Remind me how to make it trickier for my cat to hunt successfully

[FromTheFirstOldFashionedWeWereCursed]

It's 10+ years since we had a cat that wanted to hunt. Our 1yo ginger cat dragged a dead squirrel in through the cat flap this morning. He normally hunts leaves and worms, so this is a significant escalation. Sceptical DH thinks it may have been dead before he got to it, but who knows.

Obviously he is going to hunt because that's what (most) cats do, but other than a collar with a bell, is there anything else that might spare us having to deal with corpses regularly? Would a Feliway plug-in indoors lead to chilled-out peace and love outdoors?

I don’t think you can tbh - unless you want to keep him in. It doesn’t sound like the cat is stressed so I wouldn’t waste money on Feliway. You can get catflaps that block entry if the cat has something in its mouth if that’s an option? We don’t have any flap but operate a strict “mouth check” policy in the utility room with the middle door closed before cat is granted entry to the kitchen. (After a now hilarious late night comedy caper with me chasing the cat round the kitchen, him chasing a mouse, all three of us squealing. I can laugh now…)

I currently have a plumber downstairs fixing the chewed pipe behind the kitchen cupboards caused by a mouse that cat number 2 brought in to keep as a pet.... If you find an answer please let me know. Cats are kept in at night to try and reduce prime hunting time. Good job she's so cute 😺

Keep them in the house. Problem solved.

Ans before you say you can't. Many many people do this successfully every day.

They do, and I’ve done this many times before (we used to foster cats for a local charity and they largely stayed indoors). But I think it’s deeply unnatural for most cats and would be cruel for this one.

-Cat proof your garden so it can't get out, but has freedom to roam in the day
-Keep it indoors at night
-Our neighbour had 3 balls on her cat which were very loud

Keeping him in at dusk and dawn will help (a little or a lot depending on what he's hunting).

This.

We keep our cat in from dinner till around 7am after he’s had his breakfast, lockable cat flap and litter tray permanently available inside. The first week we had him he caught 3 wood pigeons and a mouse 😳 and then we started keeping him in overnight and nothing since.

They do, but there are also many cats who get so stressed being locked inside that they make themselves sick. Ours is one of them - I used to be like you and just say “oh, keep them indoors” but actually for many cats it’s incredibly cruel to keep them locked up - it’s the equivalent of having a bird who is permanently locked in a cage, or a rabbit that never leaves its’ hutch.

Mine was in the vets constantly with urinary issues and hairballs from over grooming (that lead to blockages) - since he’s been allowed out he’s never once been sick or unwell 🤷‍♀️

You can try a bell on a collar. It works for some.

I put a bell collar on my hunter, kept him in overnight and finally invested in an OnlyCat cat flap. It works beautifully.

I keep mine in after dark. We still get an occasional mouse, but I think it reduces their hunting significantly. My cats love being outside. I can’t imagine how you would keep them inside in this heat anyway. We have all windows open to cool the house.

Yes mine is exactly the same.

I’m seriously tempted by the OnlyCat flap (kind of sounds like a porn site!) nice to see pp loves it, anyone else tried one?

Oh, can you imagine the pictures of all our cats on OnlyCats!
Little posers :)

a harness to fit suitably around the cat with many bells on it ?

It does 😄 These are various videos of OnlyCat stopping my lot bringing home various contraband:

• Rat: https://onlycat.app/events/OC-8C1F644816BE/506?t=Tq8It8
• Flowers: https://onlycat.app/events/OC-8C1F644816BE/2215?t=mJUWhs
• Bee: https://onlycat.app/events/OC-8C1F644816BE/1251?t=-HXERn
• No idea what this is. Bark? https://onlycat.app/events/OC-8C1F644816BE/3151?t=jv20Jn

Random cat denied entry: https://onlycat.app/events/OC-8C1F644816BE/273?t=1VdDM_

I'd happily sit and watch a whole episode of this.

They were bringing you flowers, to apologise for the rat!

I’m loving the flowers @NotDarkGothicMama! Much better than the mice (nearly always very much alive) that I get!

The flowers were from one of the kittens. She's the smallest, 10 months old and very much a homebody.