Please help me - My cat keeps bringing dead mice & birds in the house - I freak out when I find them. Ideas?

Question

Is there anything I can do at all to stop him from doing this?

It's really suprising me - the amount of answers that are telling me to keep my cat inside - I don't think I could do that, I think its good for him to explore and hunt - I just get upset seeing half dead animals on my carpet just as I sit down to tea!

Answer 1

First off you might want to understand why your cat is bringing you these "gifts"

Returning with the spoils of the hunt is their way of proudly bringing back a gift to their guardian. Normally, cats see us as a parent figure, but when they present gifts of prey, they see us as their kittens. Accept the gift graciously and properly dispose of it. Big cats in the wild present prey to others in their den as a social gesture. Perhaps they prefer to share it in safety where chances of theft are slim.


Anyway all you have to do is put a collar with a bell on him if you havent already. Then when he is outside or after you have let him out, close the doors securley so he cant bring any dead rodents into the house. He may bring it into the garage and all you need to do then is throw it in the trees or bury it somewhere. There isnt really anthing else unless you trap him inside your house and dont let him out, which really is hard to do. You may also want to take him to the vet regularly...sometimes cats can contract different diseases from rodents. Hope this helps and good Luck!!!

Answer 2

If you are going to let your cat out...then he will continue to hunt and kill things. If you don't want him to do this than keep him indoors. Indoor cats do live longer, healthier lives. Also, you may not know this but cats are the cause of thousands of bird deaths per year. There have been recent studies that show cats are a major cause of the decline of many migratory species. You can do a search and see what I am talking about. It may help that he is keeping the pest population of mice and rats down, but a cat is not going to ONLY kill mice and stop killing birds. Also, an indoor cat will not end up getting poisoned, hit by a car, eaten by a predator, and picking up diseases from other animals.

Answer 3

We have a cat flap that has a locking system on it, so we can stop the cat going out or we can stop the cat coming in or we can do both at the same time... we actually managed to stop the cat bringing in mice by locking the cat flap so the cat could not get in - this did not mean he was locked out though because he found a way of hooking the flap open so then he can get in but the effort required to get in means that he dropped his mice and wouldn't be able to bring them in - it worked a treat!

Answer 4

You should have had a lazy one like ours. I did read somewhere that when a cat returns with food it is contributing to its family or household,and if you scold it, the cat will assume its dead bird -- or whatever -- is not good enough and so go out and find a bigger one. Of course you cannot keep it in, cats love to roam especially at night. Even ours takes a short constitutional in the evening. A bell around its neck sounds the best idea so far.

Answer 5

Sorry! Other than keeping him inside all the time(Which is probably a good idea, he'll live longer) you won't be able to stop this behavior. Cats are natural born hunters, and are going to hunt if they're allowed outside. He brings you his kills because he is trying to provide for you- he thinks you may need a snack. If he brings you partially live animals, he's trying to teach you to hunt. I would keep a small spade or shovel in the house to pick up his kills, and try not to freak out at your cat too much...He's only doing what comes naturally. And do please consider keeping him inside, he'll lead a longer and happier life!

Answer 6

I had a cat the delighted in bringing in birds and mice and anything else he could capture. I just started not letting him in when he had them.
Your best bet is to keep him indoors. I know a whole lot of people think this is cruel, but it is far less cruel than the cat getting hurt outside. I lost a few to the outdoors.
1 got hit by a car, 2 got into fights with wild animals, and one just disappeared.
Now we keep our cats indoors and give them plenty of things to 'hunt'

Answer 7

Get your cat a collar with a bell on, this should reduce the success of his hunts by alerting the prey hehe. Also some cat flaps make it awkward for a cat to bring in prey. You could try finding the habitat of the mice and destroying it to stop them living near you

Answer 8

lol! You poor thing!! There is nothing you can do, your cat is bringing you pressies to tell you how wonderful you are and what a clever cat they are!

I appreciate that you are not thinking in the same way as your cat, ie - cat - please stop bringing me these stinking dead animals, but I think you have to put up with your cat showering you with such items.

You should have picked a silly cat not a smart one!

Not much help I know :o(

Answer 9

My cat keeps on bringing me in dead mice and birds trouble is it is what they do they are bringing in a present for you, i do tell my cats a bunch of flowers or chocolates would be nicer. What i do with my cats is buy then alot of toys mices etc and they like them and leave the real ones alone especially ones with cat nip in them good luck.

Answer 10

Would you rather the cat brought in a chicken and roasted it for you or chopped up a cow into hamburgers


Sorry you got a cat and that goes with the turf... its no good having a go at your cat as it will only damager your relationship with your cat ans hurt and upseta and confuse her as the cat wont understand...

Cats can only think of food in terms of something dead...

its just you dont see what they do to the chicken or cow before you bring hoke burders and kfc to feed your family...


You cat loves you and wants to do its part for the house by thanking you for the food it brought ans wanting you to priase its prowess and be all cuddles and loving...

To a cat its like you feeding your baby...

Its what its job is and its sharing its food which most animlas would not like you share your food.

You can't stop it. Even the sweetest cat comes with this hard wored into its brain.

So you can't stop it and any attempt to will result in pet psyciatrists and damaging the relationship you have with your cat...


You can try and keep the cat inside then you have an unhappy imprisoned cat.