Why do I keep finding tiny mice gallbladders all over my house?!

[Fancycrab]

I have a kitten and an older cat. The older one is a master hunter - in the past I’ve found dead but untouched, birds, rats & mice and headless baby rabbits 🤢 in my house. I’ve managed to save a few mice and birds along the way. I’ve never known him to eat prey though. However, recently I keep finding what I assume are mice gallbladders (as I know cats often leave that bit) in the house. Does this mean he’s eaten the rest of it? Or am I going to find its poor mutilated body somewhere else in the house?? Any ideas why he’s suddenly started eating prey? Unless it’s the kitten (who’s 6 months) eating it - maybe the cat brings the mouse in and the kitten eats it? I’ve never seen the kitten catch any prey himself. Also does anyone have any ideas how I can stop him bringing in prey? I’ve attached loads of bells to his collar but it doesn’t seem to make much difference plus the sound he makes whenever he moves is intensely annoying!

He's probably eaten the rest. My cat woke me up once so he could look me straight in the eye while he chomped down a mouse, reeling the tail in like a piece of spaghetti.

There's a theory that if you feed cats high-quality, high-protein food - the expensive stuff that you buy online - they are less likely try and supplement their diet with prey. I've not been able to test that theory as my cat refuses to eat it, but it might be worth a try.

Sorry can't offer any advice but I could have written this. In our circumstances my 16 month old cat brings in mostly live mice, and the 9 month old kitten devours most of them. Since the kitten has been going out, it has lessened. I think older cat was trying to teach. You will smell it, if some of it is hidden.

Possibly the kitten is finding the dead prey and eating it. If you're finding a giblet it means the cat/kitten has eaten the rest. They are unlikely to eviscerate it and store the rest of the body somewherelse.

I'm not sure that's true as my kitten who is the one who eats the mice in our house, has high quality food, whereas her sister eats Felix as good as it looks and whilst a hunter doesn't seem to eat her prey,although I appreciate i don't know what happens when she is out.

This is why I'll never ever have a cat. 😱😂

There is I think a very costly cat flap you can buy that detects when a cat has prey in its mouth and locks itself when the cat tries to bring anything in. I did look into it a bit last summer, in despair as our cats were bringing in young rabbits from the fields behind us. However I couldn’t bring myself to buy one in case it didn’t work or malfunctioned. Hopefully one day soon something similar will be readily available and cheaper than it is now. I’m sure lots of cat owners would be interested.

I didn't know such a thing existed. Just googled there's one called Only Cat. Currently on offer at £275 which is not much more than what I paid for sure flap connect. Will definitely be out next cat flap.

Apparently gallbladders are very bitter, so they get left uneaten.

So far this week I have removed some isolated part of mouse intestine (likely a gallbladder, thank you for improving my rodent anatomy!) from the kitchen floor, and cleared a partly disemboweled vole from the sitting room carpet. And it’s only Tuesday. Some days she brings in 3 or 4 🐭 - we moved from the inner city to a rural area and she is having the best time. I am starting to think that OnlyCat would be money well spent.

On the plus side, we have got very good at catching (and rescuing) live mice ourselves…

You're lucky, at least it's just the gallbladder... we had one who would bite the head off then somehow leave the two halves of mouse so that it looked like an intact mouse. Pick it up by the tail and I'll let you guess the rest. I eventually learnt not to pick them up by the tail!

And ond who used to just leave eyeballs, that was gross. But both those better than the one who brought in live rats then let them go indoors.

Remind me, why do we have cats?

And my money is on one of your cats eating the rest of the mouse, although the thought of cats using tiny scalpels to remove the gallbladder and then hiding the rest would be funny 😁

This post has scared me! I thought I was safe for a little while over winter as the cats are profilic hunters when the weather is warmer.

I hate this part of cat ownership

Usually means they’ve eaten the rest of it. I often find similar but not any other evidence of the little victims.

The worst is when you hear the crunching noise as they eat the mice.🤑

My kitten catches mice for the 17 year old cat who chows down on them. The kitten never eats them. I think the gall bladder must be bitter because she never eats that bit 😫

Gall is very bitter tasting. Cats do not eat the gallbladder because of this.

https://share.google/aimode/gXZXthMP222lpQOtA

Yes that’s exactly what they are doing and why they bring them
in live - it’s so the kittens can catch it and learn to hunt

Yep rest had been gobbled. Mine sometimes also tidily leaves other bits of entrail. Quite impressive in a way!

I always thought they were livers. Current cats leave that and the faces when they feel moved to eat mice. Birds he leaves legs and beaks.
No idea how to stop them btw