The cat is thanking you for taking care of her and giving your
her prized possession, the prey she just caught.

Consider it the highest form of compliment from your cat.

You may not be crazy about it but she is saying thank you to
you in her own way.

Females or males will do this.
Not only just to show you, but to share with you.
They are sharing their play-thing and meal with you,
because you are their social leader.

The Tom probably hides his because he's a bit selfish and wants the
snack
all for himself at a later time.

Hi,

It is quite usual for a female cat to bring in prey items like this.  She is
treating you as she would her kitten, offering you a live prey item in order
that you (as stand-in kitten) will learn how to handle and eventually catch
your own prey.   She is passing on survival techniques so that you can hunt
as an independant 'cat'.   She is taking care of you in the only way she
knows how.

Your male, on the other hand, is fending for himself.  Perhaps you've also
seen your male cat scraping at the floor around his food dish, usually after
eating part of his meal?   This is duplicating the behaviour of big cats in
the wild, who scrape leaf litter and similar detritus over their
partially-eaten kill to conceal it from scavengers, so that they can return
to it later.  Leopards are able to hide their kill in tree-tops, making it
even more secure.

Another possibility with your male's behaviour is that he's prolonging the
'chase'.  By hiding his prey under your sofa, he's extending the exciting
hunt period.  If this is the case, it seems likely that he knows his meals
are easily and predictably provided (by  you); what he's providing is the
adrenalin rush that breaks up the boredom of the day, whilst honing his
hunting skills in case he ever needs to rely on them.

Most cat behaviour can be explained by seeing your cat as a
'split-personality' cat:  the dependant kitten who needs you as its mother -
and the adult cat who treats you as its kitten.  These behaviours are most
clearly demarked in indoor/outdoor cats, where the catflap is both the
physical and emotional barrier between indoor 'kitten' and outdoor 'hunting
adult'.

Happy catwatching!

Spider

mice

awoken to a

Could be worse! Mine brings them to bed. Once it was still alive and he
brought it to bed, maybe so we could both play with it?

Regards,

Jaime G

the cat is showing you affection by giving you a
present.

When we lived in a town house, I would start each morning breathing in the
day out on the back deck. Our neighbor's cat had a habit of bringing me
whatever kill she had. One morning she started towards me with a big rat in
her mouth and I just said, "Don't bring that thing up here! Take it home."
She promptly turned around and took it next door to her house. Guess she
just wanted to show me what her hunt had turned up. :-P

DeeTee