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

Original poster

To askIf every cat brings mice in?

108 replies

CommuterMummy · 25/03/2023 20:58

Following up from another post from today, I just wanted to ask this to a wider audience.
I have a real mice phobia and am scared that getting a cat will mean having them bringing them home dead or, even worse, alive. I am reading of a lot of people saying their cats bring home all sorts of animals but I wonder how rurally these MNetters live? We’d be in a house in Surrey, not very rural, close to town centre and with a small garden.
DH had cats most of his life when growing up and says his ones never did it. They only went in the garden for a bit during the day and at night they’d be kept in the house and they never brought prays in.
I am panicking a bit reading comments from other posters with their cats brining mice in continously but DH is adamant that it doesn’t happen with all cats and depends on where you live, how free they are to go out etc.
Anyone here who has a similar experience to DH and what do you do to avoid unwanted “guests”?

OP posts:
KateAusten · 25/03/2023 20:59

Our's hasn't once in twelve years

Original poster
CommuterMummy · 25/03/2023 21:05

@KateAusten thank you. Do you have a garden and live rurally? Is your cat a house cat? Also (sorry for all the questions) what breed is it?
It helps me if I get some context as based on some answers on previous post I think some people live in a fairly rural setting

OP posts:
CatOnTheChair · 25/03/2023 21:09

Suburbia.
My old cat didn't catch a single thing.
New cat, same house, brought in 6 mice one evening. She's now on a dusk - dawn curfew. Only think she's found since is a frog which didn't actually make it into the house.

I'd say it's as much about the cat as the location (you almost certainly have mice nearby tho).

Original poster
CommuterMummy · 25/03/2023 21:11

@CatOnTheChair oh dear. Is it a different breed, more likely to hunt? Do you close the flat at night and let them use the litter instead?

OP posts:
Kic · 25/03/2023 21:13

Mine will be 14 soon and hasn't yet brought any 'gifts'.

He's a moggy and free to roam, but tends to stay in the garden.

We're not in a rural area.

iknowimcoming · 25/03/2023 21:21

Cats are like people, they're all different! Some hunt some don't, location doesn't make much difference in my experience, a hunter cat will find mice and birds wherever they live. If you really want a cat why don't you try to cure your phobia? CBT maybe?

Desert76 · 25/03/2023 21:24

It just depends on the individual cat.

I’ve had quite a few cats.

One brought in maybe 3 live mice in 18 years, but left plenty of decapitated ones on the doorstep (outside).

One never brought in mice but loved to bring in things like moths, dragonflies, caterpillars etc.

One didn’t bother with transporting mice (would just eat them on the spot, same with small birds) but would bring larger prey in through the cat flap every now and then - sometimes still alive. Think pheasants, rabbits, squirrels, pigeons, rats. Usually when we were out. She was only a tiny cat as well, beats me how she even managed to carry them. We started only letting her out and in when we were at home, which did reduce (but not eliminate) the problem.

Current cat just brings in twigs, and the occasional shuttlecock.

Original poster
CommuterMummy · 25/03/2023 21:28

@Desert76 that’s a lot of animals, do you live in the countryside? Were all these in you back garden?

OP posts:
HirplesWithHaggis · 25/03/2023 21:33

My city dwelling cats never brought anything in, even when we moved to the countryside. We are now on a farm with cats who have lived with us since they were kittens and yes, they kill. All of my cats have been moggies.

Original poster
CommuterMummy · 25/03/2023 21:38

@HirplesWithHaggis did the city cats go to the garden regularly? And did they go outside when you moved to the countryside?

OP posts:
GenialHarryGr0ut · 25/03/2023 21:39

Some do, some don't.
With our current cats tiny fluffy girl cat was a ferocious hunter - she's slowed down with age but back in the day she'd bring mice/birds/stoat/rats

Big bad bruiser of a boy has never brought anything in.

ComeTheFuckOnBridgett · 25/03/2023 21:40

My cats brought mice, birds, rabbits, the lot in.

Desert76 · 25/03/2023 21:40

We live in a small town, surrounded by countryside. The part we are in is quite suburban, but we are not far from a small bit of woodland. Our garden is pretty small.

The prolific huntress cat did leave our garden, and I guess must have roamed a bit further than the others. Or maybe she was just really good at hunting. Unless your garden is completely secure, you can’t really stop a cat from going where they want.

Akite · 25/03/2023 21:42

I grew up in a city with several cats and they occasionally would bring prey in, but very occasional. I live in the countryside now and it's fairly continuous! Although now the cats are getting older they do seem to be hunting to eat more and bring in less as a present.
we have had rabbits, squirrels, bats, birds (a woodpecker!) and a constant stream of rodents. The cats have a curfew and are shut in at night to try and cut down the casualties.
all my experience has been with moggies (I know very few people who have or have had pedigree cats) and while it does vary from cat to cat, it's much more frequent for us in the countryside.

HirplesWithHaggis · 25/03/2023 21:42

CommuterMummy · 25/03/2023 21:38

@HirplesWithHaggis did the city cats go to the garden regularly? And did they go outside when you moved to the countryside?

Yes, and yes.

MrsPelligrinoPetrichor · 25/03/2023 21:43

Mine brings in rats, mice and months 🤢

deeplybaffled · 25/03/2023 21:45

Suburbia here. One pedigree, one moggy. Both female. The pedigree brings in stuff semi regularly, the moggy has never managed anything larger than an earthworm.
I think it’s temperament rather than location / breed.

Biscuitsneeded · 25/03/2023 21:45

Mine was a murderous beast. I was appalled by her. The mice I could just about handle, but the half dead birds flapping and shitting around my kitchen at 5am, and the rabbit (in bloody urban East London!!) were too much for me. Luckily I had a vet friend who lived in the middle of nowhere and was happy to have an additional cat, so my killer cat went off to persecute rabbits for the rest of her days in the countryside. I did love her really (I know it doesn't sound like it) but I grew up with dogs and it turns out I prefer them by far. I wouldn't get a cat if you don't think you can handle the little gifts they bring in.

PerrinAybara · 25/03/2023 21:49

We have multiple cats. Of the two that currently go outside, one brings in a regular stream of mice (dead and alive). One never brings in anything. Both are moggies.

So it's very much depends on the cat rather than the location.

titchy · 25/03/2023 21:49

There's no guarantees sorry. Some cats hunt a lot, others don't. Both of ours do. And bring us mice to chase round the house because that's fun isn't it. Especially during a work Teams call.... And if we get to the cat flap first they sit just outside and eat the poor things whilst looking at us in disgust.

LaPerduta · 25/03/2023 21:51

Flat in London, very urban, tiny patio; cat still manages to find a plentiful supply of rodents.

Not meaning to dismiss a phobia, but they are distinctly unterrifying.

Roserunner · 25/03/2023 22:03

We have 2 cats that are 9 years old. In that time we have seen 2 mice, one was dead but I don't think they killed it (it prob had a heart attack from shock) and the other they had cornered but didn't know what to do with it so we managed to trap it and release it. Haven't seen another mouse for at least 5 years! Our cats aren't the brightest, they sit and shout at birds but hide if they come anywhere near 😂

Toddlerteaplease · 25/03/2023 22:10

None of my three Persians ever have. Don't think my parents cat has either. He'd be scared of them. Only one if our childhood cats brought them in.

Albaniarocks · 25/03/2023 22:19

Our suburban cat does all the time. It's the bane of my life. Sometimes I don't even realise until they start rotting and then I have to hunt behind the fridge, under the cooker, beneath the kitchen cabinets. It's the reason I wish we'd never got a cat.

EspeciallyDedicated · 25/03/2023 22:20

We live in a small town, about half a mile from open countryside, small garden. Cats not locked in at night. Our two girl cats have brought in 2 dead and no living mice in the whole ten years we've had them. One live and unharmed sparrow but no other birds. One dead frog. One went through a spell of bringing in worms when it was raining but that didn't last long. Nothing else ever.

So two cats and in ten years one bird, two
mice and one frog. Pretty good.