I have a killer cat, a too effective predator

He is an excellent predator and causing devastation in the small animal community around the house. In the last 2 weeks he killed 1 bat outside, 2 baby bunnies brought dead inside, 1 dead baby bird inside, and this evening we had to hunt a still live chipmunk in the house, because I assume he brought it in. I managed to save little chippie, but there was blood on the walls in the corner. It was actually funny as me, the dog and the cat were hunting the chipmunk and see, who gets it first. (the dog being a terrier also a hunter for small animals)

Anyhow, it is getting old to clean up blood and dead animals from the carpet. So we were trying to find a solution. My wife said to put a bell on his neck, but first I don't want to listen to a ringing bell all day, second he can still get birds in their nests. I am also not going to force him to stay inside, specially that we have a doggie door and the cat knows how to use it, so it is pretty much impossible to keep him in for the summer.

So anybody has any good solution to save the small and cute animals outside from my very effective predator cat??? He even hunts the bugs inside the house, which is alright with me...

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Build a cat run. Hunting becomes the thing they do outdoors so you have to separate them from the access.

We have three cats in the house, with free flying parakeets and cockatiels. The last cat we got was a killer of birds but we trained her not to kill the indoor birds (took about 6 weeks). We have begun training her on a leash so she can go outside again (our other cats are trained for leash), but are debating a cat run if she doesnt take to it. She will still try to kill on a lead for a while; its in her nature. But restricting her movements to open areas in the yard gives the animals a chance to avoid her and with time she will be less interested in hunting outdoors. Thats whats happened with the other three cats I've had outdoors on a lead. With time, they just stop thinking about the hunt when access is denied.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

The bell idea is the best. I suppose you must decide between annoying bell or dozens of violent deaths in the community. I dislike declawing cats, but this would remove one of your cats primary weapons. My cat is declawed, but I only paid for it 20 years ago and realized it was a cruel recovery process. Not as cruel as the mayhem your cat is inflicting on local wildlife though.

A dead bird may result in a family of birds starving to death, etc.

There was a video where the owner had a cat cam and realized their cat was killing constantly.

I am an animal lover so may sound melodramatic, but unless you are too cheap for cat food any killing by your cat is too much.

Another option other than the bell would be some kind of restrictive clothing that impedes running.

Bells or even some tags can make noise, restrictive clothing, muzzle, declaw, hang a weight around neck.

If you accept the behaviour then I guess do nothing.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide all adverts.

Cat's are predators by nature, and killing other critters is what they do. If you really care about your cat's killing spree, then buck up and buy a bell. That's the best solution other than keeping your cat indoors.

My cat brought a birds nest in the house one morning. You feel badly, but what can you do.

 

Sell the cat or give it away would be something to consider.

 

The bell you put round its neck is only a very small bell.
How much noise do you think it is going to make?

Listen to your wife.
Put a bell collar round its neck.

I don't think it will stop it killing baby bunnies.
They aren't the shiniest button in the box.

 

I've had a cat that didn't have front claws, yet could still climb a tree and catch birds, after my cat had been taught to be somewhat of a vegetarian ( with water spray from a mini animal shaped water pistol...haha I'm a baptist..the cat actually stopped taking from small wildlife and there was wet food as a consession.

Captain Kremmin your writings are grounding and inspiring

Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

 

you might try castrating the cat.
my sisters dog used to run off all the time until she had his nuts cut off.
now he is more obedient and stays mostly in the yard.
it might just be coincidence too.

 

If he is annoyed by the noise of a tiny tinkling bell,
then wearing ear plugs would be advisable during that procedure.

Question.
Do cats kill many bats?

 

Maybe consider using a CatBib?

 

Don't let it out, or if you do, do it on a leash, or in an enclosure. Cats are going to hunt, that's what they evolved to do. Why do your dogs need their own door?

I just got a new cat, and yesterday I watched as a squirrel went right up to her like 3 feet away, I thought they were going to touch noses. I think she was too confused to do anything, but when it was past her, she tried to stalk it, but it ran up a tree.

 

Cats in the UK roam free.
A few specialist breeds stay indoors, but the rest spend their days hopping over fences
and mooching about, and sleeping of course. They do a lot of that.
They don't spend a lot of time stalking birds, except in a very half hearted way.

They still kill a lot of birds, about 5.5 million per year according to the RSPB,
but there are 8 million cats. That's less than 1 bird per year each.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/cats/birddeclines.aspx

If the USA's 86 million cats kill 1 Billion Birds, that's more than ten each.
Why are American cats worse bird killers than UK cats?
Are they too aggressive? Is it something in their Kitty food?
Or have British moggies lost their Mojo?

 

Maybe its their teeth?:roflmao:

 

I will try to answer everyone in one post. The cat is already castrated. We have a deck, thus the dogdoor for the dog, thus keeping the cat in is impossible. I never even heard of cat run before, unless for lions. I probably will try the bell, since the cat is either just lying around inside, or he is outside, so it shouldn't be that annoying. The bastard once disappeared for 4 days in November (colder weather) then showed up like" anybody missed me?" He was well fed and clean, I still don't know where he had been.

The chipmunk coming in is possible, but not probable. We had 1 bird flying in through the chimney, but other then that, a chipmunk has to be very unlucky to pick our house to break in. A terrier and a superkiller cat, that is just bad mojo for any small rodent. The strange thing was that the cat was chilling with me, when suddenly he started to hunt in the room, so I assume he let the chipmunk go earlier. (or the chimpunk was knocked out, and awoke)

This is the smartest cat I ever known. He tries to open the doors by standing on his back legs and trying to turn the knob (what he obviously can't do) I built a cat ladder for him from the roof to the deck, he likes to go out on the roof... When I buy him the wrong catfood he gets pissed and knocks his foodbowl over in protest. Once he shat on the side of the house in protest....

Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

He is very careful outside, hides from cars and such. There are other cats in the neighbourhood, and when he was new there were fights, but I guess now he is the king, I haven't heard any fights lately....

By the way I do let the dog cruise around in the back yard/alley. He goes to the neighbours, check them out and comes back. Pretty smart dog too, 6 years ago lost him in the park half mile away, he made it home on his own, and he was relative new back then...

 

Why not send him on a holiday to England
to learn English cats' ways.
An English cat's idea of hunting is to stick out its paw as a bird is eating food two feet away.
If the bird does not jump into the paw, the cat will give up and go back to sleep.

 

I adopted 2 cats from local shelter about a year ago, one is a polydactyl Maine Coon(Pawlie) and the other a Siamese/Tabby mix (Miles.) Pawlie is a phenomenal fly catcher even though he really cannot jump very well and Miles is a great jumper and very tactile but is not as good at catching flies. I put both cats out daily in backyard which has a high fence and Miles is gone lickety split and poor Pawlie can only watch and wish. Miles has brought me a little present (small mouse) only once thank god and I have even witnessed him stalking a baby deer. Okay, now that I have given my cats a shout out I would like to address those damn lazy English kitty cats.Those cats need to switch from Earl Grey to Starbucks, that will get them off their asses!

 

It may have to do with the size of territory.
A cat with no competitors will range over many acres.
In an English city, there could be 10 or more cats in an acre,
so they bury their dirt, keeping a low profile, avoiding conflict.
and seldom wander far from home.
Perhaps some of their other instincts are subdued too.

Deer Stalking.
Like this?

Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!

 

It probably has something to do with the methodology of the studies. If they weren't identical, then comparing the numbers is invalid.