Why do cats give "gifts" to their human owners?

ibiscribe

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I've read 'Tribe of Tiger'. Loved the story about the cat that would leave dead mice in the family's plates and bowls if they were left out. :D Lady has no sense when it comes to dogs and I don't like what she has to say about circus tigers, but a lot of her other anecdotes about housecats, pumas and lions are pretty cool.

Our outdoor cats, when we lived on the farm, would bring us halves of mice. Always the butt half, which I take it was not the choice part--sometimes they left mouse butts lying around the yard too. We tried buying them ash trays but they never used them. J/K

I have to wonder just how much of it relates to perceived parenthood/kittenhood after all... since male cats do it, and our eldest female, Annie, used to bring mice to the other cats even though they were all adults and accomplished hunters themselves. That really does make it seem more like it's a "sharing with the family" thing. Mentally, I envision it as being the cat equivalent of what would happen if I brought home a large Hawaiian pizza.
Yes I might want to eat it all myself, but it would be rude not to invite my other family members to have some. So I might bring it in the kitchen, and give a shout to whoever's home to see if they're interested in what I just brought in. But it turns out they ate earlier, and they're all stuffed. So at that point I feel pretty good about eating as much as I want. But I might still save a few pieces, because I can't eat it all, and/or someone might appreciate being able to have mouse--erm, pizza--for lunch the next day.
 

krazy kat2

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My dear RB kitty Fred would bring me all kings of things. The first thing he ever brought me was his brother, Mister. Then it was small creatures that he could catch. He was not much for killing things, but it fascinated by catching them and bringing them to me. His favorite thing to bring home was kittens. He loved kittens.

My current crew left me a mouse head on my kitchen floor. I had been napping, and heard the cats plating with something, unusual for them. They were playing mousie head soccer and they all looked at each otther like (SHE/HE DID IT.)
 
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duckdodgers

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My dear RB kitty Fred would bring me all kings of things. The first thing he ever brought me was his brother, Mister. Then it was small creatures that he could catch. He was not much for killing things, but it fascinated by catching them and bringing them to me. His favorite thing to bring home was kittens. He loved kittens.

My current crew left me a mouse head on my kitchen floor. I had been napping, and heard the cats plating with something, unusual for them. They were playing mousie head soccer and they all looked at each otther like (SHE/HE DID IT.)
He brought you kittens? o_O  Did he steal them from their mother or something?
 

dejolane

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I used to have 2 cat named Mama Cat and Mittens.( 1 of her first litters) Mittens grew up and was put outside for awhile and then when we moved he was gone for the day I was going to bring him with us but he never came back neither did Mama Cat. I had looked for them for 2 days after that. Anyway, they used to bring us mice and other rodents and lay them on our porch. When we opened the door, we would almost step on them. Thats what cats do.

dejolane
 

fleety

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My female cat brings me presents all the time! She's strictly indoors but she often brings me toy mice or other things she finds around the house and sets them at my feet or near my chair in my home office. One time a large insect got in the house through the screen door - she killed it and brought that to me. Eww. She also loves Q-Tips...I have to keep them out of her reach or she will go through a whole box, just playing with them and batting them around.

Whenever she brings me something, I MUST acknowledge her "gift" right away or she will start howling her loudest meow. I've been on the phone and the other person has asked me what in the world was going on at my house LOL. I think it's adorable that she brings me presents (though I did not find the dead bug adorable, ha ha)
One of my kittens does this, I wondered why actually when she kept coming back inside and crying all the time when she doesn't usually but after reading this post I looked out for it and that is what she was doing, bringing something in and then crying until stroked her.  She kept dropping things under the table so I didn't notice at 1st.

Luckily the only live things i have received so far are a worm and a fly, although they ate the fly and just battered the worm around until i took it off them.
 

edwrdsnj

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My cat will bring me her toys when I am laying in my bed to go to sleep lol
 

jezahb

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My parents big male cat Qwerty used to bring gifts frequently, the funny part was he was not happy until my mom acknowledged his gift. He knew the window that led into the bedroom where my parents sleep and would sit outside the window yowling with a mouse in his mouth until she woke up and accepted it. He never ate them, so she would take the mouse with a happy expression of pride, and give him treats to distract and reward him while she tossed it. LOL. Though sometime he was too gentle, once he brought her a bird and when she walked onto the porch to accept it he dropped it and it flew away! Haha

My babies are all indoors, but my Lexi likes to find her toys throughout the day and deposits them on my bed only on my side. 

I must mention not all cats do this, one of my moms outdoor/indoor cats hunts regularly, he is the most aggressive hunter cat I have seen. He tackles the 6 lb mutant squirrels my mom has and has come home with bites. Yet he has never brought his prey home, in fact when he catches it he runs off and hides to eat it...but he is also an overall not so friendly cat even though his siblings raised the same way are. So it must be a affection thing
 

jonesy

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Yeah Mikey used to leave me alot of gifts when i was letting him outdoors. About twice a week i would find something at my door step when i went to let him in.. 

a few mice.. One chimpmunk.. One half of a chimpmonk (front half) .. A couple small birds.. Once i opened the door and found the head and wing of a blue jay. I think i remember a squirrel tail as well.. I used to leave my bedroom window open for him during the summer so he could just jump in and out as he wanted throughout the afternoon.. He once jumped back into the house with a live chimpmunk in his mouth and let it go.. I'll tell ya a terrified chipmunk scurrying around your bedroom isnt easy to catch lol.. Good news is the chippy survived the ordeal and i let him go outside.. 

Mike is an indoor only cat now, so his hunting days are over, and the little critters in the yard no longer need to live in terror! lol. 

He was quite the little hunter for such a small cat.. 
 
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betsygee

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Oh, the gifts we've gotten!  We have three cats, all hunters--we've had mice, gophers, moles, snakes, squirrels, and birds in the house--alive and dead!  Once they managed to get a live blue jay in the car door (don't know HOW they managed that, it was a big bird!) and let it go.  My husband had to climb up on a ladder to the ledge it had landed on, pick it up with his bare hand and let it go outside.  

I think the Q-Tip gifts are adorable!!!  

Here's a question--we took in four older cats from a friend who died.  We're slowly integrating them but mostly they live in a room of their own.  One of the new kitties was sitting on a ledge looking out the window.  One of our resident cats caught a mouse and he took it in his mouth up to the window where the new cat was sitting to show her!  Do you think he was showing her who was the alpha cat, or was he bringing a gift to the new cat?!   It looked really cute so I prefer to think he was being nice to the newbie LOL but of course I have no idea what was really in his little cat brain.  
 

betsygee

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Wow--I've saved some rodents and lizards from the jaws of death, but I it must have been something chasing a chipmunk!  LOL
 

lianaspoken

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My fat tabby cat, usually very lazy, brought me a humming bird! Everyone that knows this cat does ot believe me but i insist that she does venture out in the early hours of the morning doing who knows what.
 

runekeeper

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My kitties would do this too. Despite being indoor cats, their hunting instincts came out anytime they found a mouse in the basement, which they do show up occasionally. If they hear a squeak, they'll sit and stare at the source for an hour or two waiting for the mouse to emerge. Caspurr and Rolly once found a mouse and batted it back and forth like a ball,and the poor thing was probably stroking out, so I put it in a dustpan and tossed it outside. Other times, I think one cat would catch a mouse, then another one would grab it and bring it to me because he wanted the credit. My cats have left decapitated mouse carcasses on my mother's bed more than once, and one morning my Rolly brought me a mouse at around 4 am and decided to eat its head, and I had to pick up mouse brains and eyeballs off my rug.

I've heard different things about why cats will do this. One theory is that they are showing you they love you by bringing you food. The other is that they bring you a half-dead animal because they want you to kill it, like how a mother cat might bring her babies a mouse to teach them how to kill their prey. In other words, the latter theory is that your cat thinks you're a lousy hunter, so he wants to teach you how to do things right.

Either way, I made sure I gave the kitties lots of praise for bringing me a little treasure. Then I had to figure out if it was more humane to throw the half-dead mouse outside or to put it out of its misery.
 

revenwyn

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One of the ferals I used to feed before we moved saw me yesterday and presented me with a baby rabbit. Squick.
 

karekat

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My 18 month old Seal Point Siamese cat, Baby Gurl, brings me gifts all the time and leaves them on my pillow or my side of the bed. She has brought me toys, clothing, lipstick, chapstic, Q tips, my toothbrush, magic markers, ribbon, hair clips, an earring, my insulin pen, wrappers from the bedroom trash can, a bottle of whiteout and many other things. She is an inside cat, so she doesn't have the option to bring me prey (dead OR alive!), which she would do I'm sure! From owning cats for over 40 years, I know these are gifts of affection, and wanting to please me, as part of the pride. I always thank her profusely, and give her kisses and cuddles! It's easy to see she 's very proud and pleased with herself. I know that these gifts, along with her licking me, is a very high honor! I am very lucky she lets me live in her house and sleep in her bed! LOL!
 

betsygee

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My 18 month old Seal Point Siamese cat, Baby Gurl, brings me gifts all the time and leaves them on my pillow or my side of the bed. She has brought me toys, clothing, lipstick, chapstic, Q tips, my toothbrush, magic markers, ribbon, hair clips, an earring, my insulin pen, wrappers from the bedroom trash can, a bottle of whiteout and many other things. She is an inside cat, so she doesn't have the option to bring me prey (dead OR alive!), which she would do I'm sure! From owning cats for over 40 years, I know these are gifts of affection, and wanting to please me, as part of the pride. I always thank her profusely, and give her kisses and cuddles! It's easy to see she 's very proud and pleased with herself. I know that these gifts, along with her licking me, is a very high honor! I am very lucky she lets me live in her house and sleep in her bed! LOL!
That is so cute--I've never had a cat bring me household items like that!  But then again, mine have always been indoor/outdoor so they prefer to bring in gifts that breathe (or used to breathe...)  
 
 

di and bob

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My cat doesn't bring me 'presents' anymore,not since I started chasing him down and saving as many as I could. It just broke my heart to have to give them back because they were too injured. Now he sees me coming and kills them quick, so I guess this is good. (?)  
 

betsygee

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My cat doesn't bring me 'presents' anymore,not since I started chasing him down and saving as many as I could. It just broke my heart to have to give them back because they were too injured. Now he sees me coming and kills them quick, so I guess this is good. (?)  
Yeah, I save the ones I can but sometimes I just have to let nature take its course.  
 

di and bob

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Jason loves bringing us dead things.  We've had everything- mice, rats, birds, shrews, moles, and squirrels.  He even brings us those huge swamp rabbits that live behind our house that are pretty close to his size.  He once brought us a bat.  How a cat managed to capture a bat is beyond me, but my dad found him trotting around with it one morning.  The strange thing is that he often partially consumes his kills, but he always eats them head first.  This is especially true with the large kills- I don't recall ever finding a rabbit or squirrel that was not missing its head.  Any insight about that detail?
 
HaHa! Our cats should get together! My cat eats everything BUT the head! It's kind of gory walking around and finding heads!
 

betsygee

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My cats switch--sometimes they eat the head and leave the rest, and sometimes all I find is a little pile of guts.  Yuck.  Duck--our cats managed to get a live stellar blue jay in through the cat door once!  No idea how they managed that.
 
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