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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

If your cat was a hunter...

39 replies

afterdropshock · 11/07/2023 07:01

Our two young cats are very good hunters. They wear bells but have still caught two birds this week. They are two years old now. Will they calm down as they get older?

OP posts:

RicherThanYews · 11/07/2023 07:07

I think this may depend on each individual cat. My 3 are 10, 4 and 4 respectively and although my eldest girl has packed it in, her siblings are still very much prolific self-appointed "feeders" of our household. Its a compliment apparently ... they're trying to take care of you because we hoomins are fecking useless hunters (doesn't stop them stealing my chicken curry).

Grumpyoldpersonwithcats · 11/07/2023 07:10

In my experience cats generally slow down regarding hunting when they are 9 or 10. Our 5 year olds are still prolific hunters, the 13 year olds don't seem to bother any more.

AnnaMagnani · 11/07/2023 07:27

Depends on the cat. For a good hunter the bells make no difference.

I keep mine in from 6pm overnight which helps minimize it.

However I have a serious hunter who will bring home 4-5 mice a day. Last week he excelled himself and carried home a squirrel. He's 7 years old.

OakleyStreetisnotinChelsea · 11/07/2023 07:31

Mine is a sedate middle aged cat now. Still a prolific hunter. Not much we can do really, he didn't have a collar at all because he just loses them within a couple of days. He slowed down when he lost an eye but then clearly got used to it and is back on form. This summer there are days we don't even bother to feed him because he has eaten a whole rabbit overnight/ early morning.

beachsandseaicecream · 11/07/2023 07:51

My cat is 5 and still brings home a couple or so mice a week but compared to when he was 2 or 3 he was bringing in two a day, plus rats, birds, shrews. He's definitely calmed down.

LostCats · 11/07/2023 08:11

Our Bengal mix has definitely calmed down at 3. That or he’s flushed out and murdered all life in our area. Before this the killing was unreal.
Although he did bring a little mouse friend home at midnight the other night when I’d been to the pub and had to catch said friend and release while inebriated. So that was fun.

NotAMissionPriority · 11/07/2023 08:24

I had a cat that never caught a thing until I moved into a house with a row of mouse infested garages at the end of the garden when she was 10 and then she was on 3-4 mice a day.

Original poster

afterdropshock · 11/07/2023 08:33

Thanks everyone. This is not the news I was hoping for but at least I know now!

OP posts:

mondaytosunday · 11/07/2023 09:15

My cat has a bell d tag which makes quite a bit of noise (I know where he is in the house). Thankfully not too much of a hunter (only one very dead mouse so far when he didn't have the collar on). Flies seem to be his thing!
I used to have a hunter though omg it was like coming home to a scene from Texas Chainsaw Masacre some days! Mostly birds so quite a mess. We moved and let her out on the roof terrace and she and had a bird in her mouth in five seconds!

MothralovesGojira · 11/07/2023 09:53

This time of year does seem to be the worst as it's fledgling time for birds. Our boy is 10 and always gets a few but if I'm quick enough then I can get him to release the victim and it can fly away unharmed. He was a late starter on hunting and didn't actually start until we moved to our current home 5 years ago. We have two bird feeding stations which we keep supplied all year round and the birds are all regulars and know him - he always 'hides' under a chair 6' away from one feeding station and he thinks that he's invisible but the birds all know he's there.

singJoanna · 11/07/2023 10:01

My 13 year old cat still regularly hunts. We live on the seafront and along with the regular sparrows and mice she has brought home half a seagull a starfish. A couple of years back she snuck in to the next door neighbours and ate there hamster, I was mortified!
The funniest was a few years back and she brought home a boiling hot Cornish pastry!!
Must have robbed it from someone's kitchen.

MrsJamin · 11/07/2023 10:03

Our little Siamese was a prolific hunter, it was tiresome. Even with a big bell on he caught adult pigeons. However now he's 6, he has really calmed down. Only a couple of casualties a year and he doesn't bring them inside anymore... Phew!

Usernameisntavailable · 11/07/2023 10:08

My boy used to bring things back all the time and I hated it. They never lived and I felt so guilty. I'm happy to say he is 4 now and has massively calmed down. Hasnt brought anything back for almost 2 years. He is very lazy now and has a bit of extra weight so I think it's a mix of he can't be bothered but also isn't as quick as he used to be

CMOTDibbler · 11/07/2023 10:51

My now 18 year old would still bring in the odd mouse until she gave up going outside 6 months ago. The others are 8 or so, and the boy is still full throttle and on 4 mice/rodents a day at the moment plus the odd bird/squirrel

Original poster

afterdropshock · 13/07/2023 23:09

Ugh I really hate it. If I had known before I would never have got cats.

OP posts:

Whyohwhyohwhy123 · 13/07/2023 23:14

unfortunately it’s the time of year. Even our non hunter is having a go atm.
Feeding them more than they actually need does seem to reduce the hunting and keeping them in early morning and evening does help as well.

YourTruthorMine · 13/07/2023 23:16

my girl kitty has calmed down a bit at 2, she seems to have stopped with the daily mice. Grumpy, old fat cat has never caught a thing, in fact he rarely leaves the garden

Tilllly · 13/07/2023 23:16

I've got three 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛🐈
Little sods they are, showing no signs of slowing
Rodents, rabbits, very occasionally a bird (like PP, birds on our feeders are wise to the feline killers)
Even the odd worm...

Bell on collar didn't work but bought spare bells from pets at home, so they have two and that's made a difference

Got hedgehogs 🦔 in the garden currently, cats not at all interested, thank goodness

sawnotseen · 13/07/2023 23:30

Not sure. One of mine, sadly now gone, was a hunter, male, until he died aged 12 of cancer. Often brought in dead mice. One morning he brought in a blue tit, thankfully it was still alive. That was a weird call to school (for my son) and work (for me) to say we'd be late as I was trying to catch a bird to check it was ok and put it outside! I did.
I've got two female kittens now and reckon they will be hunters. They're half maincoon and half British short hair and they go for anything that moves! They can jump and climb like ninjas!

Original poster

afterdropshock · 13/07/2023 23:32

We have had so many birds in the house I have lost count. Blackbirds, pigeons, a seagull! They are terrorists. They will catch anything.

OP posts:

lljkk · 15/07/2023 05:23

I refer to the hedgerow out front as "The Buffet". When cats nag for food & don't need it (fed in recent hours & all overweight) I shoo them outside & admonish, "Go to the buffet!"

The often come back within minutes with a vole. So many voles. Mostly field voles but sometimes water voles (we are 2.5 miles from a water course more than 3' wide 😕 ). Even the 11year old only-1-fang-left tomcat is prolific hunter.

Mine are all belled & don't take a lot of birds, but do take some birds. Shrews, rats, field or house mice, moles, baby blackbirds... but mostly field voles.

nottoday300 · 15/07/2023 06:01

I can't tell you how much this is getting me down, I've re named ours jeffery dahmer I can cope with the dead mice, it's the live ones it's awful im terrified, I've had 3 cats in the past and they were not like him, and the dogs joining in now as well can't put a collar on him too many trees and he went into an absolute state of depression and refused to move ! He sleeps in my sons room and scratches to go out there's no keeping him in

WombatCowgirl · 15/07/2023 06:22

I found additional bells and keeping them in at night made the most difference. I had many "training mice" delivered to me, alive, but the cat would disable them slightly to help me, a learner. The worst occasions were all thanks to a flat roof outside my bedroom window. One night the cat, while climbing through, dropped a foot long live rat, inches away from my bed. They hiss when cornered! I've also been woken at 4am by a furious magpie bombing around my bed ( I hid under the duvet) with cat in pursuit like two cyclists in a velodrome. The most shocking though was sitting up in bed innocently one morning and a dead blackbird fell off my chest. I feel particularly sorry for thr birds and rabbits, that's when I started the overnight lock ins!

Saverage · 15/07/2023 07:04

Wow, these stories. The only thing my girl cat has ever caught is a spider!

PaniniHead · 15/07/2023 07:43

Only one of my cats is a hunter, so she know has 4 bells on her collar and doesn’t go out at night. Seems to have solved the issue. She is happy to catch moths and spiders in the house now

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