My cat the bird killer

My cat is a former stray who adopted us. She is an indoor/outdoor kitty who loves to hunt. Her specialty is birds, and she EATS them - all the parts, leaving only a pile of feathers.

We put a bell on her collar to discourage this behavior, but we must have a neighborhood of deaf birds, as it hasn't slowed her down.

I'm not letting her outside at dusk anymore because that his her favorite hunting time. She stands at the door and wails, but I'm determined. Any other suggestions?

The only thing that bells on cat collars helps are the people who make the bells Birds don't know bells and cats stalk so quietly they don't ring bells on collars anyway.

Is your cat fixed? One problem with outside hunters is they pick up parasites from their prey. Birds give cats fleas and tapeworms. If the cat is hunting birds then also small rodents are on the menu and that can give your cat other health issues.

Use interactive toys to engage your cat's hunting abilities, play with her late at night right before bedtime. Otherwise, you will have to keep letting her out and really outside cats aren't very safe any longer in this world.

Yes, she is spayed. Problem is she doesn't play with toys. We've tried every toy imagineable, but she just won't play.

Fortunately fleas don't like her. I used to use Advantage, then realized that she has never had a flea, so for the past year she is totally bug-less.

Oh, and she is hypoallergenic too. Even the worst cat allergy sufferers don't have a reaction from her. Weird.

At risk of sounding like a broken record, the only way to solve the problem is to keep kitty inside. Too many cats are killed every year by cars and all the other things outdoors.
Have you ever tried (and this may sound very silly) playing "fetch" with kitty? Oliver is a very prey-driven guy who used to "hunt" my feet and his sister Emma until I realized that if I throw his toys to him rather than just leaving them on the ground for him to "discover", he thinks they're alive and has to "hunt" them. He then brings it back to me to display his "kill" and I throw it again and we'll do this several times in a row til he's had enough and saunters off to take a nap. It really helps his aggressive hunting tendencies. Try keeping kitty inside and playing with her this way for a week or so to see if it helps.

If kitty still begs to be let outside, you can always try to harness and leash train her: many folks on here have done so quite sucessfully. Good luck and hope you are soon dead-bird free!!

If you wiggle-pull a knotted cord under a sheet of newspaper away from the cat, I guarantee you'll have a 'player' on your hands - 100%. He'll pounce every time! Same thing if you use very small (1" diam) balls for him to chase, but roll them, don't toss.

If your cat insists on eating whole birds, you can get frozen killed chicks or rats from a snake food supply company. Mice on Ice is supposed to be the best.
I'd keep the cat indoors and give her treats. Eventually she will get used to this and she will be a lot healthier.