Do prolific hunters ever stop?

[4pink1blue]

My almost 18 year old cat is going through a hunting stage and it's driving me mad! In the last week I've had a vole, a mouse and this morning I was greeted by a rat on my back step. I really thought he'd have stopped by this age. Do they ever stop??
Picture of the offender

Never owned a cat, I’m a dog person, I would say no because it’s in their DNA. My old pooch was still trying the chase rabbits when she was 14 yrs old.

No, they will keep killing everything they can catch.

You might think your cat is cute, bit it's a killing machine. Keep it in.

You can cut it down by:

Grain free cat food, ideally wet food
Keeping in overnight

But honestly you have a deeply impressive old boy there.

Is the hunting stage a new thing for him.?
Hes a lovely whiskers old boy BTW. Is he quite skinny under all that fur?

Our old cat lost weight in her last year she was 17. Regular vet checks, not many teeth but liked to catch and eat sparrows ( we think for roughage) or catch and present us with field mice .

She was 2 when we got her and pregnant with litter 4 when she was spayed. So maybe hers was an instinct to provide.

Keeping food and waste sources covered to discourage rats and not feeding garden birds will reduce his prey.
And though they say a well fed cat is the best mouser, he might want more treats at home. I’m sure their tastebuds must change. Certainly the type of food might if he cannot manage crunchy biscuits

Thankfully the Resident Cats aren’t hunters. We had one bird from MaleCat, one live mouse from Female (that I’d caught in a humane trap and released ). Butterflies , moths, earthworms and snails. (Which I know if she has eaten by her tray ) 🤢