Our 18 Month Old Cat - The Mouse Killer

[ruthandsam]

Is there anything I can do to deter the cat from catching mice and depositing them in our garden.

I should be grateful that the little blighters do not make it into the house but having trodden on a few carcasses lately and the hot weather, well you can guess how unpleasant it is. Our cat is catching up to 4 mice a day.

Many thanks!

[ummmm]

Do you live in the sticks?

There's nothing you can do bar keep the cat in. They're hunters. Mine is only at the hunting spiders stage :-)

[Buenchico]

The usual (suggested) solution is to put a collar, complete with bell, on the cat. That's likely to substantially cut down the number of birds brought into your home and might help to reduce the number of mice.

My mummy cat is about the same age as your own feline friend and I'd never even consider making her wear a collar but she's probably not quite as keen a hunter as your cat is (although I attribute the bloodied carcass of a baby rabbit on my doormat the other day to her!). However her four 5-month old youngsters are already getting good at hunting (several baby birds so far) and scavenging (e.g. an empty Smarties packet dropped on my face while I was sleeping a few nights ago!)

[Nibble]

Attempting to curb your cats natural tendency as hunter/killer, would be futile, as it a genetic trait of all felines to hunt - even in "play" mode this is just a way of sharpening their huntng instinct.

[J9PUR]

Our 15 month old female is an adept huntress - a few mice a day, a blackbird, a pidgeon and even a squirrel!

[Nibble]

Best draw the line at half a rat though, seems to be an unusual gift from ours at times.

[catswhiskas]

My cat brought a mouse in that lived in my curtains, only found it when I wondered why he kept staring at them for hours on end......pt

[Brinjal]

My cat doesn't bring me gifts. All his prey are for his dinner. The choice between a fillet steak and a rat is very easy for him. Rat every time.

[ruthandsam]

Absolutely brilliant answers that made me smile. Funny you should mention about a collar with a bell on. Poppy got rid of hers when out hunting and it's only since then that we've had a problem with her bringing back presents. For such a dainty thing she's really good at exterminating any rodents and insects in the vicinity.

I think I will leave her to it and watch with care where I tread. Looking forward to a bit of pheasant, perhaps??

[boxtops]

I would never put a cat in a collar again - not since the occasion when Rover nearly hung himself on his. You can't stop a cat hunting, and Poppy thinks she's bringing you treats, she thinks you're lucky to have found a plentiful mouse-source....

[campbellking]

If you are going down the collar option, just be careful as I have found my second kitty collar on the same (low-lying)branch within a couple of weeks in my garden. One of the local kitties is obviously very keen on getting rid of them, and I'm hoping he doesn't hurt himself getting shot of the next one.
Options for stopping kitty pressies are as follows
a) Get a kitty as dim as my Robbie - would love to kill something, but can't understand why the birdies don't offer themselves to him
b) Have a kitty like Campbell cat - eats the prey rather than leaving things lying around (although the 2 wings in the garden this morning obviously didn't look that appetising)

[crisper]

Our Male cat used to catch alot of things... mice... squirrels... and even bats... they are a bu££er to catch..lol... we got him a 'beeper' collar.. liteweight..and when they spring/jump etc... it sounds a very quiet beeping noise that doesn't alarm the cat.. but give the little hunted critters a fighting chance to get away!!!.. he's given all that up now... likes his dinner out of a packet.. and on demand!! lol Good luck Mrs C x

[corylus]

Be thankful that the carcasses are outside, it's not exactly pleasant treading on a dead mouse/vole/shrew etc with bare feet in the house first thing in the morning.

[wolf63]

My two are indoor cats but one is a hunter and killer of spiders. His sister is terrified of them.

My last cat used to sit on my pillow crunching spiders - whilst tapping me on the shoulder to wake me up. Disgusting animals!

[boxtops]

...and certainly not the back half of a half-chewed mouse, which blends into the carpet, when I don't wear shoes in the morning..... :-(

[corylus]

There are worse things that dogs and cats deposit on the carpets, but let's no go there!