Do you let your cats eat the prey they catch?
By rebekkahm
@rebekkahm (149)
Canada
August 29, 2008 11:23pm CST
I let my cats outside during the evenings when traffic slows down around our house. We live in the country at the end of a side road so we see one maybe two cars at night. I was rounding up the kitties before bed (we have 4, oldest is 14, youngest is 1) and my youngest came home with a mouse. I praised her lots and let her finish her meal and then brought her inside. Do you allow your cats to eat their prey or do you take it away from them?
3 responses
@nevaul (84)
• United States
2 Sep 08
Typically speaking, it not really a good idea to let your cats eat what they've caught out of the wild mainly because you can't be certain what you cat could get from eating such animals. Mice, birds and the like could contain anything from worms to rabies.
So, when they've presented it to you, or of you've caught them, it's normally better to take it away and then present them with a treat to more or less let them know that it's okay to hunt it, but better to eat something else.
1 person likes this
@rebekkahm (149)
• Canada
2 Sep 08
You're right about the parasites. I know some of the mice my male eats can carry tape worms. I have him treated every 6 months for a whole list of different types of worms and bugs for just that reason.
@nevaul (84)
• United States
6 Sep 08
Yeah, my cat always catches mice(and a mole once) and feels the need, for some reason, to try and include me in his toying with the mouse before he kills it. Normally it's about that time that I dump some treats on the floor for him, snag the mouse, and dispose of it via flushing.
He normally finishes the treats and goes back to whatever he was playing with before the mouse caught his attention, none the wiser I think.
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@rebekkahm (149)
• Canada
30 Aug 08
Heh, she sounds like a pampered princess to me. I have one similar, the only time she goes out is to sun herself on the back deck. She's lucky if she makes it to the tree line before turning around lol.
@moonbeam94 (387)
• Australia
30 Aug 08
I don't let my cat eat what he catches as I think he gets enough food to eat from us ,he is overweight as it is and I'm really not happy the odd times he did catch a bird or mouse ,I say did as he's getting on in years and not as agile as he used to be .
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