Cat and killing wild animals

[richardf]

Hi,

My Cat seems to kill everything in the neigbourhood. So far this last two weeks he has killed 6 squirrels, 5 mice, a bird and a rat. Is there something i can do to stop him being such a killer? At the moment we feed him dry food should i start feeding him something wet? or doen't that make a blind bit of differnce?

Cheers for your help.

[Jay_Jay]

What a body-count! I'm speaking as a cat-lover. Unfortunately THIS is what cats do - they're born killers (to coin a phrase), they're predators. I don't think changing the constituency of his food will make much difference. He seems to be a perfectly healthy animal. He'll slow down as he gets older. Right now, he's out there, doing instinctively what he does best as a feline. How to stop him killing? Short of restricting him to the house, I don't see how you can do much about it. Is he neutered? Might slow him down a bit.

[Lonnie]

The answer by Jay_Jay is very true, cats are the biggest killers of other wildlife in this country, the only way to stop it, is not to have a cat.

Not to everyones taste, but I think we should get rid of them, every last one, and let the wildlife get on with living.

[~posy-jo~]

hi richard. my cat is exactly the same, she had a baby bird out of the bush earlier but i was out in the garden and shouted at her. this poor baby bird is now sat on the grass cheeping but i don't know what to do with it. i'm hoping it's mum will come and get it soon xXx

[sweetdor]

its a cat and it's thier nature to do that,no different to us killing cows sheep and pigs for ther meat i suppose

[monarobabe]

Hi, I had a smilar problem & ended up putting a collar & bell on my cat. She didn't like it, but at least it gave the wildlife a chance to run/fly away. The cat did get used to it after a week or so & when she got older & no longer hunted, she didn't have to wear it. Good luck!

[josaphine32]

bell on his collar, My old cat of 16 still goes off rabbiting now even, We found a bell helped, They mainly do there killing early evening and early morning, Have you tried keeping him in doors over night. There is something that you can buy as well that fits on there collar that warns other wild life

[janeo]

It's in a cat's nature to hunt. In a funny way I'm glad when my cats bring me little "gifts". It shows they've still got some of their original "wild" characteristics.

[richardf]

thanks very much guys unfortunately i try to keep him in over night, i have put a bell on him and and neutered him. Looks like he is just a very active animal. At least i know that i'm feeding him the right food and not encouraging him to go and get more interesting stuff by feeding him iams. all the best

[Catso]

I read that a bounty may be reintroduced for grey squirrels. If you can train your cat to stick to them, and bring them back for you, you could be on a nice earner.

I don't feel mice & rats are much of an issue, either. He's doing a good job for you. I don't think mice & rats will ever become an endangered species, no matter how many cats there are.

I don't like it when they kill birds though, as it seems so many species are struggling under pressure from environmental issues already.

There isn't much you can do to stop him, it's just natural. Even cats with bells can catch things, though it does give the prey a fraction of a second's more warning. As someone said, if it gets to you, don't have a cat.

[richardf]

Great idea about keeping the squirrels he could pay his own way for a change ;-) I'm not upset about him killing things i just wanted to make sure that he is happy and that i'm feeding him the right stuff and from what you guys have said i think he is ok. In fact he's sitting my my legs asleep right now and looking really cute and not very killer like.

[Backdrifter]

If you've already neutered and collared him, then there's little else you can do.

It's good that he seems to be concentrating on the grey squirrel population. We need a few of them got rid of.

I believe the "cats are the biggest killers of wildlife" argument flagged up earlier isn't true - it's almost certainly humans.

[rogerr]

If you are feeding him Iams, then I would certainly suggest a change of food.I know of several people who's dogs became less hyperactive when they stopped feeding Iams to their pets.

[WendyS]

We could have done with the loan of your cat a few weeks ago when we had a rat problem which we eventually had to resolve by putting down poison, which was definitely NOT our preferred option. A previous cat of ours was a real "Hunting, Shooting, Fishing" creative who would dive into the river at the bottom of the garden and pull out live rats and moorhens. I really don't think there's much you can do to stop him if it's in his nature and you've put a bell on his collar. By the time he's reached the age of 12 he may have given up his killing activity and retired to your armchair.

[richardf]

only 11 years to go then ;-) Good luck with the rat problem