Cat psychology

Ivan Seeking

Sooooo, being that we live in the sticks, we have this problem with our cats dragging dead things into the house and my office - mice, moles, voles, bats, birds, and other red goooey things that can't be identified, .

I have been trying to break my office kitty - Bun - of the habbit as she drags things in constantly. She is only about two years old, full of energy, and constantly working the property this time of year. So when I see her bringing something in I run her off until she gets rid of it. But the other night she came in with this big ole blue jay. She was clearly so proud of herself that I didn't have the heart to scold her. So I praised her for her awesome kill and disposed of the bird.

The next morning there were two dead moles and a dead mouse waiting by my chair.

K.J.Healey

Maybe she's just waiting for some reciprocal affection. Start bringing her dead mice everyday.

berkeman

You could eliminate the dead animals with a kitty bell. Not as much fun for the cat, I suppose. Won't help with the red gooey things, though.

Ivan Seeking

The red gooey things are just critters that didn't make it inside while still intact. In fact the cats often don't eat what they catch, they just like to catch things.

But yeah, for a cat around here a bell would probably mean certain death. For cat lovers like us, it is a tough call to let them live as indoor outdoor cats, and I know that MB is really quite down on this, but they are clearly so happy being able to run and be cats that we turn them loose and hope for the best. They tend to stay on the property where they are fairly safe, but every so often we'll have a predator come around - domesticated and wild dogs, coyotes, and maybe even a wolf once [not sure if that's possible but it was very large and hopped a five foot cow fence with hardly any effort]. The cats may need every advantage to survive at times. For all practical purposes, they live in the wild for much of their life.

Healey01, I really think they are showing off as much as anything. People do the same thing when they hunt or fish.

hypatia

Bun is bringing you gifts. To make the cat happy, you need to eat it. Maybe with a little salsa?

Pythagorean

My friend's cat brought him freshly caught birds and dropped them in his bed while he was still sleeping.

They just want to bring you presents and prove their worth so they feel me justified when they lounger around and act like gods all day.

Astronuc

Wait until they put in it your bed. Nothing like waking up with a dead mouse on the covers. Otherwise, they'll bring them into the house and drop them on the floor and play with them, if the mouse is still alive.

I woke up one night because our male cat, Chester was meowing in a funny way. I thought he was going to through up. So I got out of bed and saw him on the floor next to what I thought was a sock. It was a barely alive mouse, and both cats had been playing with it in our bedroom. Chester was waiting for it to move. I took the mouse and put it outside.

Our cats just catch mice, but our dog has managed to catch voles and chipmunks. But she just kills them and partly eats them. So we have a policy of checking the back yard before we let her out, and at night when it is hard/impossible to see, we monitor her.

Maybe you could introduce Bun to a friendly owl.

Danger

One almost completely wild cat that I pulled out of a thorn bush when he was a couple of days old used to play with pine cones. One day my mother heard this hideous scream come from her bedroom and went to investigate. There was Spitfire batting away at a pine cone and howling at it. When she looked more closely, it turned out to be a honking huge beetle that had its mandibles clamped onto his nose.

It might be a bit difficult to ensure friendship, since owls eat cats.

NeoDevin

My cat is a herbivore.

hypatia

It brings you dead trees?

Danger

Maybe pussywillows?

Ivan Seeking

I remember a friend talking about this terrible nightmare that he had. At some point in the dream someone was being murdered in the most horrible fashion, and in the dream he heard these terrible screams. But when he woke up, he could still hear the screaming - a mouse being eaten alive on his chest by little kitty.

You know, I think our little Bun has managed to harass the skunks to the point of leaving. I have seen evidence that they were around again, but I haven't seen any as we usually do by now. Bun pretty much harasses anything within sight, relentlessly.

I do worry about our new crop of turkeys though [just saw them the other day for the first time - mom and about eight babies]. Last year Bun and the neighbor's cat ganged up and caught at least one... maybe two chicks. This year she is bigger and stronger.

NeoDevin

no, but if I give him meat, he won't eat it. He will however, eat my plants

G01

I heard that cats bring in dead animals as a gift. (Kinda like they want to bring home dinner for you)

If this is true you should probably say thankyou! Hehehe, just dont throw it away when Bun is watching...

Danger

It's apparently true that dead or semi-dead critters are indeed an offering of sorts. Almost all affectionate cats (who have access to such material) will do so. Anti-social cats, though, won't. This is somewhat at odds with the fact that cats are not pack animals like those sucky canine things. I wonder if it might be their way of trying to earn their keep rather than feel endebted to the owner. It's hard to figure out what goes on in a brain the size of a walnut with no cerbral cortex.

Evo

OMG!!!! You need to put up a warning before you post something like that.

Ok, time for a cat muzzle.

neurocomp2003

mmm if they can be trained to go to a litter box....
maybe you can train them to bring the dead animals to a place so you won't be startled or grossed out. LIke a corner where they can hang their trophies =]