I don't know how to stop her. We put a bell around her neck so that she makes noise when she moves around but she still manages to kill at least one sparrow or squirrel a day. I was on the back porch smoking a cigar one afternoon and saw her jump up and catch a low-flying CROW right out of the air. The other morning, we were sleeping and heard a really loud squawking and something fluttering against our bedroom door. When Val went out to see what it was, she saw a full-grown bluejay that had been drug in through the pet door and the cat had it cornered in the hallway. I'm sick of all the carnage. We have a pet door in the house so it's hard to keep her inside all the time. I know it comes naturally to cats to explore their predatory instincts, but this is rediculous. She is killing things that are almost as big as she is, then drags them into the house to show off. Any suggestions?
My girlfriends cat is a stone-cold killer.
by Low-Key Lysmith 23 Replies latest jw friends
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Emma
Bar the pet door?
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Darth Yhwh
Well a lot of animal lovers on this board would not like my suggestion so I’ll just keep it to my self. I too had a cat that would kill squirrels, rabbits, you name it. It was terrible to see what it would do to those poor animals.
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Elsewhere
Maybe you can de-paw.... er... I mean de-claw the cat.
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Finally-Free
We put a bell around her neck
Well, you could try a larger bell - something heavier that might slow her down a little. Shotguns are good too.
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Emma
They can still catch prey even if they don't have claws. If they're as determined as this one is, that probably wouldn't help. I've had house cats for years; they stay inside and catch spiders and the odd fly.
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Darth Yhwh
Elsewhere, I like your mindset.
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Low-Key Lysmith
I don't think declawing is the answer. Barring the pet door would help too, but I have a dog who doesn't kill things that likes to use the pet door. It's not fair to punish a perfectly well-mannered dog because the cat's an asshole.
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BrendaCloutier
At least our primary hunter, Dominic will usually stick with rodents. On more rare occasion a bird. It's the garter snakes that I really don't like him catching. but he's getting better with releasing them without much injury.
Our kitten Tane' made his first kill just this last week. Sadly, it was a meadowlark! Of course, good momcat that I am I praised him up and down. He later caught a gopher. More praise.
With Dominic, I take the bird or snake away, and tap him on the forehead and say a sharp "No!" showing him the unwanted object. I don't know if it's working or not, or if he prefers rodents.
I'll have to use that on Tane' next bird...
Now, Tane's problem is he will find an already dead, and often stinky rodent and play with it. Ewwwwweeeee! Bad! Those get baggied and garbaged.
Good luck on reprogramming your predator.
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Sad emo
If she's bringing her kills inside, it's probably as a present for the top cat - ie you!
My outdoor cat is very clean, he eats everything he kills and he doesn't play with them for long so I accept his behaviour as a natural survival instinct. (And no, it's not because I don't feed him enough!! He was a feral cat)
Like Finally Free suggests, perhaps a bigger bell or another piece of thin metal (an ID disc?) next to the bell so that they make a louder noise is possibly your best option.