We have two rescue boys, estimated to be about 18 months old. In the past 3 months they’ve caught a rat and two birds.
They were rescued after living outside for months, we kept them in until they were chipped and snipped and they made it VERY clear they were unhappy about this. I feel like making them indoor cats will really impact on their quality of life but letting them out is obviously impacting on our local wildlife.
They both have collars with bells, we keep them in from before dusk until after dawn, they’re well fed. They also have no teeth but fangs so they aren’t super well equipped for hunting (not a choice, they have calici). Can we do anything else to protect wildlife from them? I’d love a catio but we’re still doing a lot of work on our house so it’s not possible at this time.
Also what are you meant to do with animals they catch? We live in an urban area so our local vet doesn’t take them. So far, we’ve found a quiet spot away from the cats and the animals have been gone when we came back. Today’s catch was more injured though so I’m worried the animals they catch may not be able to leave soon.