Could I request a non hunting cat from a rescue?

[JKLMNO]

I desperately want a pet and have done for years. The thing is I know I couldn’t cope with a cat bringing rodents in the house or anything else dead or alive. I would plan to get an adult cat from a rescue. Is it possible that they could tell which cats are less likely to be hunters having got to know them?

Just get a huge moggy. Way too lazy to hunt!!

Tell that to my Big Boy. 7kg of hunting machine. Have slowed him down by not letting him out in the dark but in the summer there are gifts everyday.

DH and I prefer clearing up a whole rodent to just the liver. However Big Boy is v helpful and if he starts munching, he eats everything.

Girl cat on the other hand mainly catches leaves and needs encouragement to go outside. But even she has her moments and about twice a year will shock us by turning up with something.

It does depend on where you live - I used to live in a city centre and my cats brought home almost nothing. Moved to the countryside, they thought they were in paradise! The thank-you gifts started arriving very quickly.

My pair are ex-ferals, and are indoor only cats. Boycat is referred to by the vet as borderline special needs, and is possibly the thickest cat in the county if not the country (think falling off the sofa when he wakes up, falling off windowsills). He also has attention issues, and has to be shown where his treats are at least 3 times before he properly realises where they are, treats he loves. He's a total coward, terrified of almost everything. Both cats are exceptionally gentle, never even growl or hiss and have never intentionally scratched or bitten me.

I had a family of mice move into my conservatory, so let the cats roam in there. Girlcat did a fair job of digging them out of their hiding places, then Boycat suddenly became a demon mouser. Fast, agile, agressive, growled at Girlcat if she got near his prey, totally different cat.

If you have cats that go outside it's a risk you'll need to take.

You could adopt a cat who needs to be indoors only for health reasons although you need to be careful about open windows etc.

I adopted my 8-year-old female and slightly overweight cat at the beginning of the year and she has never hunted at all, which is important to me as I love feeding the birds. Though it was slightly annoying when a mouse ran into the room and she just looked at it and went to sleep again.

If you take an older cat the chances of it still being able to catch anything will be greatly reduced but not a guarantee.

My big girl loves to hunt, but I don't have a cat flap, so this has meant nothing comes in unwanted. She leaves presents at the back door quite willingly and there is often a dead mouse in her pile of pegs and rubber bands.

One of our cats never hunted. Not once. He was about 10yo when we got him & just couldn't be asked. The other 2 cats he lived with, they hunted prolifically.

My ragamuffins never hunted. They didn’t go far either they liked to be nearby. My older girl moggy has brought me 2 voles and the other 2 haven’t ever hunted so it just depends on the cat. If they are in a rescue they won’t know if they hunt as they won’t have had the opportunity. Unless they have some history on the cat.

Our cat is an avid hunter and we live right next to woodland but we’ve never had any ‘gifts’ brought into the house. I deliberately don’t have a cat flap and she’s never tried to drag anything in anyway. She leaves the bodies on the patio (not that often though) which DH deals with.

She knows I hate it as she runs off if I come out in the garden when she’s got something .

We tried a collar with a bell but cat kept coming back without it on. I went through 3 in a week once! Worried she might actually get caught on it as she’s a climber so gave up with them.

I have a 3 legged cat... he doesn't hunt ever cause he can't catch something and still stand up! My other cat is female and in 4 years has only ever brought in a mouse. She prefers to catch butterflies 🙈

I reckon an older male cat wouldn't bother much??

Indoor cat and use flat cats to protect open windows.

Flat Cats Window protection for Cats Standard Single Pack https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00PKFB3BA/ref=cmswwrcppapiglttfabc2AY9ZRCV234XTRSEF7FJ

Nobody wants dead animals brought to their house it's just something you kind of get used to! Our older cats still does it but if it helps one of our other cats randomly stopped. I don't think you can predict it.

We had a cat who never ever hunted, at least not successfully. Some cats are slower, lazier, have shorter legs and / or bigger tummies. Also, girl cats ime are less avid hunters and as they age lose interest more than boy cats.
You can definitely rescue a somewhat portly quiet middle aged girl cat!!

You can definitely rescue a somewhat portly quiet middle aged girl cat!

How weird, I was about to add the exact opposite to this as our girl cats over the years, have always been avid hunters, one bringing up to 4 squirrels a day at 1 point & somehow dragged a huge seagull through the cat flap once..TF the sonic collar helped a lot.

I've had several tomcats, including the current one, who have been lazy or too timid to hunt. The current one brings me flowers ... both girls have brought in rats ... I'm glad they favour DH as he's had the gifts in his shoes, not me 😳 & I'm also glad there's little they can access to catch where we are now

Ha ha. Cats gotta Cat.

It’s pot luck!

You do really have to assume you'll get 'gifts' no matter what cat you get and it's a pleasant surprise if you don't. One of ours almost never hunted until she was older and ironically more infirm and a semi indoor cat but when she went out and brought something back she was like something from Dexter, stomach turning dissections left all over the floor so even 'rarely hunts' is no guarantee of peace of mind!

Well clearly my perfect cat does exist. But given the fact that just reading about entrails has made me feel faint I may have to consider a dog instead. Although we did have a Jack Russell growing up who was as good a mouser as any cat.

The most my 4 cats have ever hunted is left overs at the local pub - one actually ran away from a mouse when he spotted one a while back.

I think it's actually quite rare to have a cat that actually hunts live animals

My giant puff of a Persian launched himself across the room and hunted a fly yesterday. So I'm guessing looks can be deceptive. When we move to a place with a garden, I will install a catio enclosure so he can be outside but not roam freely. This is a middle ground option for you, OP.

@Judystilldreamsofhorses

Actually just to say we don’t have a cat flap, and have a utility room between the kitchen and back door, so we can generally intercept bodies. We also keep her in overnight.

Look at her murderous little face though.

This is what we do. I don't cope well with prey in my house but my cats are happier for being outdoor cats so we compromise with letting them in and out the patio doors. We're both at home a lot so it works out fine. We have always kept them in at night as well.

Why would you be unhappy to have an indoor cat?

There are so many benefits:
Doesn't get run over
Doesn't get into fights
Doesn't annoy your neighbours by using their garden as a litter tray
Doesn't get killed by a dog (how we lost our boy)
Doesn't pick up diseases or fleas

No gifts!!!

i walk 2 terriers who want to chase potential prey often. This is fine, not a problem.

What does challenge me is that they eat feces. The fresher the dog poo, the more enthusiasm they have in trying to gobble it up. 20% of all dogs apparently do this, and I suspect terriers are among the keenest to do it.

I'd rather have the occasional dead "gift" vole in kitchen to deal with, myself.

Llijkk 🤢🤮 so glad my terrier doesn't.

She likes to roll in dead things and used tea bags though...

The odd mouse, or picking up poo daily…oh the costs of being a pet lover.

Put a carrier bag in a waste paper basket, get some of those “pick it up from a distance” grabby long handled things, pick up corpse/remains with averted gaze, drop into basket bag. Tie bag with averted gaze. Chuck.

Spray floor with cleaner. Use steam cleaner mop.

Have a nice cup of tea and a biscuit.

Surely preferable to do this now and then, rather than pick up poo every day!