I know this is probably a stupid question, but is there any way of dissuading a cat from killing mice and then bringing them into the house? have just moved into rented accommodation where the owner is wintering abroad and one of the cats brings back dead mice nearly every day and its starting to get a bit much (its been two weeks). Is this something the cats doing as the owner has left, is it something I'm just going to have to get used to clearing up? any advice appreciated
It's a gift from the cat to you. You just have to eat a few of them and it will stop.
you have a cat get used to it, be grateful you don't get a stoat brought in, they stink. or pigeons, lots of feathers to clear up.
Just be glad its not live ones that escape in the house
If you do get them, humane trap baited with Peanut Butter has worked everytime for us
Could stick a collar with bell on the cat, might work
Can't you roast the mice and have it for dinner?
Cheers all, guess I'll just have to MTFU
The cat likes you, and thinks that you are not eating properly/need looking after.
Just be glad it's not killing full sized rabbits and leaving only the ears, digestive system and one eyeball.
You can get a little paranoid searching for the missing eyeball.
Get used to it. You'll never get it to stop completely, trust me, I've tried. There are a couple of things that can reduce the bodycount a bit, though.
Try a collar with a bell on it. Make sure it's a safety collar, one that will come undone under tension; you don't want it getting strangled whilst climbing a tree or something.
Keeping the cat in during twilight can help. Cats usually do most of their hunting at dawn and dusk, so we bring ours in before it gets dark, and keep them in until it's light.
Neither of these things completely stop them bringing us 'presents', but we don't get four or five a day any more (except for a couple of weeks in spring when the local vole population explodes).
Oh, and thank your lucky stars that you're only getting dead mice. One of ours brings us live ones, she's trying to teach us to hunt, you see. They're an absolute bastard to catch sometimes....
1 a day you say? Do you want to sell that cat?
Does sound like a gift thing, are you fussing it too much?
If so, give it the hard shoulder, it might start giving its gifts to someone else 😉
Could be worse a half eaten, half alive rat, left crawling in the middle of our livingroom, was our last little pressie off our little monster stalker 😉
mrmo - your cat brought in a STOAT? Is your cat in fact a tiger? 😯
Bear in mind that in a few weeks the local mouse population will have been hunted almost to extinction, so the stream placed on your doorstep should dry up...
Our cat hardly ever does it, you can buy him if you like.
mrmo - your cat brought in a STOAT? Is your cat in fact a tiger?
i was on the sofa, cat came in front door very excited, she has a certain way of miaowing when she does something she thinks is clever, went to investigate and she was sitting in the middle of the kitchen with the still twitching corpse of a stoat in front of her!
I don't know it it was unwell or half dead before she got to it, i gave her a very good going over as i was expecting her to have picked up a few wounds, nothing.
She isn't a very big cat, she does have an attitude, most amusing sight was watching her trying to pin a large rabbit down, think rodeo. Almost as bad as figuring out why she insisted on staring at one point in a hedgerow, turned out it was a vole nest in a small burrow. she would wait until one came out she would then catch eat and present the head as a gift. this went on for a week, i guess none left by that point.
Had thought about trying a collar with a bell, but as its not my cat felt a bit uneasy about it, guess I should be thankful its only mice and that they're dead 🙁
Had shrews, various types of mice (the doormice I felt really bad about!), rats, rabbits, toads (usually accompanied by the cat having a frothing mouth), small birds, and pigeons - how it managed that, I will never know, but it was just dumped by the door without a wound on it's body! One of ours swiped a bird off the window sill while the window was open. I have to admit to being impressed at that, as it had to jump up to get it...
A stoat is impressive.
One of ours is racking up the vet's bills due to her visceral hatred of squirrels ( and their stupid twitchy noses ).
Bastards!
Just be glad it's not killing full sized rabbits and leaving only the ears, digestive system and one eyeball.
I think I might have you cat.
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just thought, my mums cat used to catch bats, decided to watch it one evening to try and figure out how. IT sat on the front lawn looking straight up. Every know and again it leapt straight up. On one occasion it plucked a bat out of the air, Impressive, if a little saddening.
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Mine seems to bring in more when its raining, last cat did too.
Seem to get quite a few soggy little rodents after a good downpour.
Don't like him catching all these little creatures, but can't do much about it. Quite impressive as he is missing one of his back legs, trains for ages too with his catnip mouse
bjeesus! warn a person before you put graphic grossness on a page...
I've heard if you praise them for bringing you things they stop.. however our cat usually only brings us things when we have house guests which is not too often... tho not too long ago he brought me the tiniest little bird I have ever seen, looked nearly just born though it was late in the season for it... I can honestly say spindly feet and beak smeared with blood and fluffy feathers all over my kitchen made me wretch...
They are impressive aren't they?
The cat i had as a boy was always bringing things in, pigeons, voles, mice, rabbits, bats, a mole(!) starlings, many small birds etc. My current cat is far too stupid to catch anything apart from 1 small bird in 7 years. Or maybe he eats them whole!