How to stop cat bringing in her kills

Whiplashy

We have a three year old outdoor cat. Her mother is wild and decided to give birth to her in our shed. We feed them and have gotten both neutered. The younger cat has become more and more tame, and with the windows open all the time at the moment, has been making herself at home in one of the bedrooms.

She's a very clean cat. Always goes back outside to go to the toilet. But this evening she brought a dead bird back inside with her after going hunting. It was taken off her immediately, which she was not happy about! Is there anything else we can do to put her off bringing her kills in with her? Don't really fancy having to keep the window shut. I have been wondering the past few days if she's getting enough to eat, as she sometimes doesn't bother going out to the shed at feeding time. I don't want to start feeding her inside though, as once the weather starts getting cooler she won't have much chance to come in. Any ideas greatly appreciated.

babi-hrse

Leave cucumbers about
Cats hate cucumbers

VonVix

Get her a collar with a bell on it, make sure it's a "breakaway" collar to prevent her getting caught. Hopefully she's tame enough to be handled!

Shivi111

It's actually a really sweet thing that she is bringing you her prey, and shows she is bonding with you, these are (horrific!) gifts! Loki likes to bring us mice, I'd rather she didn't but she is so proud of herself, she'll come and find me and I've learned that a certain meow means, 'come with me and look at the delicious dead thing I've left on the living room floor' :rolleyes:

She is probably getting enough to eat, well fed cats will hunt too and if she is offering to share with you she's probably not that hungry.

I can't think of a way to stop these 'gifts' from being brought inside, I think it's just part of cat ownership I'm afraid!

If she is pretty tame it could be that she would be suitable to be someone's indoor or indoor/outdoor pet, I understand you might not want a cat living in your house in which case it might be worth looking for a home for her?

An aside, are you giving her a flea and worm treatment every month? If not, she probably has both, so if you are letting her into a bedroom I'd be checking for fleas first.

_Brian

Both our cats leave gifts on the back doorstep where we feed them.

I just dispatch them to the bin, it's a nice thing, even if it freaks out my girls a bit.

We never let the cats in, but I'm sure they would bring in the presents if they were allowed.

Don't agree with a bell on the collar as it will stop them controlling the mice about the place.

Ashbx

_Brian wrote: »

Don't agree with a bell on the collar as it will stop them controlling the mice about the place.

Well, you cant really have it both ways. Either your cat hunts and sometimes you have to deal with the present she gives you, or you try deter them from hunting (i.e. leave them inside or put a bell on them).

I don't know of any way you can stop this unfortunately. Its just one of the things that you have to deal with when owning an outdoor cat. I personally would put a bell on which will make her less successful in her hunting.

Shivi111

Shivi111 wrote: »

I can't think of a way to stop these 'gifts' from being brought inside, I think it's just part of cat ownership I'm afraid!

If she is pretty tame it could be that she would be suitable to be someone's indoor or indoor/outdoor pet, I understand you might not want a cat living in your house in which case it might be worth looking for a home for her

I don't think they need to jump to rehoming the cat. It's obvious they care about her and look after her. They don't even seem to really mind her sneaking in to one of the bedrooms. It's just the problem of these 'gifts' coming in too.

It is temporary OP, with the windows open so much for the summer months. Do you think she's coming in for comfort or do you think she's coming in for company?

If it's comfort maybe you need to take a look at her bedding arrangements in the shed?
If it's company maybe you can up the amount of attention she's gets, maybe invite her into the kitchen for some rubs etc and she might not feel the need to sneak in as much?

I don't really know but I don't think rehoming is the solution unless you have reason to believe shes unhappy or unsafe as she is.

_Brian

Ashbx wrote: »

Well, you cant really have it both ways. Either your cat hunts and sometimes you have to deal with the present she gives you, or you try deter them from hunting (i.e. leave them inside or put a bell on them).

I don't know of any way you can stop this unfortunately. Its just one of the things that you have to deal with when owning an outdoor cat. I personally would put a bell on which will make her less successful in her hunting.

I'm fine with the presents, love that they hunt so much, would never consider a bell, surely it would be very frustrating for a cat.

the beer revolu

Is there any merit to the theory that putting a bell on a cat teaches them to be more stealthy and consequently more deadly?

It kinda makes sense.

Whiplashy

Thanks for all the input. This evenings "present" was a birds head! I certainly wasn't expecting another so soon. The poor cat was so proud of herself and started looking for a reward. Kept meowing at me, and poking at the packet of treats on the window. She went off outside in a huff when she realised she wasn't getting any.

I don't want to put a bell on her. We live in a rural area and have a considerable population of mice and rats, so stopping her from hunting wouldn't be smart.

We'd love to have her as an indoor cat, but we have a very possessive Alsatian, who has already made a couple of attempts to kill the cat.

Thinking of maybe trying a fly screen on the window to keep her out of the bedroom. She's gone from popping in and out at the start, to spending most of her time in. She even sleeps on the end of the bed most nights. Apart from the disgusting gifts, I'm not really sure it's fair to her to be getting so domesticised when she'll be back outside when the winter hits.

We have been treating her for fleas every month since she was a few months old. She was covered in bald patches she had them so bad. Unfortunately we have no hope of treating her mother so she picks them up off her again very quickly. I'll look into worming her too. She hasn't been wormed since she was a kitten.