Do you let your cats eat what they catch?

I don't think this belongs in Behavior, because it's human behavior in question. I had Jamie outside on his long lead (20 ft.) today, so that I could sit in the shade and read the Sunday paper while he enjoyed the outdoors. Well, the "Great Black and White Hunter" caught a sparrow. I checked to make sure the bird was actually dead, and then let Jamie eat it.

He's caught stuff before - garter snakes, lots of bugs, mice, a rat, three bats, and two other birds. The garter snakes just drop their tails, which he eats, he sometimes kills the rodents, but won't eat them, the bats he releases (in the house, as he catches them on the balcony and brings them downstairs - they manage to get in above the cat net), but my husband rescued one bird, and took the other away from Jamie.

Hubby says I shouldn't let Jamie eat what he catches, as it will just encourage him to hunt more, but I say that's poppycock. He's a predator, and will hunt because his instincts tell him to. I felt sorry for the poor bird, but felt Jamie had "earned" his meal, so I just didn't watch too closely. He's an indoor cat who only gets to go outside on a leash/lead, so it's really exciting for him to hunt and catch something.

He didn't get to enjoy the whole bird, either. He saw another bird, and started to stalk that, and while he was doing so, Miezi (neighbor's cat) slipped in under the fence and stole his prey.

What would you do? Hubby is now threatening to take down the bird feeders. Jamie has only managed to catch three birds in nine years, and I usually have him on a shorter leash and walk beside him, so I think that's an overreaction.

Given the diseases that birds and rodents can carry, I wouldn't let my cat eat one.

I'm with Natalie on this. If you looked over that bird, you wouldn't want to touch it, let alone eat it, or let your cat bring in all those mights, etc.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Given the diseases that birds and rodents can carry, I wouldn't let my cat eat one.

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You know, I'm a little more relaxed about that, strangely enough, following the pet food scandal, because I know I can't protect him 100%. I keep him up to date on shots, including rabies (given the bats), and worm him at least once a year.

Our last cat lived in a feral colony for eight years before we adopted him, and during the six years we had him, he did a lot of hunting, despite getting enough to eat at home. You wouldn't believe the stuff he dragged home, which included guinea pigs and a very expensive koi. We couldn't turn him into an indoor-only cat, so I just made sure he was innoculated, wormed every three months, and given spot-on treatments against fleas and ticks. I've still got the scars from that! Fourteen years is a pretty long life for a cat that spent well over half of them fending for himself.

Originally Posted by mrblanche

I'm with Natalie on this. If you looked over that bird, you wouldn't want to touch it, let alone eat it, or let your cat bring in all those mights, etc.

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Actually, I did pick up the bird, to make sure it was dead, and looked for mites. I know that sounds gross, but after having grown up with dogs and cats, I just have to check what they catch. My grandfather had one Airedale that had a very bad habit of bringing home live baby birds, rats, and rabbits he'd "stolen". After 15 years of his doing that, it became second nature to check.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Given the diseases that birds and rodents can carry, I wouldn't let my cat eat one.

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I think that would be my concern as well, that and the fact that i kiss my cats faces I know even doing that can gross some people out knowing where their tongues have been, but it really doesn't bother me. It's probably because they never go out at all?

I don't stop mine from eating their prey if they want to. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. They're more likely to eat a bird than anything else they bring in. If I can rescue the prey while it's still got a chance at life I will, and if it's abandoned after it's killed, I disappear it as quickly as possible, so that it doesn't get stashed. But other than that, I don't interfere.

Three of mine go out and hunt. The others occasionally catch a mouse or spider in the house. If I find them before they have eaten it, I take it away if I can. This is mainly because of worms. Ellie, my biggest hunter, catches things every day and I have to treat her once a month for worms. But she would be bereft if I stopped her - it is her life to hunt. Sometimes she brings things home to me, sometimes I find half-eaten things. But I guess as long as I can watch over her then it is OK.

My cats who go out are kept up on worming and vaccines esp rabies so I am certainly not going to take away their hard earned meal!

I would let him eat the bird. Mine haven't ever caught anything that exciting when out in the garden. I do let them eat any bugs and spiders caught inside or out, except for the poisonous ones of course.

Mecha is an indoor cat, so all she catches if shes catches anything are cockeroaches and spiders and bugs (I let her eat the roaches, I make my bf remove the spiders and if the bugs look dangerous I make him remove them as well)
but the cat we had as a teenager was never allowed to eat the birds he'd killed, my mother would restle them from his growling mouth and bury them because she did not want him to think it was okay for him to catch them, he only managed to catch like 3 in his 6 or 7 years of life with us.
but I wouldn't let my cat eat anything they'd caught, it's gross

My cats have eaten birds but it's rare and they leave a mess - the carcass is only partly eaten. They don't eat rodents, bugs or lizards. I think they only enjoy the hunt and the kill. Maybe the food I feed them tastes better.

Being that we are on the 12th floor of an apartment building the boys don't have access to woodland creatures to eat. However, the do eat bugs. Strike that. Scratch Fury Destroyer of Worlds eats bugs. Dr. D. Claw and 8-Bit sit next to the bugs and wait for DH to come and take them away.

I wouldn't let Butzie eat anything that she brings inside. I don't know if she eats anything outside without bringing it in.
I probably wouldn't let Butzie eat a bird because I love birds. But I understand about Jamie. I mean, catching 3 things in 9 years - let him have a little fun. And then that nasty neighbor cat ate his prize anyway!

I would move the bird feeders so you don't have a "buffet situation" set up. Songbird populations are in a decline due to cats hunting them.

My husband and I are still arguing this one out. He's pointed out that there've been a few outbreaks of avian flu, and dead cats, in other parts of this country, though none this year. Cats have to be kept inside whenever a case is discovered.

The only birds we regularly get in our yard are all non-migratory, though: sparrows, blue titmice, and blackbirds. That's why we started feeding them in winter (seeds and nuts for the former, fruit for the blackbirds). The magpies seem to chase off all the other birds. They and some crows will come and eat apples, cherries, or grapes from the trees/vines, but never touch the feeders, and are too big for most cats to handle.

It is a "buffet" situation, but it's extremely rare that a cat catches a bird in our yard, and since we're the local "catnip dealers", there's an awful lot of feline traffic in it.

I blame human overpopulation and (housing) developments far more for declining bird populations.

Originally Posted by laureen227

well, since mine are indoor only, the only thing they ever catch are bugs... & there aren't that many of those!
they've had fun w/crickets before - but don't tend to eat them, altho if they wanted to, i'd let 'em!

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In fact, I WISH Evie'd eat those nastie buggies! She just likes playing with them, then leaving their little crumpled (not even dead, usually!) bodies for me to pick up. If I see it, I make sure it's not a poisonous spider, but usually it's just a fly. Luckily, we don't get TOO many bugs in our house!

Now, if she were an outside cat, I would move the bird feeders. Don't want them to turn in to cat feeders! And beyond that, I probably would let her eat the birds. It'd be disgusting and sad to me, but if she's really out doors, then I wouldn't know how many she caught and ate without me to stop it.

However, in your case, only outside with you there, so you know exactly how many are caught and if eaten or not... That'd be tough. I think I wouldn't just because I couldn't stand to watch it! Then again, once the bird was dead, I wouldn't want to mess with the body, so I may allow it. But only if I did like you, and checked the bird first. I know you can't really detect bird flu or things like that, but I'd have to check anyway!

Suffice it to say, I'm just glad that when I take Evie out, she so far has never even had the chance to catch a bird, let alone actually killed one!

The bird feeders are actually inaccessible to cats. We've been very careful to make them so. The sparrow Jamie caught was flying too low - about 3 feet above ground level - and he leaped up and caught her.