My cat keeps catching birds and leaving them everywhere
Posted by secondbase on May 14, 2008 · Member since Dec 2005 · 5540 posts
Does that mean I'm not paying enough attention to him? I've found three birds just this week. One was in the garage, one on the porch and one in my driveway.
I think it's just late spring and lots of young (naive) birds are around that aren't aware of the looming cat danger.
He's a real killer, my cat. All day long he stalks anything that moves. It's quite exciting to see him so active. My other (younger) cat just sleeps all day and meows.
If you don't want him catching birdies, you can try a bell collar. However, I did try this on my cat once and she and her mom conspired to detach it (they succeeded).
I've had a bell on my cats for years....perhaps it slows them down....maybe. I joke about my gifts of breakfast in bed from my kitties. We just discourage any birds from moving directly into our yard. We don't feed them and we re-locate nests and hope they are wise enough to roost in a neighbors tall maple instead of our own.
It is spring time. I find more than one bunny or bird on my porch this time of year. If you aren't able to make him an indoor kitty, just accept the offering in trade for all of the tasty kibble treats you have provided him throughout the year. And accept the fact that he'll go easy on your couch's legs.
I look at it like an unpleasant habit of a beloved boyfriend. It's just not a deal breaker for me.
Poor birdies. I know a lot of birds die each year to the paws of domestic pet cats. :(
My cat's too old to catch birds or mice now. (Don't tell him I told you that!)
In his day, he wore a collar with a bell, but he learned to tuck it under his chin to muffle the tinkle tinkle. He then learned to pull the collar off.
I could always tell when he was bringing something home... normally he's an old man going through the cat door, tap tap tap, squeeeeeeeeezzzeeeeeeeeee through the door, huff and puff, couldn't you have bought me a bigger door mom? With a bird or mouse, he'd whiz through the door at lightening speed. He'd always bring the animal to my husband, or leave it near his chair or on the floor on his side of the bed. My husband was "new" then so I guess it was Salem's way to welcome hubby to the family!
K^2
You live in the Bay Area in a house with a porch, driveway, and garage?!?
i read somewhere that the "presents" are offerings, a way for the cat to "contribute" to the house. it said if you praised them for their "catch" they would feel satisfied and stop but would continue to hunt if you scolded them (cat: "this must not please the human, let's try another one!"). i don't know if that holds anything.
but, as others said, bell collars.
Interesting. In my old apartment my landlord's cat would leave mice outside my door. Once he threw up a bird (gross). I always asked him to stop. Once I chased him around the yard trying to stop him from catching a mouse (it was 2AM and the whole time I'm whispering "no kitty! no!"). If I'm ever in this situation again I'll be sure to try the praise method and see if it works.
He's a real killer, my cat. All day long he stalks anything that moves. It's quite exciting to see him so active. My other (younger) cat just sleeps all day and meows.
I read this thread and felt quite sad. It seems like you are proud your cat is out there killing birds because he is active.
Wildlife people and humane societies ask that you keep your cats inside at least during fledgling season where baby birds can't fly for a few days but are on the ground. Mother birds are preoccupied trying to find food for their babies.
Bells on collars are good but cats can learn to walk and not ring a single bell. I would at least put a few bells on the collar.
Yes, it is instinct for cats to hunt and kill. Sadly, our cats are generally well fed so it is only the kill, not a meal.
As well, cats are one of the few that play with their prey and hunt for fun. Therefore, often a slow and tortuous death for a bird, mouse, bunny or young squirrel.
Yet when a cat presents you with his or her offering, it is the highest praise for you. Thank your cat for the wonderful blessing and remove the dead one or sometimes alive one. And if the little one is still alive, do the humane thing and put it out of its misery. A cat claw in a bird or a bite will generally result in a slow death from infection.
When I let my cats out years ago, half of the mice were still alive. We tried to save them but they all died.
I have tried to rescue more mice and birds from neighbourhood cats than I care to remember. Have even taken them to the vet to get antibiotics in the hopes of saving them.
Maybe I am being overly sensitive right now but for a veggie board, it doesn't seem that many care about the critters being stalked, played with, maimed or killed. Actually I am surprised no one has mentioned it.
The day I am excited about seeing one of my four cats active if it means killing something with a full belly.....is the day I will have to question why I became vegetarian and fighting for animal rights.
My cats are indoor cats unless I am out with them with a long lead. I have seen too many dead birds, mice, squirrels and cats.
Sorry if I have offended many but being excited by a cats activity while killing birds? My cats are all active except my 20 year old. They have many fun things to play with indoors and yes, I do take them out for sunshine and fresh air.
Not only do I never want to deal again with trying to save a little bird screaming or a mouse because my God, they scream too. I never want to say my cat was road kill.
All IMHO.
Veg on...
Di
Oh gosh, everyone, do please keep your cats inside. They will live longer and so will the neighborhood wild animals, who haven't anywhere else to go.
i read somewhere that the "presents" are offerings, a way for the cat to "contribute" to the house. it said if you praised them for their "catch" they would feel satisfied and stop but would continue to hunt if you scolded them (cat: "this must not please the human, let's try another one!"). i don't know if that holds anything.
but, as others said, bell collars.
Interesting. In my old apartment my landlord's cat would leave mice outside my door. Once he threw up a bird (gross). I always asked him to stop. Once I chased him around the yard trying to stop him from catching a mouse (it was 2AM and the whole time I'm whispering "no kitty! no!"). If I'm ever in this situation again I'll be sure to try the praise method and see if it works.
The last time my big black cat Biscuit caught a bird that I was there to try to intervene, he would not give it up. I was screaming for him to let it go and even tapping him lightly with a stick. He crawled under my husband's jeep where I could not reach him without crawling under there myself. He ate it and I know he wasn't hungry. As much as I hate it, cats are part of nature. If every grackle survived their fledginghood, we'd have even more of a problem with them than we do. You should be at our HEB at sunset. Millions of grackles settle in the few trees in that parking lot. So many that the trees are seem like they have black leaves instead of green. What I worry most about when he eats birds is that he's going to get parasites from it. I probably need to give him some de-worming medicine.
Our neighborhood is set up so there is no through traffic and in the almost four years we've lived there only one animal that I know of has been killed by a car. That cat was run over by its human in their own driveway. We do try to keep the cats inside at night and when we're at work. We set up a big dog kennel up against the window where our cat door is and put a wire lid on it. They can go out and sit in the enclosure and be safe from other predators.
DOMESTIC CATS ARE NOT A PART OF ANY WESTERN ECOLOGY. They are no more natural than you are, and no less. Hominids are also evolved to predate, but those of us on the boards elect not to. You can make this choice for your pets. As Di remarked, spring is when animals are helpless -- the death of one bird is the death of a family of birds with only rare exceptions. And cats' claws are poisonous due to toxins in their saliva -- any injured animal will almost certainly die, regardless of the severity of wounds.
Please reconsider putting your predators outside.
I'm not trying to quash discussion, but would anyone mind if this thread was moved to the News & Debate board?
I wouldn't mind -- but I really have said 100% of my $0.02, so if I'm the agent of friction, it shouldn't be a problem.
No one was an agent of friction. :) It just sounded like a debate.
Interesting. In my old apartment my landlord's cat would leave mice outside my door. Once he threw up a bird (gross). I always asked him to stop. Once I chased him around the yard trying to stop him from catching a mouse (it was 2AM and the whole time I'm whispering "no kitty! no!"). If I'm ever in this situation again I'll be sure to try the praise method and see if it works.
ahh, happy thought. I have this great image of you in my head tip-toeing around the yard whispering to the cat. Thanks, I needed that.