Are cats cruel?

Question

Cats kill and do not devour their food? Why do they kill mice, frogs, birds etc then Does this mean that cats are cruel animals?

Answer 1

No they are natural predators so have strong instinct to catch prey. Because they are domesticated and well fed by us they have no need to eat what they catch, this seems cruel but its not their fault its ours, if they ate it through need we wouldnt find it so awful. Unfortunately for mice and birds this means cats that way inclined with strong natural instincts enjoy and prolong the hunt and chase just like they enjoy chasing string etc with us. Stray and feral cats always eat what they catch.

Answer 2

Cats are not cruel. Most kitten's mothers don't teach them to kill swiftly, because it is not a necessary skill in a house cat, and so cats will interpret a small scurrying critter as a toy to be played with. It's not the cat's fault that he wasn't taught how to kill when he was a baby. Other cats will play with their prey simply because they aren't hungry-they don't need to devour it. It might seem cruel from the prey's point of view, but it's survival of the fittest out there-if the prey were smart enough, it would have avoided the cat to begin with. It's not like small prey animals don't have eyes and ears and noses. My cat, though she is very well fed, will not play with her prey for long, and will actually eat whatever she hunts. She loves leaving lizard tails on my pillow. (UGH! *lol*) I guess she was brought up right by her mother.
So it really does depend on how the cat was raised as a kitten. If it was born feral or to an outdoor cat, or if it spends a lot of time outdoors, it is more likely it will kill quickly and eat its prey. But if it's an indoor cat or it was not taught these skills as a kitten, it's not the cat's fault either that he'd rather play with his prey than eat it. Regardless, they will still hunt, whether they need to or not, because they are predators - that is their instinct, their one way of surviving, and a skill that needs to be maintained and honed. Cats are not cruel, they are predators, and they will hunt.

Answer 3

To say cat's are 'cruel' is to apply human traits to them. They're only cruel by our standards - if we were to kill an animal for 'no reason' that would be cruel, but cats are not humans, and 'cruel' does not exist to them.

Besides, cat's don't kill mice for no reason. They do it out of instinct - they no longer need to eat them because they are well fed, but it's still their instinct to hunt and kill, they're predators. It's also a game to them - they don't need to eat the mice, which is why you'll often seem them playing with them for ages first.

If you want your cat to kill quickly and eat the mice, you'd have to stop feeding him/her!

Not all cats catch mice and birds etc, some are more domesticated than others! People sometimes say cats bring you 'gifts' of dead mice - this is not exactly true, the cats are in fact emulating their instinct to bring prey home for their young, to show them how to eat. My cat used to bring mice home almost daily in the summer, and if we didn't clear them up right away she would eat them.

Chalice

Answer 4

Cats do not always kill mice and birds to eat them. They are born hunters and have to keep their skills sharp. What if tomorrow, their owner dumped them somewhere. It happens daily. They chase and play small animals to death. A lot of times cats do not literally kill small animals. They play them to death. The small animal will actually die of a heart attack. In my opinion, NO, cats are not cruel.

Answer 5

I have four cats and i really love them, although yes i do believe that they are cruel, i know that it is in their nature to be hunters but it still amazes me that when i spend so much money on food and cat nuts for them that they still insist on killing voles, mice, birds and rabbits, they then attempt to eat the smaller ones but end up puking them back up cause their stomachs are not used to them. I hate when i find the carcasses everywhere and it is left to me to dispose of

Answer 6

in the wild cats kill to eat to stay alive.house cats are fed by their owners so they have no need to eat their pray. but they still have this natural instinct. when a cat kills e.g a mouse they bring it home this is a present from the cat to the owner (fact!) although it seems cruel its just life and nothing can change that.

Answer 7

Not cruel, they are hunters. In the wild they would eat their kills, but our pampered kitties don't need to eat, but they will still hunt as it is their instinct. They may even present you with their hunt, as a gift to you, this is their way of showing they love you.

My cat is just far too lazy to be bothered chasing anything that moves, except maybe a fly or 2, and she will eat it too!

Answer 8

No I think its there instinct. I remember sometime ago my 2 year old cat Willow got a bird & my Mum got really upset. She said he was being cruel. She managed to free the bird but I think it is there instinct

Answer 9

The hunting instinct in a cat is not directly triggered by hunger, so having caught their prey, they do not always eat it - remember we are keeping cats in an artificial environment where we provide their staple food. A pet cat may not actually be hungry when it hunts.

And they also have a strange relationship with their humans - in some ways they consider us to be giant kittens, and will bring live prey home for us to practise hunting on!

Answer 10

Its a well known fact that cats kill creatures because they enjoy the chase. Strays kill them for food, pets kill them for pleasure. Its just how they are...I suppose it is cruel, but then life is cruel.

It is how it is I guess!