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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / May 2004Damn, Nipsy killed a bird
I let the boys out into the backyard after getting home. A couple of minutes later Nipsy comes running in with a bird in his mouth. A little sparrow. I never thought he could actually catch one. It wasn't even dead when I saw that he had it but it wasn't going to be getting better. Then he finished it off. Ugh. I feel horrible. Sure, birds die all the time but I'm never going to let the cats out again without making enough noise so that all the birds get out first. Espy appears to be jealous. ----------------------- Jackie (the new sick girl) is still too sick to be out much but she seems to be putting on some weight. I can't feel quite EVERY bump in her spine. The vet said that after another week or so we'll try for some more blood for further testing. I finally found out what he was talking about when he said that he couldn't get blood out of her. I had some trouble getting her to eat the antibiotic and tried to hold her while putting the dropper into her mouth. Wow, did she put up a fight! Nothing was going down that throat. A little while later she ate it all with her food. Dave > Ugh. I feel horrible. Sure, birds die all the time but I'm never going > to let the cats out again without making enough noise so that all the > birds get out first. This is one of the things I encounter doing wildlife rehab. A surprising number of cat owners don't think their cat will hunt and kill when outside and doubt their ability to do so. Cats are very effective predators by nature. The old sage advice among rehab people here is that even a well fed, mostly indoor cat will hunt and kill something at least every third time it is outside. Not to be laying any sort of accusatory trip on you but, surprise - you got yourself a hunter there! > This is one of the things I encounter doing wildlife rehab. A surprising > number of cat owners don't think their cat will hunt and kill when outside [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > is outside. Not to be laying any sort of accusatory trip on you but, > surprise - you got yourself a hunter there! I think the old sage advice is a little overdone. I have two indoor/outdoor cats that have been out every day for well over a year and between the pair they've killed two sparrows, one mouse, a fair amount of butterflies and crickets and one gecko (who was clutched from the jaws of death and re-released outside). That's it. > I think the old sage advice is a little overdone. Not overdone at all. As in any other situation, your mileage may vary. Some domesticated cats show almost no interest in hunting although they are the exception. Others are quite active. I had 2 indoor/outdoor cats when I lived in Florida that would hunt in the canal behind the house. An average day would see them return with a few rats or snakes. That's just what they brought back. And they never missed a chow call either. > > I think the old sage advice is a little overdone. > > Not overdone at all. Come on, man, you cannot know that. You don't always have to be right, you know. With cats as with most things, there is the "YMMV" factor. > Come on, man, you cannot know that. You don't always have to be right, you > know. With cats as with most things, there is the "YMMV" factor. Mary, if you check my previous response you will see that I do indeed allow that 'your mielage may vary'. It's not a matter of always being right for me at all. Observations about the behavior of animals in any uncontrolled setting are always steeped in elements of speculation, estimate and conjecture in addition to what is factually known about the predator/hunter instincts. What it comes down to is that nobody should be surprised when their kitty comes in with a trophy - it's the nature of the beast. >> Ugh. I feel horrible. Sure, birds die all the time but I'm never going >> to let the cats out again without making enough noise so that all the [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >is outside. Not to be laying any sort of accusatory trip on you but, >surprise - you got yourself a hunter there! Yes, but it isn't a very big backyard. And they can't get out of it. Weekdays I let them out when I get home after work and let them stay out until it starts getting dark. The door is open so they can come in whenever they feel like it. When I let them out they rush out the door and usually skid to a halt on the deck as the birds fly in all directions. I guess one flew a little slower than normal. > >> Ugh. I feel horrible. Sure, birds die all the time but I'm never going > >> to let the cats out again without making enough noise so that all the [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > on the deck as the birds fly in all directions. I guess one flew a > little slower than normal. Survival of the fittest. Something would have gotten that sparrow. > > Ugh. I feel horrible. Sure, birds die all the time but I'm never going > > to let the cats out again without making enough noise so that all the > > birds get out first. > > This is one of the things I encounter doing wildlife rehab. Have you ever met any racoons with a heroin addiction in wildlife rehab? James Marz Born in lust, turn to dust. Born in sin? come on in! - Stephen King > Have you ever met any racoons with a heroin addiction in wildlife rehab? You're just being absurd now. We all know that 'coons smoke crack... A cat kiling a bird is only instint. I sure dont like to deal with it but you cant expect a cat to not be a cat. I keep mine in as i live in an apartment complex and do not want her to get run over. i actually found her abondened in this complex. she still loves to look and peer out the window at the birds. cant expect her to not be who she it. :) dgk <sonicechoes-spamless@zero-spam-hotmail.com> wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav: > I let the boys out into the backyard after getting home. A couple > of minutes later Nipsy comes running in with a bird in his mouth. [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Espy appears to be jealous. Perhaps no one told you they're CATS! :) That's what cats do. Where I work we seem to have two (or more?) property cats. One a fluffy tabby and the other a fluffy "Morris." Morris had a look the other day of literally the cat that ate the canary. I walked out in the parking lot and there were feathers everywhere and one stuck in his ruff as he just sat there grinning.  SignatureBrandy??Alexandre http://www.swydm.com/?refer=BrandyAlx Well, would you? --- Why are people with closed minds first to open their mouths? At this time of the year it could have been a baby sparrow which are easier to catch . I hope Jackie gets better soon. Alison > I let the boys out into the backyard after getting home. A couple of > minutes later Nipsy comes running in with a bird in his mouth. A [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Dave It's called being a` cat > I let the boys out into the backyard after getting home. A couple of > minutes later Nipsy comes running in with a bird in his mouth. A [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > > Dave > I let the boys out into the backyard after getting home. A couple of > minutes later Nipsy comes running in with a bird in his mouth. A [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > to let the cats out again without making enough noise so that all the > birds get out first. Was it a fledgling? They're particularly susceptible to a cat's hunting instinct. > Espy appears to be jealous. > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > her spine. The vet said that after another week or so we'll try for > some more blood for further testing. I hope Jackie will put on some more weight & eventually do much better. Cathy > I finally found out what he was talking about when he said that he > couldn't get blood out of her. I had some trouble getting her to eat [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Dave >> I let the boys out into the backyard after getting home. A couple of >> minutes later Nipsy comes running in with a bird in his mouth. A [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >Was it a fledgling? They're particularly susceptible to a cat's hunting >instinct. I guess it was. It was a pretty small bird. I know that it's just Darwin at play and Nipsy was improving the sparrow species by killing off a slow one, but seeing that little eye blinking and the big hole in the side with blood seeping out really didn't make my day. circa Wed, 26 May 2004 23:41:12 GMT, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, dgk (sonicechoes-spamless@zero-spam-hotmail.com) said, > I let the boys out into the backyard after getting home. A couple of > minutes later Nipsy comes running in with a bird in his mouth. A > little sparrow. I never thought he could actually catch one. It wasn't > even dead when I saw that he had it but it wasn't going to be getting > better. Then he finished it off. Even if he hadn't, the fact that he had gotten it at all with either tooth or claw would likely have killed it. As I found out from a veterinarian after about my bazillionth attempt to save some bird I found that had been snagged by a neighborhood cat (no cat in particular; this has been a consistent theme all of my life <G>), birds are extremely susceptible to dying due to infection (literally, cat scratch fever, IIRC) once a cat gets them. :-( Laura SignatureI am Dyslexia of Borg, Your a.s will be laminated.
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