Our tortie girl (4 next month) has always been a big hunter, especially of rodents. We moved to a new home at the start of the year which is more rural and her hunting frequency has exploded. She doesn't kill every day but most days its 1-3 kills, her record for a single day this year is 5.
Today for example she's brought in three rodents (one of which escaped and is hiding in the kitchen, unreachable by us but she will no doubt get it by morning). She hunts all day when she's not sleeping. If she brings anything in alive I have to tempt her away with food or treats so I can rescue it. She wears a collar with several bells and it makes no difference.
I haven't kept in her overnight as when I've tried that she sits outside our bedroom crying that she can't go out (we don't have many internal doors so can't keep her away from most of the house).
She's a gorgeous girl, affectionate when she wants to be, she is just the biggest hunter I've ever seen and I've had lots of cats in my life. Mostly she kills rodents, but she does get birds regularly and brought in a young bat in the summer.
I realise this is part of having a cat and she loves us (and we her) but is there a way to discourage her hunting that doesn't upset her? Or a nice balance for us all?