Tips for my cat??

[ChinchillaSteve]

As i'm getting desperate and I saw many topics like this i'll ask here.

My cat has the lovely desire to catch anything living in the area.
Here's a list:

Rabbits
Living rabbits
Baby rabbits
Frog
Mice
Rats
Bird
2 Moles (how? I don't know)
Bat (even more curious)

And I can assure you it aint fun to watch TV at night and have your cat coming in with a living rabbit!

Or a mouse who crawled in my bedsheed in the middle of the night!!

So ... tips anyone?

 

[Nancy]

Maybe keep your doors shut so the cat can't bring her catches inside.

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

She has a catdoor ...
She only out for 5 mins
I don't get it, where do these things come from

 

[Nancy]

Cats are hunters and some more than others. There are lots of animals in our yards so it's not surprising that a good hunter would catch all those things.

Is she current on all her shots, especially rabies. I'd be concerned with her catching a bat. They have a high incidence of rabies, at least around here.

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

She had all of her shots
(I'm surprised bats even live around here)

 

[Stackie]

There's no way you can stop a cat's natural instinct. Keep her inside if you don't want her outside doing what cats do.

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

She can do whatever she wants but 3 rabbits/mice a day goes a bit too far

 

[Parkerspetchins]

Put a bell on her collar so the critters will at least know she is coming and maybe they will get a head start.

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

Eummm ...
she has 2 bells ...

 

[eroomlorac]

In my experience cats learn to stalk without letting those bells ring. As far as I know, there's not much you can do to keep your cat from hunting if she's inclined to do that.

 

[Tiatrack]

Oops, double post.

 

[Tiatrack]

Keep her inside. Cats should always be indoor pets, except for a few rare circumstances.

 

[Parkerspetchins]

Wow, nevermind then lol. I only have an ancient indoor cat...no hunting for my boy.

 

[Spoof]

I'll trade you cats! Mine is useless, won't even kill the bugs that land on him.

I prefer it when they keep the local wildlife population down.

 

[ChinchillaSteve]

I'll trade you cats! Mine is useless, won't even kill the bugs that land on him.

I prefer it when they keep the local wildlife population down.

I think wildlife in the neighborhood has dropped with 95% since
(strange thing is: she's scared to death for my chin!?)

 

[jmdebb]

Personally if my cat was going out I wouldn't put a collar on her, no offence Jean Marie. The reason being is that cats always jump fences, etc... it would only take one time for that collar to get stuck during a jump and then your cat will hang herself. Not a risk worth taking, I've heard of it happening.

As for her bringing in her kill, it is their natural instinct and they always bring their kill home to mommy.. Yes gross, our cat we had growing up did the same thing.. So if you don't want her bringing stuff in the house [which is totally understandable] you'll have to fix the cat door so she can't just come in and out on her own and you'll have to open the door for her yourself each time. But she'll still bring the kill home and then just leave it outside your door. Either way, you are going to have dead animals brought home by her unless you keep her in..

I feel for you,
Good luck in whatever you decide to do
Jean

 

[jmdebb]

I'll trade you cats! Mine is useless, won't even kill the bugs that land on him.

I prefer it when they keep the local wildlife population down.

I hear ya there. One night I woke up and saw a centipede on my floor, I was like okay where's my cat she should be killing it.. I have to tell you they are one of a few bugs that really discust me.

jean

 

[equus_peduus]

Personally if my cat was going out I wouldn't put a collar on her, no offence Jean Marie. The reason being is that cats always jump fences, etc... it would only take one time for that collar to get stuck during a jump and then your cat will hang herself. Not a risk worth taking, I've heard of it happening.

A collar is important for outdoor cats. The bell is probably useless, but a collar tag, especially if the cat is not microchipped, might mean the difference between an injured cat that gets medical attention and a stray that gets euthanized.

They make breakaway collars for exactly this reason. They are designed so that a little extra pressure on the collar leads the collar coming off. Certainly some cats will learn to take the things off at will, or if it got caught, the cat is now without ID, but it greatly reduces or eliminates the risk of the cat getting strangled by its collar.

Back on topic... ran across this today: http://www.catgoods.com/index.html

 

[ABBY W.]

I agree, she absolutely needs a collar if she is going outdoors. You can try taking away the cat door and keeping her in, but it's likely she will make a fuss. Otherwise, I don't think there is much you can do. Cats just do what they do.

 

[Brittney]

In my experience cats learn to stalk without letting those bells ring.

Yep, my cat back in TN learned to do that. He's an outdoor farm cat. We got him microchipped instead. He keeps the mice out of the cattle grain, so he has a job. He's going to be very confused when he comes to live with me, though