can you train indoor cat to hunt spiders?

[huyi]

everytime he sees ones indoors he doesn't do anything with it he just stares at or plays with it, is there any way to encourage him to hunt and kill them? i have tried vocal encouragement but he is still the same :S strangely he hunts and plays with his toy mouse no problem, but when it comes to real things like spiders and bugs he just stares at them.

any advice?

 

[cinqchats]

Hrm, I don't know about that. My cats will play with spiders but they won't eat them. They've tried and they'll spit them right back out. I think spiders must taste bad. 

 

[huyi]

he doesn't even eat them , he just plays with them lol

 

[kittycort]

Maybe there is a mutual appreciation between them seeing how they are both hunters.

 

[huyi]

Maybe there is a mutual appreciation between them seeing how they are both hunters.

what, like maybe he likes them? never heard of that before.

 

[donutte]

Yeah, not sure we can train them to hunt specific things like folks train dogs. When we had some ants this summer, I saw Oliver just staring at the floor, quickly joined by his brother Oscar. And they just stared, wide-eyed, then looked up at me like they were saying, "Ma, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" And just watched. 

Lucky would go after flies sometimes. But all he wanted to do was catch them, and let them go. 

PS - Spiders help catch the other bugs you definitely don't want in the house!

 

[huyi]

 
Yeah, not sure we can train them to hunt specific things like folks train dogs. When we had some ants this summer, I saw Oliver just staring at the floor, quickly joined by his brother Oscar. And they just stared, wide-eyed, then looked up at me like they were saying, "Ma, this is the coolest thing I've ever seen!" And just watched. 

Lucky would go after flies sometimes. But all he wanted to do was catch them, and let them go. 

PS - Spiders help catch the other bugs you definitely don't want in the house!

yeah that is what he does, he just stares at them and claws them, i can't stand spiders or any bugs they have to go lol at least he is good at spotting them i guess.

 

[peagreenboat82]

Not sure what kind of locale you live in, but if you live in the city or a row house, it's actually not a great idea for your kitty to eat bugs anyway. My one cat is an excellent insect huntress, but there's always the chance she could eat a bug that has insect repellent on it, which would be poisonous for her too. But maybe you don't have that problem.

My other cat seems to have an ant phobia. It's pretty funny. We had a bit of an ant issue for a time in the old place, and he would jump sideways when he saw one marching along. [emoji]128064[/emoji]

 

[kittycort]

what, like maybe he likes them? never heard of that before.

well, you never know!

Plus they arent exactly a great source of protein. At least they catch bugs for you....probably more than you realize.

 

[detroitcatlady]

The way my cats react when a bug or spider is in the house is funny. They will bat at it with their paws and jump in mid air but they will not "hunt" them or eat them. I actually think this is probably a good thing that they don't like eating bugs since I live in the city where most bugs have been sprayed with some sort of bug killer and I would worry about them getting sick. I have to be so careful what I do to get rid of bugs in the house anyway.