Cat bringing in ‘gifts’

[clopertyclop]

Ahhhhhhhh….. so far today it’s been a dead rat, a slow worm (the ones that look like snakes), a normal worm and a big ass spider!!

rescued 2 18mo brother cats beginning of the year that had spent their lives living on a landing with no carpet and had never been outside.

started letting them out beginning of summer. About a week ago one of them caught a frog and since then it’s constant and he seems to try and up his game each night.

I mean fair play and I do appreciate his kindness but I’m scared for what’s next!!

is there anyway to stop this? (Other than packing his bags)

Just to add, we live on a nature reserve 😩

I'm sure there's a cat flap you can fit that won't allow them to bring in any presents.

I have heard there are cat flaps that sense a gift and refuse to open.

However, it's natural. It slows down once they reach about 4/5

https://petflapsuk.com/brands/onlycat/

What time of day is this? Most cats hunt at dusk and dawn. We only let ours out between 7ish and 5ish. We have a lockable cat flat and lock it after dinner. It’s really cut down on presents!

Can only sympathize OP. Our old cat used to take to mousing like it was an olympic sport. He once brought two home at once, and only one was dead.

One of mine brings rats as far as the garden steps.
Luckily he doesn't bring them into the house.

That should work.
@clopertyclop Lovely to hear about those poor imprisoned cats having freedom, but it needs to be curtailed!

Your house and location sounds like kitty heaven!

But yes you are going to get a lot of unwanted gifts.

I think it's worth thinking about the zero mouse cat flap. While keeping them in overnight will definitely reduce it unfortunately now they've found a plentiful supply of wildlife they will probably keep catching even in daylight.

Completely sympathise - I was running around my garden at 8am yesterday trying to save a frog from my cats - wow they're slippery!

I agree with other posters don’t let them out at dawn and dusk, it’s pretty much stopped my girls I do get the occasional thing now but nowhere near as frequent.

One mouse tonight so far. The night is young. He is 10. The mouse is dead.

I spent hours yesterday trying to fish a very alive rat out of underneath the kitchen cupboards.

It's still there somewhere; I've now meshed up all the outlets into the back of the drawers so it can't get to cutlery or pots, with the area under the sink still to do. Have put bait down too (inaccessible to the cats). If it eats my cleaning products before I can wire that off, job'll be done for me.

Thanks a bunch, ginger floofball...

Aww, he loves you😍

I wish someone had told my cats this! 2 of mine were still very good hunters up to the ages of about 14/15 😂

I have the Onlycat cat flap. It has been an absolute lifesaver. Not cheap, but worth it just for the peace of mind knowing there will never be another critter brought into the house again.

That would be my worst nightmare!
mine brings in tiny mice and that’s bad enough

Today"s update...
No you bloody well can't come in with that in your mouth.
Pleased to confirm that I 'encouraged' Lenny to release the vole and it ran off.
It"s fortunate that his miaow always sounds a bit muffled when he has a rodent in his mouth. 😆

Sympathy. We live in open countryside and madam has been known to bring in as many as 8 rodents in a single day. On average we get 2 voles a day, mostly dead, tg. We also only allow her out during daylight, but that doesn’t seem to deter her. Earlier in the year she went through a spate of bringing in baby rabbits too. No rats as yet, but I fear the day will come. She’s five and no one told her she should cut down on her hunting.

My most favourite (not) is when I came downstairs and the idiot cat had brought in a magpie that was bigger than him. The said magpie was flying around the hallway, I was screaming which alerted my neighbour who kindly came round and got it out. The cat sat sadly by a tail feather left in the hallway for hours 😂

One of our 2 year olds is sweet and stupid and has a soft mouth like a retriever. He's caught the odd bird but they fly out of his mouth when he opens it to tell me what he's got.

The other one is a homicidal tabby bastard and lives off the land. Today (first mostly dry day for 72 hours) he brought in a massive fat vole, yowled horribly then ate it entirely, brought in a very bedraggled wood mouse (dead) and disdained to eat it, then finally brought back another massive vole, at which point I made him drop it outside and yanked him in for the day. He's a bugger. We keep him in until 9am and aim to get him in way before dusk - makes no difference. Nobody tell Chris Packham.

OP they’re in kitty heaven!
I too have a predator, and get daily gifts, we moved earlier this year to a new build estate, I thought he would be very bored. Alas, where there are people, there are rodents and he is fast becoming the favourite cat on the estate, neighbours often send me pictures of him trotting up the street proudly with a catch
possibly earning his keep for shitting in their gardens?

Shame he isn’t like my friends soppy cat. He proudly brings her a leaf from the garden every day. 😻

My cat is no longer with us but he was a big game hunter. He would regularly bring moles, rabbits and weasels back. He would sit on the front lawn with his kills in front of him expecting congratulations from passer-by's