I'm not sure that much else can be said, but things like this make me emotional, so I have to be honest and say that the idea disgusts me. I understand that cats who are allowed outdoors (or indoor cats who happen to find a mouse) would have a natural instinct to mice, but that is one of the many reasons that I have decided to keep my cats indoors only. I think it would be cruel to allow your cat to purposely do that, and I could not stand to watch it. Then again, I am a vegetarian, and I would never personally hunt or fish (not my idea of "fun"). There are plenty of interactive toys that can stimulate your cat and help satisfy the hunting instinct; they just require a little involvement on your part. I'm not meaning to personally attack you in any way, so I hope it doesn't come across like that. It does look like that you care about a lot your cat, and would consider extreme ideas to keep him happy, which is not such a bad thing. I just had to voice my opinion because I'm very sensitive to issues like this.
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Live feeding for cat?
- Thread starter jaws808
- Start Date
Well... yes, I see the parallel, but I think hunting is cruel, too. How can it be "fun" to stalk a beautiful living creature and rob it of the life that animates its beauty?
The world is full of hunters, I know. And there was a time when (and there are still places where) hunting was/is necessary for survival. But in the "first world," I feel it is an endeavor that has outlived its justification. I believe it's time for the human race to stop exploiting other species and focus instead on preserving their habitats and promoting their wellbeing.
So we disagree. But I do appreciate your civil and intelligent response...
i do think that if someone wants to hunt for fresh meat thats a good thing. especially since all the meat you can buy has so many added hormones and other nasties. and a lot of the time they are raised in misery before they are killed. so either way whenever you eat meat, it used to be alive. but freshly killed food is a lot better for you.
the thing i disagree with is killing for sport or furs or something pointless like that.
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If you feel you must give your cat mice please consider prekilled frozen. 3 months of freezing kills most parasites. You would thaw this and warm it up before serving, bagged and placed in hot water, I've read some microwave horror stories. At the very least you'll find out if your cat will even eat it.
Feeding live moving rodents may very well encourage your cat to hunt more. Just because they "get along fine" when you're watching does not mean the cat will not try to break into the cage when left alone, please make sure the cage is very secure or out of the cat's reach. My cats make no moves toward my geckos but I'm not willing to tempt fate.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #25
Well I'm sure youll all be happy to know I ended up deciding against feeding him live mice. If I lived in a rural area where I'd feel safe letting him out, I'd have no problem with him hunting whatever he could catch. My old cat brought home all sorts of "game" and it never bothered me one bit. Thats one of the reasons I like cats, they hunt well. But...I think i would actually feel bad about buying a mouse just to feed him. I went to the pet store to check prices, and realised that they were actually kinda cute, and that Id have a problem actually going through with it. Philosophically speaking, I came to the conclusion that me putting him and a mouse in a closed room would be similar to me shooting a caged animal instead of actually going out in the country to find one.
i'm glad to hear that.
the last time one of my cats caught and killed a mouse, we had mice in our apartment. not for long though.
that was a looooong time ago.
that was pre-stimpy and pre-pet rodents. when i had pet rodents, i had to keep them in a fortress on a bookshelf to keep them safe.
that was pre-stimpy and pre-pet rodents.
when i had pet rodents, i had to keep them in a fortress on a bookshelf to keep them safe.Glad you changed your mind !
Like I said in my post - we had barn cats - it was natural for them to kill and hunt. But I didn't really stand there and watch. Before we left the biggest creature was a half grown rabbit that Shadow caught and killed and had for dinner. The rabbit was about as big as the cat.
I saw he had it, but didn't stand there to watch the final kill.
Mitten (our first cat) was a hunter too - he liked catching squirrels among the mice, rabbits, birds. But again, I couldn't stand and watch him entirely. IMO that's just a little sick
Like I said in my post - we had barn cats - it was natural for them to kill and hunt. But I didn't really stand there and watch. Before we left the biggest creature was a half grown rabbit that Shadow caught and killed and had for dinner. The rabbit was about as big as the cat.
I saw he had it, but didn't stand there to watch the final kill.
Mitten (our first cat) was a hunter too - he liked catching squirrels among the mice, rabbits, birds. But again, I couldn't stand and watch him entirely. IMO that's just a little sick
yep thats another thing altogether
In my house this would just be a disaster ... Oz would hunt and kill the mouse, then hide behind something, in some place we can't reach, and eat half the mouse and leave the rest behind to stink up the place. Or Spike would try to "play" with the mouse and end up killing it (think Lenny from Of Mice and Men: "I want to pet the rabbit, George!"). Or Spike and Oz would fight over who got to kill/play with the mouse ... It'd just end badly. And messily. Oh, and stinkily.
Finally, speaking from personal experience, although cats and small animals can and sometimes do peacefully cohabit, if your cat is suitably determined, few cages are actually cat-proof. (Incidentally, Habitrail + gerbils + cats = horrible messy disaster. Habitrail is not intended for gerbils, who can chew their way through plastic.) Spike, my brain-damaged, freakishly strong furbaby, can bust through a good quality cage in about a week. He just keeps doing the same thing over and over again (flinging himself at the cage -- Spike is very good at repetitive actions) and eventually something breaks, the rodents escape, and random acts of violence ensue. It's never pretty.
Finally, speaking from personal experience, although cats and small animals can and sometimes do peacefully cohabit, if your cat is suitably determined, few cages are actually cat-proof. (Incidentally, Habitrail + gerbils + cats = horrible messy disaster. Habitrail is not intended for gerbils, who can chew their way through plastic.) Spike, my brain-damaged, freakishly strong furbaby, can bust through a good quality cage in about a week. He just keeps doing the same thing over and over again (flinging himself at the cage -- Spike is very good at repetitive actions) and eventually something breaks, the rodents escape, and random acts of violence ensue. It's never pretty.
