Every so often I see the remains of a bird on my lawn - mainly feathers. The other day I came home and saw a cat eating something on the grass. I let it finish and when I went out it was the remains of a pigeon - but everything but the wing feathers had gone. Do cats actually eat the head...legs and feet and a lot of the feathers too of birds they catch? Yuk!
2006-11-14 06:56:58 · 29 answers · asked by ? 2 in Pets ➔ Cats
Next time look at the feathers on the ground more likley plucked by a sparrow hawk, then the cat came along. Spars eat all of it unless disturbed. Cats normally leave a lot of it.
2006-11-14 19:00:30 · answer #1 · answered by yahooisawastofspaceremoveme 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My cats catch much smaller birds, but they eat everything except for the odd wing feather (sometimes left over feathers are obviously still part of a wing). If it were a bigger kill, such as a pigeon, I imagine there would be more feathers or limbs left.
When it comes to mice, some offal is left uneaten, it might be the liver, I am not a vet so can't say for sure. And when it comes to fish, they won't eat the heads!
2006-11-14 07:08:16 · answer #2 · answered by kiteeze 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm assuming that this cat is a stray...If so, then yes it will eat everything edible. Domestic cats only play with the prey they catch, but ferrill cats will kill and eat anything that tastes good to them because they have no way of knowing when they will have another meal. Being the big hearted person that I am, I would buy cheap dry cat food and leave it in a bowl at the edge of my yard, or start throwing out my leftovers every night. The reason for this is because birds and other small animals carry many parasites and viruses from which the cat could get sick. Plus, it would keep carcasses out of my yard.
2006-11-14 07:57:40 · answer #3 · answered by Another Nickname 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Not all cats are hunters, and some are thrill killers, some eat what they catch and others just like to play. It really doesn't matter if they are well fed or not for a hunter to still catch birds, etc.
My oldest cat will only catch mice (if she can be bothered) and shows no interest in birds. She is allowed out during the day, but is in at night.
The youngest shows all indications of being a hunter, so she is an inside cat.
The newest, I am not sure but he is an indoor cat as well.
One of my dogs killed more birds than the cats
2006-11-14 10:34:58 · answer #4 · answered by Feline Female 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Any cat that is hungry will eat the whole thing. They will have a few feathers but leave the rest. Pet cats just kill because it's in their nature. Mine are all indoors for that reason.
2006-11-15 01:53:57 · answer #5 · answered by pampurredpuss 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
One of my cats Harry - he will eat almost a whole bird - he always seems to leave as you say the wing or wings, a leg and quite often the stomach and the beak - always amazes me how he leaves the stomach completely intact - they stink when they burst!! however when it comes to mice - harry will eat every last bit - apart from the stomach!!! strange!! and also gross!! I can't understand why he does eat them - I do feed him lots!!!!!
2006-11-14 21:00:53 · answer #6 · answered by Grace - baby No.2 due in October 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Last week I found two wings and two feet on my back porch. Guess there wasn't enough meat there to bother with.
I have seen my cat devour every last bit of a ground squirrel - starting with the head, all the bones, everything.
2006-11-14 07:02:28 · answer #7 · answered by alidansma 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
My cat leaves bird heads & the wings. Also in both birds & mice he leaves something that looks like a little liver or, as someone else mentioned, stomach.
2014-09-24 16:42:02 · answer #8 · answered by Jaimee 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
completely obtainable. We have been traveling my aunt one summer season and the morning we've been going to stress homestead we regarded on the hood of the automobile and there grew to become right into a sprint drip of blood and a tiny returned leg of what we predict grew to become right into a mouse. That grew to become into the only evidence that her cat had eaten something on our automobile! She reported an identical cat had needless to say caught a fowl as quickly as and eaten it, and all he left on the returned porch grew to become right into a pile of feathers and next to it, the fowl seed that grew to become into in the fowl's abdomen :-)~
2016-10-22 02:15:44 · answer #9 · answered by freer 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
most of my cats eat everything but the wing feathers, the legs and the beak.
2006-11-14 07:25:48 · answer #10 · answered by Kallicat 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋