Conference misery::feline_v1

	Well not to stray to far from the topic but my cat's bring all kinds of 
"goodies" home. From what I can gather it's instinctual, any kind of 
"prey-like" movement intrigues cats and they appropriately respond as nature 
tailored them to. Even a well fed cat will hunt & kill vermin, but they 
generally don't eat them. Although recently our cats (or some subset of the 
three outdoor cats) have decided that shrews are a delicacy. I find disembowled 
shrews all over the back porch, which is a shame since shrews help keep the 
bug population down.

	I am very conscious of praising my cats for killing vermin, that's 
their job around my house. It's paid off, so far the cats have caught 3 mice 
in the house and I can't begin to add up the dispatched mice I find in the 
yard whenever I cut the lawn.

	As to the trophy theory, I've always thought it was a little
far-fetched to think that a predator such as a cat could make the connection
that displaying the vermin that it kills will impress it's "master". Cat's
seem to have no concept of "master", and only the female actually provides for
the young - so in a male cat the idea of "providing for the family" as a
motivating factor behind trophies doesn't hold much water. 


/harry

         I don't know if it will make you feel better, but my experience
    from having had cats in the past and watching their patterns of
    behavior, your cat "is" bringing you a present.  As disgusting as
    it may seem to you.
    
         I'd give your adoring feline praise, like "Oh, is that for
    me???  Such a good kittie....Would you like a treat?"  I've found
    that all they really want in this case is a pat on the head, scratch
    on the ear and maybe (we had Bonkers for our kitty) a treat.  We
    did make it quite clear that tokens of appreciation were to be left
    outdoors.  A simple "Leave it outside, Kass"  really did work. 
    
         I'd really be tickled to know my cat thought so highly of me
    to bring me a present!
    
                                  Cynthia
    

I think they are presents, too.

Whenever I would come back from a business trip, it was guaranteed that I
would get a present the next day.  Kinda like, "Glad you're back, Chris!
Here's a mole with it's insides missing!"  I always found it kind of touching.
Gross, but touching... 

Further, when my parents brought my little sister home from the hospital, our
three cats went into an absolute mouse killing orgy.  I tend to think the
gifties were bids for attention rather than "food for baby", though. 

- Chris

     Dublin is quite a hunter also. Up until a few weeks ago he was
    bringing home all types of gifts. It seems as though he will play
    with moles and mice but he disects the birds. I feel bad for the
    birds so I am contemplating putting a small bell on his collar to
    give the poor things a 'flighting' chance. It seems as though he
    has slowed down ever since I put a flea collar on him.
                                                          /Brian
    P.S. Does anyone elses cat catch flies and bees and eat them?

    re .4
    No fleas or beetles but my first cat used to catch and eat
    cocroaches (ugh, yuch) when we lived in an apartment in Boston.
    One cat who never went outside used to catch crickets in the house.
    I also have a dog that will pick ticks off the other dog and eat
    them.
    All my cats both male and female bring us "presents". One cat used
    to climb in the basement window over the oil tank and leave gifts
    just behind the (closed) cellar door. This led to my kids stepping
    in "mouse tummy" a lot (double uch). Our youngest cat who was about
    three months old when we got him at Christmas quickly became quite 
    a ratter and helped us eliminate a serious problem we had been having 
    in our chicken house. He would bring his prey to me for praise. 
    The first time he did it the rat (which was nearly as big as he was) 
    wasn't dead! Given our reaction it is amazing he ever brought us another.
                                                                       

    Ours do spiders. This is really gross. When we lived in Maryland, we
    had a Siamese who was a marvelous roacher. We always encouraged her. 
    
    	Jon

	Nazzie's nickname (one of them anyway) is the Great Roach hunter.
    
    tlh
    

	All our cats will chow anything small enough that they can grab. I've 
seen them munch on grasshopper/crickets that abound in our back yard. Snakes 
aren't safe either. The youngest cat, who stays at home, loves to chase the 
occasional moth that gets in the house. This can mean damage to household 
objects while she single-mindedly pursues her prey.

	As for putting a bell on your cat, it might help. My parents had a cat 
that was decimating the bird population of our area. Neighbors complained so 
we put a bell on her. She learned to stalk without ringing the bell - the only 
time the bell would ring was when she had already caught her prey !

	My experience has been that the female cats are much more adept 
hunters. I would think this is expected since it is they who provide for the 
kittens.

/harry

    Our friendly white monster, Snowy, used to bring the odd bird into
    the house. Then the bird would escape and disappear under a chair.
    Snowy went potty!
    
    Still, she did eliminate the mice population in our garage. Nowadays,
    she just sleeps, eats and sleeps. Occaisonally we see her creeping up
    on birds, but, it's a bit obvious to the birds when a large white lump
    starts edging up on them!

    I've always thought that the cats bring their prey home for praise
    and attention.  They are always SO proud, and clearly don't always
    understand my reaction.  The prey doesn't seem to really qualify
    as a gift since they are always reluctant to give it up!
    
    Recently someone posted a response to a Usenet net.pets query about
    introducing a new dog to an established cat saying that they knew
    their cat had accepted the new dog when the cat started leaving
    her "gifts" in front of the doghouse instead of on the front steps.

    Normally, females are better hunters than males.  But in my clowder,
    Merlin, who's a genius half-Manx-half-Siamese is a superb hunter,
    and Karamaneh (female) is only a good one.  Vivianne, the other
    female, is only fair.
    
    All generalizations abnout cats are false. :-)
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    

    I agree with .8 , bells make the cat better at stalking , rather
    than give the prey a fighting chance . They also tend to be more 
    patient and wait for the victim to come to them instead of chasing
    it like a thing posessed .
    
    One of ours , Sweep , likes to bring home live "victims" and
    then chase them around the living room , huge beetles are his
    favorite . It is quite a sight to see a beetle pursued by a cat
    pursued by my wife who is having hysterics about livestock in
    the house .
    

    My cat Woofie, likes to hunt too but he doesn't bring home presents
    very often because he knows we don't like it very much.
    
    The funniest thing is that he is out hunting all day and most of the
    evening, and he sleeps at night in a room with a gerbil and he doesn't
    even notice!  When we first got him though, it was very different!
    Woofie thought we kept gerbils the way supermarkets keep lobsters-
    you're hungry, pull out a nice fat one and eat it! He wouldn't leave
    them alone for a minute.  
    
    Now he ignores the gerbil, but his best friend Dolly likes to come over
    for a visit and sit on top of the bookcase where we keep the cage and
    watch. 

	Josh and  Becky  will  hunt  flies, ants, wasps, moths, whatever
    happens  to  find  its  way into my apartment and is self-propelled.
    When this happens and they happen to be after a flying critter, it's
    every lamp for itself.

	When I  had  hamsters,  they  used to love sitting on top of the
    cage  and  minding the little critters. The old fogie, Tiger, didn't
    give  a  hoot  about  hamsters (unless they got loose, and then he'd
    make sure they wouldn't get loose again) but loved to watch mice and
    gerbils. (Maybe it's the tails that he liked!) Tiger wasn't much for
    insects  -  he  preferred  "real"  prey  -  bluejays, squirrels, and
    chipmunks.  But  then,  he  was  an indoor/outdoor kitty and J&B are
    indoors only.


				    kmr

    I am interested in a method, if any, on preventing the cats from
    eating their catches.  I have a brother and a sister who stay out
    all day (the brother is the better hunter).  They are well-fed,
    including Bonkers, or at least as well fed as they can be living
    with 2 people who work full-time.  But their appetites seem insatiable.
    They have caught and eaten mice, chipmunks, rabbits, birds and (a
    recently acquired taste) squirrels, on a daily basis.  (We live
    in a rural area so the supply is endless.)
    
    One of my big concerns about them eating the animals is that I
    understand this is one of easiest ways for them to catch toxoplasmosis.
    I'm pregnant, and not immune to toxoplasmosis.  I don't change litter
    boxes and wash my hands after handling them, but would prefer to
    reduce the odds further by discouraging my kitties from eating their
    catch.  Unfortunately, they do not eat any insects - I wouldn't
    mind that because we have a lot of insects.  
    
    Don't tell me to keep them indoors.  They won't go for it.  
    
    Any ideas?  I might try the bell.  They both have flea collars but
    that hasn't slowed them down a bit.
    
    Sarah
    

    Did you have any luck discouraging your cats from eating their prey?
    When Jesse was an outdoor cat he would catch and eat gophers by
    the dozens.  I couldn't figure out how to stop him, we fed him plenty
    and he was really getting fat.  The weirdest part was that he wouldn't
    eat the head.  He *always* left the head on the back porch.
    
    The cat is indoors now so doesn't get much chance at gophers anymore,
    except when they start tearing up our lawn, then Jesse and I go
    for a "walk" in the backyard!  You should see this cat hunt gophers!
    He will sit patiently _behind_ the gopher hole and wait for the
    gopher to stick his head out... then he smacks them in the head
    with his massive paw, knocking them out of the hole.  Then it is
    in for the kill.
    
    My mother keeps calling asking if she could rent him for a week
    or so to rid her yard of the little critters.  Hummmmm... could
    this be a lucrative business?
    
    Jo Ann

    My friend Tom's tiny (4 lb) female tiger kitty is quite a hunter,
    and brings home mice (killed, but intact) at the rate of several
    a day during the summer and leaves them for Tom's other kitty, the
    infamous Bonzo (all 27 lbs. of him, an enormous black and white,
    double-toed spotted cat, altered male).  Bonzo is too heavy to chase
    his own (one time we were down there, we saw Bonzo laying in the
    grass, huffing and puffing.  In front of him was a medium-sized
    bunny, also huffing and puffing - a very funny sight!).  Oh course,
    Bonzo, who has a thyroid problem, is not allowed to eat this "gifts",
    so if Tom catches Twiddle carrying him a present, Tom throws the
    mouse up on the roof, where Bonzo can't get it (he's too fat to
    climb up there, though Twiddle sometimes does).  Tom is a radio
    friend of ours, and we have fairly often done work on his radio
    towers (Tom being somewhat Bonzo-shaped himself), and it is very
    funny to see all the dead mice up on his roof, and watch little
    Twiddle wandering around down below, and Tom tossing her "gifts"
    up out of Bonzo's sight, all afternoon!