs (alive), 1 baby bird that i think fell out of a nest and a pigeon, he hasn't caught anything! He won't wear a collar (gets them off on garden steps etc), goes after birds (seen him crawl along the length of a branch after a bird) and is very active.

Should I be pleased he hasn't caught anything, is he eating it outside or doesn't he love me as much to catch anything?! (Last part of that sentence is tongue in cheek!).

My previous 2 cats (brother and sister) and their brother who lived next door were prolific hunters, once or twice a day sometimes, mostly field mice, a couple of Rats, frogs, toads and sometimes birds (tried to discourage the bird hunting) and they also tried to fish in my pond (strong net was put over the pond almost from word go) so I'm just a bit curious as to why mine (typical boy cat, can't wait to get out in morning, no breakfast first!) doesn't catch anything?!

He is also your typical long legged Siamese-cross looking, with extra long claws, fangs you can see on his face (teeth) and quite slim yet sturdy.

Any ideas??!!

OP posts:

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WappersReturns · 09/02/2017 11:19

Ugh you don't know how lucky you are! We're on a farm so our three hunt rats and we're always being presented with bits 😷

A few months ago the DC were sitting at the breakfast table eating and swinging their feet on the bench when DD3's foot swept over something fuzzy... Well you can imagine the screams when they looked down to see the giant rat corpse under the table! After that we decided either the cats are in or out at night and we don't have a window open for them any more to come in and stow away their little prizes. That really was the last straw!

Original poster

SuperFlyHigh · 09/02/2017 11:25

Thisis the thing is I've had generally... Live mice running round the living room - or dead ones, rarely dismembered, brought back by the previous 2 dearly departed cats, frogs etc...

It generally wasn't gory though... I did find a mouse skeleton down the back of the sofa once though, my boyfriend who lived with me at the time dropped pound coins down the sofa from I think a hole in his pockets and I needed some change (there was about £25 down there in £1 and £2 coins!) and my hand hit the skeleton where the mouse had been dropped and forgotten about.

I think Felix eats mice outside if anything.

Wappers that would have scarred me for life!

OP posts:

Original poster

SuperFlyHigh · 09/02/2017 11:28

Reow yes that's one reason why Felix and my other cats were/are locked in at night, no way do I want to wake up to a good morning wake up call of dead or disembowelled rodents!

Never ever even with other cats had anything in my shoes!

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hollinhurst84 · 09/02/2017 11:30

Mine doesn't hunt ever

mortificado · 09/02/2017 11:31

Your very lucky! We had a live bird brought back last weekend we didn't know about until I walked out the kitchen, feathers everywhere then had to hunt arsehole cat down she she had it held very tightly in her jaws. I was slightly amused afterwards

Okite · 09/02/2017 11:36

Count yourself lucky! My two are both prolific hunters and we live rurally 😭 We have an endless parade of mice, voles, birds etc in pieces and intact. One eats every kill and just leaves a neat pile of intestines, the other doesn't eat them at all and just plays with them.
Cats are funny old creatures! We used to have one years ago with exactly the same markings as yours, he had startling blue eyes when he was a kitten, gorgeous!

Original poster

SuperFlyHigh · 09/02/2017 11:47

Okite yes, one of the frogs he first brought in (I think first frog??!!) I recall I looked at it on the doormat and it was upside down showing its belly and I thought it was a leaf!

Cat was nearby obviously pleased but I was thinking "fuck I've got 10 minutes to get rid of the frog and lock the cat in so he doesn't bring the frog back!" I tried to pick it up with a Pyrex jug until a towel proved easier...

Cat hissed at me when I was picking the frog up... I wasn't annoyed with him and didn't shout but I was in too much of a hurry to praise him like you're supposed to do!. I remember I posted about it here and cozie answered!

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TondelayaDellaVentamiglia · 09/02/2017 11:47

maybe he really isn't very good at hunting? My current cats are not....although idiotcat has been improving over the past couple of years, and his sister just does it occasionally to prove she has Still Got It.

He really reminds me of my first cat, he was a black and white boy, and everyone thought he had some siamese in him....he could yowl too! Very talkative, and conversational!
He was a very accomplished hunter, had a couple of people ask to keep him...the farmer when we rented a farm cottage, the cat cleared the farm of rats! And before we found this house we rented a place and there was a stable at the end of the garden....the woman there was so impressed her animal food store was safe!

At harvest time it was like the killing fields, homeless mice by the dozen in pieces under the kitchen table ...I do not miss those days. 3) I do miss that cat though!

Original poster

SuperFlyHigh · 09/02/2017 11:52

Tondelaya see he can hunt, the frogs and the one bird but don't think he's that good otherwise although I and neighbours have seen him up trees after birds....

Maybe mum was too lazy to teach him who knows! Maybe the birds are too clever and avoid!

Nice to know he reminds you of your first cat, though he's demanding he is a sweet cat.

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WhoKn0wsWhereTheTimeG0es · 10/02/2017 06:55

Mine are unsuccessful hunters and I'm very grateful, they had a spell of bringing in worns when it was raining when they first came to live here and we've had one dead frog in three years. They do get excited at the appearance of a bird (even if it's on telly not real) but don't make any real effort to catch them. They are shut in at night too.

MyGodLikeChin · 10/02/2017 07:09

My Bengal girl is a rubbish huntress, she likes butterflies and shadows but stunned us once by bringing in a live bat.
My Maine coon boy is a swine bag. His record for birds brought in the house is 9 in a day all in various states of health. He has a special way of coming through the cat flap when he's got his catch - really low and quick, none of the normal shouts hello like normal (but obviously can't as he has his gob full) and runs really quickly to the kitchen to continue his torture.

He never eats them though - arsehole!!

Oldraver · 10/02/2017 11:31

Ernie is 18 months and has never really caught anything. He has had his paws on two pigeons, they got away so he settled for eating their feathers.

He has sort of caught frogs but luckily doesn't know what to do with them beyond flicking with his paws

He's a mean spider hunter though

Boy cat doesn't seem to hunt or bring me his spoils... :-(

hollinhurst84 · 10/02/2017 11:38

Ollie just stares wide eyed at spiders then runs away when they move
Helpful

cozietoesie · 10/02/2017 12:21

The famous Cheekie was the biggest huntress in our house - she took whatever presented itself. ( And then some ! ) Next to her, The Lodger is best but he doesn't much like birds. Anything small (ish), furred and scurrying is his natural prey.

Weedsnseeds1 · 10/02/2017 12:37

Current cat is the most prolific hunter I have had. Generally mice but had a spate of frogs, which he doesn't kill, but hurls down the stairs. He sneaks mice up to the landing to play with as they have plenty of room to run, but nowhere to hide.
Previous cats didn't hunt much but have brought home a woodpecker ( not happy about that one) and a Dover sole.

GerundTheBehemoth · 10/02/2017 12:51

I'd be v pleased to have non-hunting cats. According to this recent study in the US, the impact of cat predation on wild bird and mammal populations is more serious than was previously thought.

Original poster

SuperFlyHigh · 10/02/2017 13:28

Weeds a Dover sole, was that dead or alive?!

cozie my 2 old cats loved anything small and scurrying (aka mice), in past 3 years town houses and an apartment block have been built on lapnd where old church and church yard (no graves!) stood which was so overgrown... They had tons of field mice there and they're very cute.

Gerund interesting study, the birds are my major concern as to be honest most mice etc reproduce really quickly anyway.

I think Felix will show his true colours this spring if at all...

OP posts:

GerundTheBehemoth · 10/02/2017 13:47

Yes, probably no need to worry too much about house mice and short-tailed voles... though we do have some small mammal species that are of conservation concern (eg harvest and yellow-necked mice, dormouse) and are preyed on by cats.

But the main worry is red-listed garden birds like house sparrow, song thrush and starling, all of which have declined by 50% or more over the last 25 years.

cozietoesie · 10/02/2017 13:52

My own personal concern is blackbirds. Just watch a female with - say - a couple of recent fledglings. They (quite gormlessly) trail after Mum - on the ground - making pathetic noises. Too tempting a target.

GerundTheBehemoth · 10/02/2017 14:00

I'm sure cats must account for an awful lot of fledgling blackbirds (it doesn't help that they fledge before they can fly!). But the blackbird's population trend overall is pretty healthy at the moment - up by about 10% in the UK since the start of the 1990s.

cozietoesie · 10/02/2017 14:51

Much is down to us as managers of our gardens. Get yourself a 'watch' blackbird as well and you're away.

MycatsaPirate · 10/02/2017 22:53

blackbirds nest in our garden and the male sits on the trellis shrieking his alarm call from dawn to dusk if my cats are out. last year boy cat was trying to snooze under a bench and daddy bird was sat on the bench screeching at him. in the end i moved the cat because the bird was driving me nuts 😂

cozietoesie · 10/02/2017 23:00

All the garden birds take note as well.

hollinhurst84 · 10/02/2017 23:24

We did used to have a very annoying pigeon that insisted on dive bombing you while you were riding. Not good on a spooky horse
It's gone now, and I suspect stable cat had a hand in that

cozietoesie · 11/02/2017 00:51

The pigeon or the horse? (I wouldn't put much past Stablecat! )

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