HORRIBLE CATS!!!!!!

[Cussypat1974]

I found Duster with a baby bird..... Still alive. I tried to get the baby off him but he is FAr too fast for me. He ran down the lawn with the alive baby, held in his horrible mouth by the wing. Duster is almost a year old. Then I saw Casper (about 3 and hand-reared) had another baby bird, still alive. asper let me take his prize, and I was about to kill it (no way to save the baby by that stage) to stop its pain, but it died in my hand. Then..... Kara the dog ended up with another baby bird in her mouth...... Dad but unmarked, as Kara has a soft mouth and never intentionally harms anyone.......


I think a nest may have fallen...... It was all just horrible. And then I found regurgitated baby bird (including the FEET!) in the cat living room.......

[meriad]

Poor birds - probably as you say a nest that has been blown out a tree

It's the one aspect of cat ownership I don't like - their hunting. Thankfully mine rarely catch birds and the mice they bring in are either dead or I'm able to rescue 95% of them and release them.

[bobbys girl]

Oh dear, we get a constant supply of dead or dazed mice and shrews, but any day now we will start to get baby birds, or pre occupied adults.

I have an old bird cage I have ready if I rescue a dazed bird. A few hours in there in a quiet place and many are ready to go.

The up side of this carnage is we don't get rats anymore!

[Sue Goddard]

Our darling Bailey wasn't at all interested in catching wildlife...We use to say the only way he would catch a bird is if it flew into his mouth...! ha ha

God rest his little soul.

[Crewella]

I thank my lucky stars that my lot seem not to be too interested in birds, or are really not up to it even if they were! Small furries are a different matter - this morning I had Merrick at the back door with a glis glis and Daz at the front with yet another bunny.

[Lilith]

I don't remember if I've told this story on this forum (apologies if I have) but in the '70s I lived in a huge urban terraced house with a field at the back...the 'hall' was vast, with a bend and in the bend was the phone table (phones only lived in the hall in them days lol) and one evening there was a circle of cats gathered round that table, from whence came ear-splitting SHRIEKS!

This could only be a large rat! I shooed the cats away and investigated...

A frog! Fully half an inch long!

I refreshed him in the fishtank and he lived to fight another day.

During the same period, one rainy evening I was faffing about, tidying up the kitchen when my current ginger tom, Arthur (I have almost always had a ginger tom and sorely feel the need atm) yelled to come in, so I opened the back door and he came in, but yelled to go out (before the days when I kept an open door for cats, shame on me) so off he went...presently my bare foot went, scrunch! on something large and fleshy.

A great big earthworm! Ewww! Where the 'eck had that come from? At that point Arthur yelled to come in again, so I let him in and yes, you've guessed it, he yelled to go out again, and there I was, pootling barefoot about the kitchen and - scrunch! Another whacking great earthworm!

I opened the door to put the poor thing outside - and caught Arthur in the act, prising up another big worm from between the paving stones of the yard.

Well, he said, he was born in May. And May cats are said to bring in snakes. He couldn't find any snakes, so wouldn't worms do?

No, they wouldn't, and as I'm a snake lover, neither would snakes!

But I guess it's the thought that counts, although the worms might not agree lol.

[Walesgang]

Mr G (who is more or less toothless!) woke hubby in the small hours playing with a dead vole. No doubt a pressie brought in by one of the others!!

He didn't have the heart to take it off Mr G

[meriad]

He didn't have the heart to take it off Mr G

to be honest, if the poor creature is dead then I also leave it for my cats, esp the three that are confined to house and garden.

[nannymcfee]

We lived next to an old quarry and field when i was young and one day one brought home a baby shrew, still very much alive, i rescued it and it clung on to my little finger by its razor sharp teeth....so off i went with the little shrew dangling all the way to the safety of blackberry bushes ....the pain still lives on , some 40 odd years later...i never did tame it

[Cussypat1974]

If dead I leave them to it. I gave the ðead one back to Casper..... It kept him occupied and away from others if nothing else!
The thing about "rescuing" them (birds or small mammals) is that once they have been bitten by the cat, they will get an infection 9 times out of 10. And go die painfully, or be so weak the cat will get them the next day.... If I manage to save a bird, that bird NEEDS antibiotics or it will die for sure. Birds are delicate. I don't know of any research done on rodents so maybe rats/mice have better resistance? But if a bird feels sick for 24 hours it will die because it won't look for food. At this time of year, all the babies will die too!!!!!!

I HATE cats at times! Mine usually get rats and mice as they are abundant here. Sometimes rabbits. Birds are harder for them but one did get a magpie last year!!!!!

[Lilith]

One of my lot when I lived in a rural area knew not to bring anything in unless he'd killed it beforehand.

'Is that dead, George?' Crunch! 'It is now' said George.

Sounds grim but if badly injured or traumatised, the kindest thing is to kill it.

If you're squeamish, roll it in an old pillowcase or towel and bash it hard on the head with a hammer; you'll be doing it a kindness - taking it to the vet could take hours and as we all know, these emergencies happen when vets are closed.

Sorry to be so blunt but much better than the little thing lingering on in pain and stress.

Glad I don't have to do this nowadays since their garden's secured.

[Walesgang]

I must admit I would rather them bring in dead things. I am a bit squeamish amour 'finishing them off' but as you say, it's normally the right thing to do

I have been known to play with one of the cats with a dead mouse - sounds grim, but the cats like it

[Lilith]

I must admit I would rather them bring in dead things. I am a bit squeamish amour 'finishing them off' but as you say, it's normally the right thing to do

I have been known to play with one of the cats with a dead mouse - sounds grim, but the cats like it

Yeah, lol I never objected to George doing the 'Mouse Dance' - as long as poor mousey was dead.

Stand on back legs. toss mouse from paw to paw, throw it three feet away, crouch, waggle bottom, pounce, hold mouse in paws, stand up again, toss mouse from paw to paw...and so on...

Worst thing though was the poor headless mouse he brought into the garden. She was on the point of giving birth and her offspring, not realising George had snacked on her, were still stirring hopefully in her belly. Now that was gruesome! Cats eh?

[sarie]

They can be pretty grim at times... this time of year is always a bad one for baby bird massacres!

Harvey earned the nickname "egg slayer" as he doesn't even wait for them to hatch! He just tips out nests of eggs and carries the eggs in his mouth. The big conifers are an easy target for him and he has an awful habit of butchering nests.

I really hate that part of cat ownership too, it's not nice at all! I try to keep them in when I know there are nestlings nearby though. Less of an issue at our new house as there aren't many trees and bushes around so he's taken to killing rats instead. I can live with that!! Found three dead so far in the garden, ewww!

[Cussypat1974]

It has gotten worse and the cats are killing birds every single day now.... I HATE it and dunno what to do. I can't keep 31 cats locked in for months. They have caught adults now . So their babies are starving..... Duster is a devil and I am keeping him most of the time now, but last night, in the dark, Livingston caught a bird!!!! Pitch dark...... I heard the bird and tried to save it cos Livi has just dropped them into my hand In the past, uninjured. He dropped this little mite too, but it fluttered, and Rudy caught it and ran off with it..... Livi is hand reared, I only know that I took Rudy from a feral colony.

Wen that happens at least the feral finishes them off quickly. I have seen it. They do not mess about or play. Rudy was back within five mi utes licking his lips......

[Janey]

It must be awful! I have one cat at the moment (a foster) apart from the ferals that is. She is a big hunter! Last week in the space of 4 days she had 4 birds, 2 dead 2 not, I think I managed to save 1, it must be awful when you have so many cats. We've had many cats in all the years not had one like this, even including 13 ferals, unless that's because they eat/don't bring them back. She brings them all back to me and it's terrible. We've had her 8 months now and she's brought more back than all the cats and ferals we've had put together. In fact the birds here eat alongside the ferals now, they don't bother. She has 2 bells on her collar now, which helps a bit but she is very crafty and hides under the shrubs or scales the trees. I am trying to sort out the garden to make it harder for her to get them and I have had to put curfews on her now. We have a compromise, she has a few hours out before and after midday and I try and keep watch (least vulnerable times) and in the rest.

[meriad]

Catherine, I take it collars with two bells on isn't an option? Even if just for the 'worst' of your lot?

[Cussypat1974]

I am going to try to collar Duster...... He is tame. I have no iðea how he will react though. Anytime I have even put a collar on a cat and let them out, they have come back without the collar. Duster is a fantastic jumper. He is still small, but can jump FAR higher than cats twice his size. I think that is how he gets the birds...... A collar, if he will wear one, would help I think. And with multiple bells for sure!

[Cussypat1974]

I cannot collar them all though. I will have a think and try to collar and bell who I can. I do think the main hunters won't tolerate it, but Duster is definitely a possibility.......

[Janey]

Yes do try it for those you can, it's worth a try. It didn't stop my little rat getting them totally lol, as I said, she still hides under the shrubs but they do hear her if she's running across the lawn. I am sure she'd get more without it on. I bought a separate packet of bells so I always have them handy and she does come in occasionally without the collar but I have a stash of those too! Sometimes I find them in the garden and they get thrown back over the fence too I think!