Serial Killing cat

thevogel · Aug 22, 2006

My mom's roomate has a cat that wont stop killing things and bringing them into the house. She has killed numerous birds, then mice, a baby bunny, and the newest was a snake. It's terrifying! An not only does she kill them she tortures them. There is blood everywhere in my moms house, it's on the furniture, baseboards, curtains, countetops...everywhere. It's like she can't get enought.

I know cats are natural preditors, but this is a little on the crazy side.

My mom just put the soft claws on her today, we are going to see if it helps.
But has anyone ever heard of a domestic cat just totally losing control like this?

enuja · Aug 22, 2006

Soft Paws are for indoor only cats. And I think that's the only solution to this problem; the cat can't kill things if it isn't allowed outside where the things are. It will be tough to train the cat to stay inside, but it will be worth it. (If you want to know how, there is a LOT of good advice on this forum, so just do a search or two.)

It's worth it to keep this cat inside because
1) this will save the lives of all the prey
2) save the furniture & house from blood
3) keep the cat from getting sick from any parasites or diseases the prey might have

thevogel · Aug 22, 2006

Enuja;1313799 said:
Soft Paws are for indoor only cats. And I think that's the only solution to this problem; the cat can't kill things if it isn't allowed outside where the things are. It will be tough to train the cat to stay inside, but it will be worth it. (If you want to know how, there is a LOT of good advice on this forum, so just do a search or two.)

Well, she would have never been let out except, my mom owns two small dogs and they have a little doggie door in the wall. My mom works longs hours so the dogs go in and out when they need to. The roomate is going through some mid-life crisis thing and she is never home. So unless she locks the cat in the basement (which my mom has tried once and just felt so bad about it) there is really no way to keep her from going out.

enuja · Aug 22, 2006

Some of the advice I've read on this forum includes getting dogs who are allowed out collars which activate the doggy door. That way the dogs can get out, but the cat can't.

zinc · Aug 22, 2006

getting dogs who are allowed out collars which activate

That'd be a solution. She could be confined also though. It isn't cruel if the cat has water, food if free hand fed, a litterbox and toys. She'd be safer confined too.

thevogel · Aug 22, 2006

Really!!!

That's interesting. I wonder if it is expensive. I'll definately suggest that to my mom.

Well if killing keeps happening, I've told her that maybe the best idea would be to adopt her out to another family. Since her roomate shows no interest in her own cat, a new home might be what it takes.

thevogel · Aug 22, 2006

Originally Posted by zinc

That'd be a solution. She could be confined also though. It isn't cruel if the cat has water, food if free hand fed, a litterbox and toys. She'd be safer confined too.

I agree. There really was no intention of letting the cat go out when she first moved in. But it was only a matter of time before the cat figured out that she could fit through the doggie door. at first it was okay, but now she is a regular killing machine.

My mom's basement is not bad, the cat's food and catbox is down there anyway. My mom has a soft spot for all animals and just can't bear to confine her even though it's not hurting her.

zinc · Aug 22, 2006

and just can't bear to confine her even though it's not hurting her.

I understand..it is a matter of realizing what is best for the cat. If she goes out and she's contained it'd be fine but she could get into accidents and/or get diseases roaming free. I'm not fanatical about keeping a cat indoors but I know it is OK for the cat (and other living things)is she is or she could be in an outdoors pen..like you said, maybe rehoming is a way out but try the others first.
Good luck

goldenkitty45 · Aug 22, 2006

Wow - psycho kitty! We've had barn cats kill prey. They sometimes played a bit with their victum, but it was a clean kill. The one even caught and killed a rabbit - the rabbit was as big as the cat too! Most times it was mice or small ground squirrels they got. No birds as far as I knew.

yayi · Aug 23, 2006

How about a collar with a bell to warn the prey?

gizmocat · Aug 23, 2006

The collar is a great idea, but the best idea is to keep the cats, and the dogs, inside the house. Get a friend to take the dogs out for a walk once a day. That way the cat stays in, the animals stay alive, and the dogs get exercise.

gailc · Aug 23, 2006

After my loss of sheba I collared the other hunter Bobber-the bell didn't make a difference in her ability to hunt (she's good!!). But she's not a messy cat like the one you described-I hadn't heard about cats that would do that.

thevogel · Aug 23, 2006

Well, the kitty has a collar, it was the first thing my mom instisted upon when the roomate moved in. they have tried several different bells to alert the "potenial kill" and so far she has been able to sneak up on them and make that bell stay quiet.

It's day two with the soft claws though and so far she is doing really well. She is actually for the moment stopped stalking critters. I think she has figured out she can not hang on to them with those things on, but oddly enough she is not annoyed by them at all....go figure.

I do agree that keeping them indoors is the best. But the back yard that the doggie door leads to has a very secure gate (for the dogs) and plenty of room to roam. Most of the cat's kills have been in the backyard (except for the bunny). Believe me, if my mom didn't have dogs she would have never ever let that cat venture out. we all know the perils of every neighborhood regardless of the saftey to the residence.

I have to say, she is a tough kitty though, I don't worry too much about her, cause one of her kills was a woodpecker, and the fact that that bird didn't peck that cat do death is a miracle.

hissy · Aug 23, 2006

She needs to go the vet, she more than likely has tapeworms and perhaps even roundworms (found in her prey) while you are there have the vet flea treat her safely

thevogel · Aug 23, 2006

Actually, she's good. in good shape. no signs of tape worms or anything of that nature. My mom is really perceptive with that sort of thing.

The cat just has gotten a taste for killing and she likes it.

Anyway, I appreciate the heads up. I'll bring it to my moms attention just incase.

malena · Aug 23, 2006

This is a suggestion that might take some time.
I have allways had out door cats and I have seen that once they have had kittens of their own the stop playing with the pary and the only hunt what they want to eat. Most of my cats was spayed before they were fertil though and then they stay kittens for the rest of their life. They kept playing with what they catched. Both me and my husband had the possibility to spend quite a lot of time at home so I made a habit of taking the mouse, bird, lizzard, snake -or what ever they came with and give them candy instead. This way they kept carrying them inside alive and I kept carrying them out. I swear that some mice had been inside enough times to be releived to see me. Since the cats knew thay would only have candy for live pray we saved 90 percent of what they catched. It happend of course that the pray was hurt but that was quite rare. With birds I had a cage I could put them in to see that they where okay before I let them out again.
This worked so well so even if we were not home the cats just carried their catch inside and left it there. They would have the candy when we where home and I had to spend some time to cach the animals they carried in during the day. I am a very good mouse catcher by now.

urbantigers · Aug 24, 2006

Originally Posted by thevogel

It's day two with the soft claws though and so far she is doing really well. She is actually for the moment stopped stalking critters.

Is there any way you can take the soft paws off? Something that will dissolve the glue? As long as she's going outside, she shouldn't be wearing them. They aren't suitable for cats that go outside. I understand you don't want her catching stuff and bringing it into the house, but that's what cats will do if they go outdoors. As long as she's still going outside she needs her claws. She won't be able to defend herself with soft claws on.

thevogel · Aug 24, 2006

Originally Posted by Malena

This is a suggestion that might take some time.
I have allways had out door cats and I have seen that once they have had kittens of their own the stop playing with the pary and the only hunt what they want to eat. Most of my cats was spayed before they were fertil though and then they stay kittens for the rest of their life. They kept playing with what they catched. Both me and my husband had the possibility to spend quite a lot of time at home so I made a habit of taking the mouse, bird, lizzard, snake -or what ever they came with and give them candy instead. This way they kept carrying them inside alive and I kept carrying them out. I swear that some mice had been inside enough times to be releived to see me. Since the cats knew thay would only have candy for live pray we saved 90 percent of what they catched. It happend of course that the pray was hurt but that was quite rare. With birds I had a cage I could put them in to see that they where okay before I let them out again.
This worked so well so even if we were not home the cats just carried their catch inside and left it there. They would have the candy when we where home and I had to spend some time to cach the animals they carried in during the day. I am a very good mouse catcher by now.

My mom does the same thing with what she has been bringing in. If it is still alive she makes sure it's okay before she puts it back out. unfortunately most of the prey is dead. I'm not sure what she is doing to the mice, but she pokes them and they bleed all over the place. Most birds go into shock and die. I dont' think the bunny knew what hit it, and the snake...I think was still alive. Remember I'm getting the information second had. My mom is so good with animals and usually has a real good instinct on what to do. She put all the birds gently outside in the front where none of the animals have access and keeps an eye on them. Most of the ones that were still alive did recover and fly away. A few have died. She pobably would get a cage for them to nurse them a bit, but there are other factors involved right now. Not to metion her little dogs have been guilty of killing a bird or too as well.

thevogel · Aug 24, 2006

Originally Posted by urbantigers

Is there any way you can take the soft paws off? Something that will dissolve the glue? As long as she's going outside, she shouldn't be wearing them. They aren't suitable for cats that go outside. I understand you don't want her catching stuff and bringing it into the house, but that's what cats will do if they go outdoors. As long as she's still going outside she needs her claws. She won't be able to defend herself with soft claws on.

My mom really doesn't want to take them off right now. The cat is not trying to get out of the backyard now that she has them on. She stays closer to the house and seems to not want to prowl as much. She's actually calming down. So for now they stay on. Believe me, if that cat shows any signs of being in danger from other preditors, my mom will remove them immediately. Please know that my mom is such a good caretaker with animals of all kinds, and she has good insticts. I simply was trying to get some suggestions incase the soft paws didn't work, so that I could pass the information along to her.

urbantigers · Aug 25, 2006

Originally Posted by thevogel

My mom really doesn't want to take them off right now. The cat is not trying to get out of the backyard now that she has them on. She stays closer to the house and seems to not want to prowl as much. She's actually calming down. So for now they stay on. Believe me, if that cat shows any signs of being in danger from other preditors, my mom will remove them immediately. Please know that my mom is such a good caretaker with animals of all kinds, and she has good insticts. I simply was trying to get some suggestions incase the soft paws didn't work, so that I could pass the information along to her.

Can you guarantee you will always be there if she gets attacked by another animal? Please show your mum the soft paws website - the manufacturers clearly state that they should not be used on cats that go outside. If your mum is a good with animals, she will want what is best for the cat - right?

Soft Paws should only be used on indoor cats because they will blunt the cat's defenses. Cats who go outdoors should not wear Soft Paws.

http://www.softpaws.com/faqs.html#14

Serial Killing cat

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