Is there any practical way of preventing an indoor/outdoor cat from bringing its prey into the house? I'm thinking of installing a cat flap; however, I can't see how a cat flap would keep the "catch" outside where I'd like it to stay.
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Keeping the prey outside where it belongs
- Thread starter coaster
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I have no clue. A friend of mine who let her cats out a long time ago - she had one or two of them bring in LIVE mice and turn them loose in the house for the rest to "hunt" down...... be thankful your cat's prey is dead.
Can't think how you would do that. I know a cat flap is no deterrent: Fawn brought a crow in a few years ago -- yes, a crow. Samantha brought a large feather duster through it a few years before that. And of course, we get everything from birds to mice down to earthworms. Not sure there's any reasonable way of keeping them from doing that. File it under "C'est la vie!".
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Well, that, of course, is preferable, anyway. What self-respecting cat would squeeze through a cat flap, when there's a perfectly good human around to open the door?Originally Posted by coaster
That means I continue to be employed as a doorman to a cat.
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We have a cat flap that leads out into our garage where we keep the litter box and if we leave the garage door open, the dead stuff comes in right through the cat flap. We live in the country and our cats are allowed out during the day most of the time and are brought in to stay at night, but they do come and go during daylight hours. In addition to the dead stuff. We have had small live garter snakes brought in (those are fun to catch) and even a live chipmunk. We could have won a funniest video contest if someone had been taping us trying to catch that one - thank goodness for my kids' butterfly nets. I started either shutting the cat flap or the garage door during the day to make them ask to come in and out the regular door. My one cat particularly likes to leave little dead mice laid out neatly next to my husband's shoes on his side of the closet. I tell him he should feel honored since the cat is honoring him with these little gifts
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Oh, that Rocket would bring his prey in dead and lay it out neatly. Rocket doesn't do anything neatly. He brings his prey in very much alive, kills it, and eats it, and leaves the entrails on the mat outside my door. It can get pretty messy, especially when it's a rabbit. You should see the spots on that mat. I have to look first and be very careful when I go in and out that door, lest I step in something.
Yep, fortunately, there are no rabbits involved here, but mice can be messy icky too, and the mouse population has been taking a hit from our bunch lately. I think they were both involved in last night's escapades: I didn't get out of bed to see, but the growling would have been Cindy, and it was easy enough to see out the door a little later on where she was watching while Fawn snacked. They left most of the critter -- on the carpet, just outside the bathroom. Needless to say, I wore slippers when I answered Mother Nature.
We've had a few tidy ones, the most fun one being Samantha's first. She was 10 months old and soooooooooooooooo proud of herself, dancing around it, and summoning us to come look! Funny kitty.
We've had a few tidy ones, the most fun one being Samantha's first. She was 10 months old and soooooooooooooooo proud of herself, dancing around it, and summoning us to come look! Funny kitty.
OH no - not another one to bring it in live! Only other thing is to curtail the unsupervised roaming.
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In Sarajevo we had a catflap and mine used to bring in all sorts of things, alive, half dead and dead. I came home to moles running running round the living room, mice, shrews, a pigeon once ( I let it go by opening the window) and Dushka brought in the biggest moth I have ever seen and let it go on the staircase.
Here I don't have a flap, so at least I can stop them on the doormat. But that means I often have to step over the remains of something. Ellie tried to bring in a squirrel once but it was dead by the time I got it away from her.
Here I don't have a flap, so at least I can stop them on the doormat. But that means I often have to step over the remains of something. Ellie tried to bring in a squirrel once but it was dead by the time I got it away from her.
My veteran indoor/outdoor cats hardly bring any prey anymore. They are familiar with my reactions (disgust, little anger and sadness). The younger ones are still learning but the number of "gifts" has greatly lessened. So I suggest you just reward your cat when he leaves the prey outside and do the opposite if he brings it in.
oh my gosh!! my parents have always let their cats be indoor/outdoor and they never brought anything in, thank goodness!!! presents on the steps, that was a regular occurence however
