Kitten keeps bringing in small birds, how can I stop her?

Question

My kitten went missing not so long ago and after an agonising search for her, I finally found her 2 days later trapped down an alley way.
Since then she hasn't stopped bringing small birds into the house and putting them down infront of me. The only thing is, the birds are still alive and obviously in a lot of stress. I know she is most likely doing this as a 'thank you' present for finding her, but I don't want her doing this anymore. Is there any way I can stop her?

Answer 1

Thats adorable.
I had a tomcat that used to bring home birds and mice all the time.
It is a big "Thank You" and should be considered a gift. The cat does it out of love no matter how disgusting the gift.

Answer 2

When stalking prey, cats often move slowly enough to stop a bell on a collar from making any noise, so if you are considering that option, put more than one bell or a couple of ID tags which will make a jangling sound when they touch each other.

Other options to help protect the birds, include keeping your cat indoors when birds are most vulnerable: at least an hour before sunset and an hour after sunrise, especially during March-July and December-January. Also after bad weather, such as rain or a cold spell, to allow birds to come out and feed. The web sites below offer further advice on how to make your garden a relatively safe environment for the birds.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/wild...
http://www.saveacat.org/catsandbirds.htm...

Answer 3

The answer to your question is put a collar on her with a bell on it, make sure it is elasticated and she can pull out of it.

Also dawn and dusk is hunting time for cats so you could try to keep her in then.

Please don't punish her by taking away her freedom as some have suggested. She is not doing anything wrong it is most cats nature to hunt.

She is practising her survival skills, which may save her life one day. When she brings them home and they are still alive she is teaching you survival skills. This is what they do in the wild to teach their own families how to hunt and survive.

Take this as the greatest compliment she could give to you. She's bonded with you as one of her own.

You sound a really lovely, caring person to show such concern for the birds and this is great, but remember your cat is not doing anything wrong. They are all gods creatures and he gave her teeth and claws in order to survive.

The bell on the collar will help, or at least make it harder for her to catch the birds.

Good Luck

Answer 4

As you know, your kitten is bringing the birds in as a present for you. I don't think you can stop her telling you she has love and respect for you. the only thing you could do is get her a collar with bells on so she can't creep up on the birds as she is obviously doing now.
Be careful what kind of collar you get for her though. There are some that you can get now that, if the cat snags it on a fence, it will snap rather than strangling your cat.

Answer 5

Every time something changes in my house I get lots of presents. When a new kitten arrived it was mice, bank voles, black bird and a rabbit! The cat in question was proving his worth to me saying 'look at me I'm still useful'. He wears a collar with bell. It doesn't always work they learn to walk more carefully so buy the loudest bell and hope! Or like me learn to be grateful that they think of you. It is just a really sad fact but they are hunters and we have to realize this no matter how much we blank it out.

Answer 6

This is unfortunately a natural instinct for cats. I would suggest putting two bells on a collar (or keeping your cat inside). Some cats are smart enough to hold a bell under their chin when sneaking up on prey thats why I suggest 2 bells. With the birds she has got, place them in a warm dark place to avoid any further shock to them, and ring a wildlife carer to come and get the bird to safely look after it and rehabilitate it. If this all sounds too much I would recommend another pet. Cat owners need to take responsibility for their cats. Too much wildlife is getting killed by them.

Answer 7

I've heard you can get these special collers for cats that let off a high pitched noise that only birds can hear to warn them away - it's apparently not harmful tot he cat in any way - they are making them as collars with bells don't seem to be working so well anymore - have a search for them on the net

Answer 8

Hi,

Unfortunately, this is completely normal cat behaviour and it is one of the reasons bird protection organisations are pleading cat owners to keep their kitties indoors!

There is no way you can stop this. You will unfortunately just have to either kill the poor birds yourself, take them to RSPB ( http://www.rspb.org.uk ) to be treated, leave them outside to die, or keep your cat in a restricted area.

This does not mean you have to keep her indoors. If you have a garden, you could seriously look at installing some special cat fencing ( http://www.purrfectfence.co.uk ). This is extremely popular in America, but they are now selling the fences in the UK. If I had a garden, I would definitely use this fencing. It means that your kitten can enjoy the great outdoors, but be safe from harm at the same time. It also means that no other animals will be harmed by your kitten.

Incidentally, how old is your kitten? If you are allowing her to roam outside unattended, she should be at least 6 months old, fully vaccinated, neutered and microchipped.

If you do not wish to install fencing, or keep her indoors, the only other option is to get her to wear a collar with a bell to warn the birds off. Some cats will happily wear them - but my cat got extremely stressed out by the sound of the bell, so this may not work for your cat.

Unfortunately there is not a lot more you can do I'm afraid!

xx Emmie

Answer 9

My cat used to do this so I put a collar on her with a bell on it which alerts the birds around that the cats there, stopping them from being able to sneak up on them. It also freaks the kitten out because she moves and a bell rings and she can't work out where it's coming from (I have three cats)

Answer 10

All cats do this.

It is a hard habit to break. I know one person who did it though.

Get a chicken or small fowl. When kitty goes for the chicken, spray kitty with water from one of those spray bottles from Walmart. Believe me, it takes a while to teach kitty not to go after birds. It's a lot of work to train a cat not to chase after birds!

Another option is to get a collar for your kitty that has a bell on it. The bird hears the bell and flies away before being caught.

Good luck!

Answer 11

Short of keeping her in all the time, you cannot stop a cat from hunting. Keeping her in will also reduce her chances of getting lost. She is young enough to learn to become an inside cat, but not for much longer. Once they get a certain age, it is harder to retrain them. It sounds like she discovered her skill when she was on her own and now wants to share her bounty with you. She loves you and thinks that you would enjoy a bite of birdie. I usually thank my cats for the gift, and release it if still alive or put the bodies in the trash. Use a plastic bag to cover your hand while picking up wild caught prey as they often have parasites. Then wash your hands after disposing of the body. Do not feed wild birds at your home to discourage their coming around. This will reduce her opportunity to hunt. You may have to block her access to the house so you can keep her from bringing them inside. We have to keep a light on at night to check on the kitties as they will try to bring their kill inside. We call this the "zero rodent policy." :)) This is nature, "red in tooth and claw."

PS: belling a cat merely makes it easier for dogs and other threats to find your cat. Never bell or declaw cats. They need their defenses intact.