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

Bringing in animals non stop

6 replies

Minikievs · 03/01/2022 11:15

Morning, I wonder if anyone has any advice please?
I've had my cat for about 16 months now and we moved house 6 months ago.
At our old house she never brought anything in, but since moving (to a quiet cul de sac, backing onto woodland) she is bringing something in almost daily, and it's getting worse.
Initially I thought it was because she was unsettled by my boyfriends dog which he brings round occasionally, but since I've been isolating with Covid, and it's just me and her, I've realised that it genuinely is gifts for me.
It is practically daily. Live mice. Dead mice. Birds (live birds are the worst. I can just about cope with mice but the birds I HATE 😫)
I got her as a pair with her brother but sadly he got run over just before we moved, so she is a solo cat.
I know it's natural instinct but it is literally doing my head in! I bought her a collar with a bell on it last week. She managed to get it off within a day. Put another one on and I've had a mouse a day still for the last week.
Does anyone have any advice or do I just have to suck it up?
Thanks in advance

OP posts:
HunkyPunk · 03/01/2022 11:21

It’s what cats will naturally do, given the opportunity. Woodland is a cat’s playground! Could you lock the cat flap when you’re not around, to prevent her actually bringing them inside?

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 03/01/2022 13:13

That's what cats do, unfortunately! They are hunters and predators and often play with their prey before killing and eating it.

Collars generally don't work (cats can figure out how to move so they don't set the bells off) and I would even say it's actually more dangerous to put a collar on her if she's going into woodland, as she could easily strangle herself if she got it caught on a branch or in a bush. Even "quick release" collars can be dangerous for cats that hunt.

Unless you lock the cat flap and make her ask to come in each time, I don't think there's much you can do to stop it. You could maybe fix it so that the cat can only get in to one room of the house via cat-flap so at least the animals don't get up everywhere?

RandomMess · 03/01/2022 13:16

You need 3 bells!

Keep her in for over dusk and dawn too.

TheCreamCaker · 03/01/2022 13:55

Some cats, more than others, will always hunt. Having a collar with a bell won't work. You could try to make her mealtimes at roughly the same time each day, so she'll eventually realise that she needs to be home for a particular time. Keep her in at night.

I once had a cat that brought in live mice, frogs, birds, even a squirrel. My old boy (had him 10 years) has never once brought anything home. Some cats do, some don't. Get plenty of toys/activities, see if that helps.

Had several cats, over the past 41 years.

Minikievs · 03/01/2022 14:41

Thank you all. I don't really want to lock the cat flap as she really does like the freedom. Plus, when I'm back at work tomorrow, it's not fair to keep her in (or out) all day when she's not used to it.
I do feed her at roughly the same time, but she brings them in at any time of day (although a lot more at dawn and dusk, thank you to the pp who mentioned that)
I might just take the collar off then. She hates it anyway, the jingling gets on my nerves, and it doesn't seem to stop her!
I will try closing the doors to limit her to one room, especially at night, that will work the best I think.
Thank you for the replies

OP posts:
violetbunny · 03/01/2022 16:56

One of my cats is a prolific hunter, We have a cat flap with a curfew mode so we can control what times they go in and out. They are only allowed out after dawn and before dusk. They are 3 years old now and understand this is the routine.

It doesn't completely eliminate the hunting, but I think it definitely helps.

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