Is there anyway I can get two kittens and not have them kill the birds in my garden?

[blueby7]

I am looking at getting a pair of kittens but I have some lovely birds in our garden and I worry about the impact.

I had cats growing up in the countryside and they did kill lots of little animals/birds but I don't remember seeing a huge amount (probably due to my father dealing with it before we saw).

I have read that some breeds are less likely than others to hunt but really I just wanted a couple of regular kittens and nothing fancy.

Am I kidding myself that the impact won't be too bad? Is it just luck of the draw as to what kind of cat you get?

Our last cat died about 5 years ago - we haven't had cats since because of the damage to wildlife - he was particularly deadly towards birds

He dragged living but injured wood pigeon/seagulls thro the cat flap and would leap out of his hiding place to catch birds in mid-air

Totally incorrigible

😂 cats are not "savage beasts"

It's honestly ridiculous that they're demonised in this way, they're animals who behave as animals.

Humans do much more harm

Had a sweet cat who lived to 15 who would bring in the occasional worm. The cat I have now is an extreme murderer and I feel awful…no more bird feeders and despite bells on collars she just snaps them off and can catch fledglings or even raid nests. I absolutely hate it
i won’t be getting another unfortunately once she gone

Regardless of whether or not the cats actively try to catch the birds, you will likely find that the birds stop coming into the garden once they know that a cat is about.

Not necessarily. We have two cats and get hundreds of birds in our garden!

Mine is a rubbish hunter. Caught one magpie once but tbf they were pestering her. Our garden has robbins, tits and blackbirds nesting and some mice that she likes to watch occasionally. We also have a steady stream of neighbourhood cats and foxes that she treats to a baleful stare and they don’t seem to manage to intimidate the bird inhabitants either.

Thank you for all the replies, lots to think about!
I'm leaning towards accepting I won't ever own a cat :(

My dream would be a couple of cats that come and go as they please, in that wonderful aloof way, but often finding them sunning themselves on a window sill or bed.

I'm not sure about keeping a cat indoors. I know it's supposed to be ok but seems a bit cruel maybe?
I don't think I have the resources for enough enrichment.

I will look into British short hairs though. Is there a reason they can't go out?

I also like the idea of an older rescue who can't go out. Would love to provide a comfy and loving home for an older cat to sleep out it's days being pampered.

I think it depends on the height of your trees. In my old house I was surrounded by trees with low branches. My cat was constantly catching small birds - and even brought a few into the house through the cat flap.

I moved house two years ago and the trees are much more mature - she doesn’t really climb them and there have been no bird kills that I have seen.

lots of baby mice and voles though! And she brings them straight up to my bedroom as an offering which is lovely 🥰

I have ragdolls that are kept inside but they do go into our enclosed garden. They wouldn't have a clue how to catch a bird, they are a notoriously soppy breed so would probably be a good choice. We've had birds in the house before and they've run away terrified 😂 They would have to be primarily indoor cats though because they have very poor honing skills

Get a bird be safe collar ! My cat is a prolific hunter , she was a stray so honed her skills. Our garden is full of birds (lots of mature trees) and she catches nothing if she’s wearing the collar. They are brilliant. Just make one - it’s literally a tube of brightly coloured material that goes over their quick release collar. Makes them highly visible to birds.

https://www.birdsbesafe.com/

Mine has so far brought me a butterfly, very gently which he dropped at my feet
I don't think he actually meant to catch it

My old boy brought me a leaf once and a crisp packet very proudly

Both have been black male rescue cats

How about leash training?
my kitten is only 3months old, but as i live in an apartment I’ve started to leash train him, and once he’s old enough (after neutering) i will only take him out supervised.

It's so dependent on the cat. Some hunt birds snd done just don't. I've got four cats. Cat One (m, age 13) has never killed a bird but kills rats frequently. Cat Two (f, age 2) has caught a bird once which I removed from her mouth and it was fine & flew away. Nothing since. Cat 3 and cat 4 (both m, age 1) have caught 4 birds between them in a year, two I saved, two were overnight. But they seem to have stopped. They catch mice 4-5 times a week though.

It's cruel not to play with cats because they get bored.

I think Dcat would leave home if I put anything like that on him. He doesn't even like his standard quick-release collar. It's got my phone number on it and the number of times he's come home without it and I've had a phone call a few days later from someone who found it...

The easy solution is to have indoor cats with access to a catio. Everyone is happy that way, IME.

Rather that than turning cats into clowns with those comedy collars posted upthread - oh, the shame and embarrassment!

Very much the luck of the draw. We have 2, one has no interest in hunting apart from occasionally chasing crickets. The young female hunts relentlessly and often comes back covered in the blood of her victims. She was like this since 8 weeks old. Would stand at windows chattering and growling at birds.

I adopted two slightly older cats from rescue last year. Both were used to being outdoors but have shown no inclination to go out since they've been here. One of them loves catching flies, moths and spiders, and watching birds out the window.

We've had 5 previous cats since we got married (had cats at 'home' before that for a lifetime!). Two we got as kittens and they were indoors babies. The other three had no interest in hunting. One brought home a cigarette packet, a cheese wrapper and a teabag in the 9 years we had him. He did tag team once with another of our cats to corner a rabbit, but I grabbed the little buggers before any damage was done!

That other cat once caught a young robin. That was it in 14 years.

Our other guy used to snooze in the garden, and the birds were unafraid of him! DH has lots of bird feeders so we have a lot of birds in our garden which our neighbours' cats unfortunately love! They would fly off when other cats approached but weren't one bit phased by our auld fella. It was clear they never felt he was a threat, and I never saw him chase a bird once.

Some cats are hunters, and some just aren't! We had a mummy cat very many years ago, and she was a hunter, particularly if she had kittens. At her worst, she brought home 3 dead rats in a day! (This was back in olden times out in the country when cats just didn't get neutered!)

We kept 5 of her kittens over the years (don't worry, the others were rehomed) and not one of them was a hunter at all!

My mum's last cat followed her home from work one day and moved in! He never went for birds, rats or mice, but he liked to bring home rabbits. He mostly tended to bring them alive, so often they were liberated!

It's the luck of the draw I think. Most of my neighbours' cats (and there's a fair few) do go after birds and I hate it.

We eventually tamed a feral pregnant kitten. She used to prefer mice, can't be bothered at all now.

I think your idea of an older indoor rescue cat is a great idea! There are so many older cats looking for loving homes.
With kittens, you won't know what they're going to be like until it's too late. We had an indoor cat who had no interest in being outside even when he was able to. He would wander the length of the garden and that was it and the most he ever caught were moths.
Our current cat would hate being kept indoors, it stresses him out. He likes to think he can hunt and he will go through the motions of stalking a bird and occasionally darting in their direction but it's never a serious attempt and he backs off if he gets too close and they haven't moved away!

Put some eagles in the garden. That will level the playing field.

@Nonplusultra We are visited regularly by a gorgeous long-haired ginger boy who lives in the next street, but his feline bezzies live next door. (He's here more often since my idiot DC first gave him Dreamies but that's another story!!)

I noticed one day he'd caught a magpie. I've seen magpies tormenting him before. Next thing, one of his furpals distracted him and he let it go!!!

Your best option is 2 older cats/kittens where the rescue stipulates they are to be indoors only.

Kittens wreck your house anyway (so does the now nearly 3 year old I adopted a year ago, but thankfully she's too heavy to swing off the curtains!!)

We got two rescue kittens at 8 weeks old and they’ve always been indoor cats. They get their hunting fix with hair ties, bits of string, ribbons etc plus the occasional cockroach which I don’t mind at all. One of them proudly presented me with a shoelace the other night.

Growing up we did have a very lazy cat that could come and go as she pleased but never left our garden and had no idea how to hunt. We once shut her in the hallway with a mouse and she jumped on top of the bookshelf to get away from it. I don’t know why she wasn’t a hunter though or if it was anything that we did.

I don’t think your ideal of cats allowed to roam as they please is compatible with keeping birds safe.