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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / April 2004Cats & Mice
My cat has recently decided that she's a mouser. The problem is that she doesn't kill the mice, she just brings them into the house and lets them go. This is resulting in me running all over the house with a jam jar trying to catch them and take them outside. Over the past month she has brought about 6 mice in (all of which I've caught....I think!). All the other cats I've lived with have caught the mice, played with them for a while and then killed them, but Lily doesn't seem to be interested in this at all. Has anyone else come across this behaviour? Will she grow out of it? She is only about 2 years old. Jeannie > My cat has recently decided that she's a mouser. The problem is that she > doesn't kill the mice, she just brings them into the house and lets them go. > This is resulting in me running all over the house with a jam jar trying to > catch them and take them outside. Guess it's just part of the splendor of having an outdoor cat. Was it really a lot better when your cats killed the mice? Either way, they carry disease, fleas, etc. I think I read somewhere that, the mother cat has to specifically show a kitten how to kill the prey. A lot of kittens born to indoor mothers would never learn this lesson. I have a great mouser who carries them gently around the house like a kitten. The others aren't so gentle though, and this is a horrible way for any creature to die. Mice are intelligent and relatively sensitive creatures, and, like most prey animals, they experience fear very intensely. If you can avoid the play-and-kill sessions, please do. "Scruffy892" <scruffy892@aol.com> wrote in message > The others aren't so gentle though, and this is a > horrible way for any creature to die. Mice are intelligent and relatively > sensitive creatures, and, like most prey animals, they experience fear very > intensely. If you can avoid the play-and-kill sessions, please do. I think that the majority of the mice she has caught and brought in have died later from the shock as I have seen a number on my garden path, dead but with no sign of any actual cat inflicted injury.. I would rather that she killed them than playing with the poor things until they are so stressed that they die anyway. I think you are probably right about their mothers teaching them to hunt AND kill though. I wondered if she would maybe work it out on her own when she got older but from what you said this is unlikely. Jeannie > My cat has recently decided that she's a mouser. The problem is that she > doesn't kill the mice, she just brings them into the house and lets them go. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Jeannie Hi Jeannie, My cat does this too, she is 5 . Females cats bring home live mice to teach their kittens to kill but I've also heard that males cats do this sometimes. Alison > My cat has recently decided that she's a mouser. The problem is that she > doesn't kill the mice, she just brings them into the house and lets them go. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > Jeannie Your cat is quite smart. She has found an elaborate way of having some fun... she has learned you will chase the mouse too if she doesn't eat it. ;-)  Signature"Its the bugs that keep it running." -Joe Canuck I'm just hoping she doesn't start bringing birds in next! Jeannie > Your cat is quite smart. She has found an elaborate way of having some > fun... she has learned you will chase the mouse too if she doesn't eat [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > "Its the bugs that keep it running." > -Joe Canuck Mine does just that...actually she brings everything home to eat...particularly when it's wet or cold out. :P The birds are a riot though...she's a very petite cat, so a starling or a robin is huge for her..and for some reason, she simply MUST talk with her mouth full. She prances in, happy as a clam, going 'rrmmmp, meep, meerrowf'. Fortunately, after one mouse and two bird incidents, I've learned to do a quick check BEFORE opening the door :P SignaturePeace, Pen -- Pawbreakers - The Candy for Cats! http://www.pawbreakers.com > I'm just hoping she doesn't start bringing birds in next! > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >> "Its the bugs that keep it running." >> -Joe Canuck Will she grow out of it? She is only about 2 years old. Grow out of it? Not likely :) Become more skilled and productive? That is almost assured. While living in Florida my 2 outdoor cats became quite skilled at catching various snakes from the canal behind the house and bringing them back to the rear patio. At first I would find the usual daily assortment of beheaded snakes, mostly racers and garter snakes, abandoned after their play value was used up. The cats discovered quite quickly that if they bit off a piece of the tail rather than the head, the snake would last longer yet still be manageable. Snakes and rats were in abundant supply. Every few months they would bring back a young cottonmouth. The younger female actually brought one of those into the house once. Talk about excitement! I didn't mean "grow out of it" in the sense that I wanted he to stop catching the mice, rather I wondered if she might learn to kill them rather than leaving them to the slow lingering death that she seems to favour at the moment. I'm SOOO glad she doesn't broing snakes in though (is a cottonmouth something poisonous?) Jeannie > Will she grow out of it? She is only about 2 years old. > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > younger female actually brought one of those into the house once. Talk about > excitement! >I didn't mean "grow out of it" in the sense that I wanted he to stop >catching the mice, rather I wondered if she might learn to kill them rather [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Jeannie Wow! First you tear Robzip apart, and just a few hours later, you're engaging him in light-hearted banter. Are you bi-polar? BTW, you spelled 'bring' wrong. eq >> Will she grow out of it? She is only about 2 years old. >> [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] >about >> excitement! > >I didn't mean "grow out of it" in the sense that I wanted he to stop > >catching the mice, rather I wondered if she might learn to kill them rather [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > eq Yes, I did spell it wrong (typings not my strong point I'm afraid) I must admit, I don't really look at the names much, just the posts and I didn't realise that I was replying to the same person as I had just flamed in the other thread! (Jeannie repeats 100 times....I *must* pay attention...I *must* pay attention....) :-) Jeannie > Yes, I did spell it wrong (typings not my strong point I'm afraid) I must > admit, I don't really look at the names much, just the posts and I didn't > realise that I was replying to the same person as I had just flamed in the > other thread! (Jeannie repeats 100 times....I *must* pay attention...I > *must* pay attention....) I do this too. It is called not taking Usenet too seriously. And ... it's a good thing. :) > > Yes, I did spell it wrong (typings not my strong point I'm afraid) > I must [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > I do this too. It is called not taking Usenet too seriously. > And ... it's a good thing. :) Thank God it's not just me then :-) Jeannie "jeannie" <jeanniw@NOSPAMdaikatana.fsnet.co.uk> wrote > > > Thank God it's not just me then :-) > > Jeannie Hee! However, it sometimes p*sses off people who DO take it a bit more seriously. >> >I didn't mean "grow out of it" in the sense that I wanted he to stop >> >catching the mice, rather I wondered if she might learn to kill them [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > >Jeannie Dig it.... > I didn't mean "grow out of it" in the sense that I wanted he to stop > catching the mice, rather I wondered if she might learn to kill them rather > than leaving them to the slow lingering death that she seems to favour at > the moment. I'm SOOO glad she doesn't broing snakes in though (is a > cottonmouth something poisonous?) If your cat is well fed and engaging in sport hunting, most likely she will continue as she has. If hunting were her primary food source, the kills would come quickly. Let one of her playtoys get a nip on her lip or nose and see how quickly she knows how to kill. Yes the cottonmouth is poisonous. It's an aquatic snake about 3 - 4 feet long at maturity. The interior of the mouth is white, thus the term cottonmouth. They can be quite aggressive if you stray into their nesting areas when swimming. |
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