Cat bringing in birds.

[funkiechicken]

  come on...whats with this 6 legged rabbit??   

All my boys have been murderers  Tazi was an all rounder, ground and air animals alike. He killed a neighbours 4 baby rabbits and i have never felt so awful in my life 
They once dragged a huge pigeon in the cat flap, went back out and left it! dont know if it was for later or what? who knows... Nuggie is a rodent man, largely responsible for bringing them in alive and then attempting to play with them until they die. Peanut is another all rounder. A young whip of a lad but still at the stage where he chases anything. The birds dive bomb him and poop all over my windows!  he too will catch mid flight. Mine are neutered males. My garden often resmebles a scene from horror film....thankfully i no longer have a catflap and this scene isnt recreated in my living room! 
I have become immune to it. Although i do remove any creature and feel particular protectiveness if they are still alive  but it is almost robotic if they have already gone, because i know i cant help them 

But sounds like you have a normal fella to me 

[emmmy_lou]

Our cats have suddenly turned into killers after 2 years 

I thought they were incapable hunters, but have recently seen a 2 dead mice and 2 birds left in the garden 

yesterday however their was a massacre right in front of our eyes! OH was in the garden and suddenly started shouting - one of our cats had caught a baby bluebird which he managed to catch (with a broken wing) but then it got away. I caught it a 2nd time, but it got away again! A neighbouring cat finished it off 

He said 4 babies had flown down together and one wasnt quick enough - the mother was calling it for ages afterwards... it probably wouldnt of suvived anyway... So sad but it is their instinct. I think just some cats are better hunters than others.

I have invested in a couple of collars with bells on tho, whether or not it will stop them I dont know

A 6 legged rabbit sounds a bit odd Liz!

[spoons]

I'm intrigued - a six legged rabbit.....peacocks just turning up and staying for weeks....do you live in an enchanted forrest? lol

[Liz]

I have an even mix of boys and girls, pedigree, domestic and feral and they all hunt for something some its leages and twigs for the others its birds, mice, rats, voles and the odd 6 legged rabbit!!!!

They all do it and are fed well its just in their nature the biggest thing we have had is pheasants but only the ones form the woods not from the ones who live in the garden and paddock

The best time we had was watching them stalk the peacocks who turned up and lived with us for about 6 weeks

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Its just a natural thing for a cat.

I have a 19 month old birman boy who only goes out in his walking jacket on a leash and he hunts and nearly pullsw me off my feet!

My girl Sasa who is 13 now used to catch birds on the wing, Misa finds mice more his style LOL.

He is doing what cats do naturally and time for you to start talking to him cos he wont understand why you dont.

[spoons]

Yeah I agree it probably is an instinct thing. I did have an unneutered and he didn't ever bring anything in but in his previous home he was constantly "meditating" by a vent on the ground in the kitchen. One day it turned out a family of mice were in there but he took each one OUTSIDE lol. He got shut in once they were all out but he was trying to chase them so I don't know if he would have brought them back in if he had had the chance to kill them.

Another thing I've seen with my current cat is that another cat he is friendly with will often give him dead birds (like a gift?) which he will then try to bring in. It does seem to be a gifting thing, both to each other and to me lol.

[Peggy C]

Most of the cats I have had in the past have hunted but some more than others  The most notable have been Monty who left a pigeon in the bath and Scrap who brought in a baby rabbit that I managed to rescue  I had a blackbird flying round the house a few weeks ago brought in by the present incumbant, Oscar.  It nanaged to fly out of the kitchen door minus a few feathers. 
I think we have to accept that this is a normal instinct  I have never had an unneutered cat but think that idea is a nonstarter  I never put a collar on my cat so haven't tried a bell  He is microchipped  I just say "Thank you" and remove whatever it is
I still think that cats are wonderful creatures and I wouldn't be without at least one!!

[spoons]

Hmm yeah I think you're both right, and it was my feeling anyway. I will take the suggestion of putting two bells on his collar (although not sure if this would fix the catching the bird in flight thing), thanks for that one. I have tried keeping him in at night in the past (because of the fireworks) and he made such a fuss that I ended up letting him out again. He actually doesn't seem to bring them in at night, it's most usually late morning come to think of it, although not always admittedly. However it's never been at night weirdly.

Ewwwwwww at the rat in the bed thing, was it alive? Either way is gross but if it was alive I think I would have had a fit!

Come to think of it, I guess his hunting has come in useful. We haven't had nearly as many huge spiders as we used to have and I'm convinced it's because of him :D

[Mymblesdaughter]

I've had boy and girl cats who have caught birds and rodents and brought them inside. Some cats are more interested in catching birds some in catching rodents (ended up with a rat in my bed once) and other aren't bothered either way. Spring time is always difficult as lots of young birds and animals around for them to catch, hopefully it won't be so bad as the year goes on. I used to get upset and shout at my cats when they caught an animal or bird but there isn't much point you won't put them off. Although it probably makes us feel better they don't seem to have any idea why they are being shouted at.   

[Dawn F]

you are right it is one of those things, thousands of years of hardwiring in the brain!

some people put two bells on collars, I believe the rspb recommend keeping them in at dawn and dusk as that is when they hunt most

all cats do this I have a bengal and three moggies who all hunt equally well (or not!) depending on your opinion

odd old fashioned idea about neutering, good thing you ignored it!

[spoons]

I've got a feeling this is just "one of those things", but any advice or experience would be great.

My 1 and a half year old cat has been going out for about 6/7 months. Very recently he has started bringing in birds a LOT. Sometimes they're alive and well and can be released but mostly they're dead. I only had 1 cat before this (who I only had a short time) and he never did this.

My friends who have cats have all told me it's unusual for a male cat to do this as mostly it's females who do this. Someone even suggested that because I had him neutered that this is why he's doing it. Whilst it would make sense as my other cat wasn't neutered I think this is likely to be just speculation, and I don't regret neutering him for a second as it's wiped out a lot of problems I had with my previous cat (fighting and getting lost).

He has a bell on his collar which i would assume would warn birds he is approaching. Whilst I am moderately deaf, my husband can hear him outside in the dark when we can't see him and says he has the noisiest bell ever. I have thought lately the bell is looking a bit rusty so i might change it.

However I have seen him outside literally jump up and seemingly catching a bird in flight (he has bengal in him - extremely diluted but it displays itself a lot).

Is there any way I can kind of let him know this is bad? When he brings one in I either turn the hoover on or spray deodorant in the air as these freak him out and he usually drops the bird and hides. But then a week later he's back with one!

I know it's probably dumb but I always feel so sad when they're dead and whilst I don't hold a grudge against him I don't usually "talk" to him for the rest of the day lol.

Any advice? Thanks.