Dipodidae Alive For My Kitten, Ok?

[samyoz]

Hi
I got an alive Dipodidae for my kitten and he seemed happy to have it, I let him hunt it himself till he got it and killed it, and now he's eating it like there's no tomorrow.

Is it ok? Since it's his natural food I think, would there be any risks?

It's available in my region so if it's healthy for him I can get him like once every 2 weeks

 

[orange&white]

Had to look up "Dipodidae". Yep, it's a mouse-like rodent. Natural food for a cat. As long as you know the source and that it wasn't some kind of "experimental lab rat" or and outdoor rat which may have eaten rat poison or other pesticides.

If it came from a "clean" source, it's great cat food. Clean source would be like rat breeders who raise rodents to feed to reptiles...and the occasional lucky cat.

 

[samyoz]

Had to look up "Dipodidae". Yep, it's a mouse-like rodent. Natural food for a cat. As long as you know the source and that it wasn't some kind of "experimental lab rat" or and outdoor rat which may have eaten rat poison or other pesticides.

If it came from a "clean" source, it's great cat food. Clean source would be like rat breeders who raise rodents to feed to reptiles...and the occasional lucky cat.

You didn't get it.
the source is wildness.
I went out and found one caught it and put it in a room with my kitten, They've got a good game before he caught it and killed it.
then he asked me for some help so he can eat it.

I catch it myslef so it's 100% natural.
so it's good for him?


P.s: He got diarrhea after his meal, But I assume that because that was his first time

 

[orange&white]

A wild rodent should be fine. The only worry I'd have is if anyone is spraying pesticides or putting out rat poison in the area....other than that, rodents are the model for the 80%/10%/10% - meat/bone/organ ratios that most raw feeding recipes use. Rodents are a perfectly balanced meal for a cat.

 

[pogo16]

You didn't get it.
the source is wildness.
I went out and found one caught it and put it in a room with my kitten, They've got a good game before he caught it and killed it.
then he asked me for some help so he can eat it.

I catch it myslef so it's 100% natural.
so it's good for him?


P.s: He got diarrhea after his meal, But I assume that because that was his first time

It's pretty cruel to capture a live animal and release it to your cat to kill. In the great outdoors, the animal would at least have a chance to escape. In your case, the rodent is stuck in a room with no exit. And you have acknowledged that it took some time for your kitten to kill it. That seems incredibly cruel. If you're going to feed the rodent, at least kill it humanely.

p.s. your kitten might pick up worms from the rodent.

 

[samyoz]

It's pretty cruel to capture a live animal and release it to your cat to kill. In the great outdoors, the animal would at least have a chance to escape. In your case, the rodent is stuck in a room with no exit. And you have acknowledged that it took some time for your kitten to kill it. That seems incredibly cruel. If you're going to feed the rodent, at least kill it humanely.

p.s. your kitten might pick up worms from the rodent.

I feel bad
OK I will do that next time

 

[Ceracera]

I dont think its clean? You never know if it could be carrying parasites or chemicals... or even diseases. Ive also heard that even feeder mice at pet stores might have worms.

Plus some rodents can put up a good fight and your kitten could get injured.

My sisters cat caught a rat while staying with me temporarily and it was really messy. I woke up to gnawing sounds and tiny bits of rat carcass all over the floor. The cat was pretty upset i took away his prize too, and peed on my bed afterwards.

 

[samyoz]

I dont think its clean? You never know if it could be carrying parasites or chemicals. Ive also heard that even feeder mice at pet stores might have worms.

Plus some rodents can put up a good fight and your kitten could get injured.

My sisters cat caught a rat while staying with me temporarily and it was really messy. I woke up to gnawing sounds and tiny bits of rat carcass all over the floor. The cat was pretty upset i took away his prize too, and peed on my bed afterwards.

I wormed him before 48 hrs, will that make him immune against worms?
It's not like I'd make him eat it every day just once a week or 2 weeks

 

[dhammagirl]

Treating for worms kills a current infestation, it doesn't prevent getting worms forever.
I have two indoor/outdoor cats, and one strictly inside. When one of my outdoor kitties kills a bird or rodent, and doesn't eat it :-( I give it to my indoor cat, who will happily chow it down. If I freeze it for a couple days, that kills worms, but if not, he could be re-infected with worms. So I might need to give a de-worming pill occasionally.
So, just be prepared to give your kitty an de-worming pill whenever you notice anything wormy on his backside.
I get him jumbo mice, chicks, and chunks of rabbit from Hare Today. I wish my outdoor kitties wouldn't kill birds and chipmunks and mice, but it's their nature! However, I would never bring a live animal into my home for a cat to kill and eat, because I would feel too horrible about doing it.

 

[samyoz]

Treating for worms kills a current infestation, it doesn't prevent getting worms forever.
I have two indoor/outdoor cats, and one strictly inside. When one of my outdoor kitties kills a bird or rodent, and doesn't eat it :-( I give it to my indoor cat, who will happily chow it down. If I freeze it for a couple days, that kills worms, but if not, he could be re-infected with worms. So I might need to give a de-worming pill occasionally.
So, just be prepared to give your kitty an de-worming pill whenever you notice anything wormy on his backside.
I get him jumbo mice, chicks, and chunks of rabbit from Hare Today. I wish my outdoor kitties wouldn't kill birds and chipmunks and mice, but it's their nature! However, I would never bring a live animal into my home for a cat to kill and eat, because I would feel too horrible about doing it.

by "occasionally" you mean every 2 weeks or how much exactly?
I have the worm pills , it's the yellow ones right?
I give my kitten a quarter of it every 2 weeks but not sure that is the perfect way to do it

 

[di and bob]

Call a vet to find out, every two weeks might be too often. Cats who eat rodents often have worms, so it is good you are doing this. My cats catch up to 5-6 a day, so I worm every three months. If everyone knew how many rodents there were out there, they wouldn't be worried about cats catching a few. You are giving your cat a natural treat, so don't worry about the 'kindness' of it all, rats killed most of the human population with the plague, so they got even. Rodents have an incredible amount of babies very often, if people thought cats populated quickly, they should study them. Nobody thinks of us killing those steers to have a hamburger, or really pulling a living plant up by the roots and killing it. Out of sight, out of mind.

 

[dhammagirl]

by "occasionally" you mean every 2 weeks or how much exactly?
I have the worm pills , it's the yellow ones right?
I give my kitten a quarter of it every 2 weeks but not sure that is the perfect way to do it

The de-worming pill I get from my vet is Drontal. It is yellow.
By occasionally I mean when needed. I don't give it on a regular basis as a preventative, I only give it occasionally if I notice that there's symptoms of needing to be dewormed, like seeing little worms (ugh!), scooting, excess grooming of anal area, or certainly if a fecal exam by the vet indicates worms.

 

[maggiedemi]

De-worming is usually done every 3 months at the most. The dosage depends on the weight of the cat.

 

[orange&white]

Worming is recommended every 3 months for outdoor cats (because they do eat live prey afterall), minimum of 6 months. That would apply to your kitty if you want to offer him a healthy wild mouse once a week or so.

I used to buy a few live feeder crickets at the pet store for one of my cats (before they stopped selling them). I'd put him in the bathtub with one cricket at a time. He loved the game, and the snacks. It didn't once occur to me to "humanely euthanize" the crickets...would have taken all the fun out of it for the cat. Stalking, pouncing, and killing is half the battle.

With a mouse, I would really only be concerned with mouse body parts being carried all over the house, floor, rug, furniture...or if the cat didn't catch it and it ended up loose inside. For those reasons, I wouldn't let a live mouse go in the house. My current kitten will take a "dead" chicken gizzard and play with it like a toy all over the room before eating it...kind of nasty....so I close her in the bathroom so there's less clean up when I want to give her a "gizzard-toy-snack". Like di-and-bob, I don't feel a lot of sympathy for a rodent.

 

[Ceracera]

I wormed him before 48 hrs, will that make him immune against worms?
It's not like I'd make him eat it every day just once a week or 2 weeks

You need to ask your vet. But i suppose the risks would be the same as having an outdoor cat.

 

[samyoz]

De-worming is usually done every 3 months at the most. The dosage depends on the weight of the cat.

so if a cat had worms it can wait for 2 months and get de-wormed
I assume from that worms aren't a risk and it can wait for months till the cat get de-worm

 

[maggiedemi]

With Drontal you are supposed to give a second dose 2 or 3 weeks later to kill the eggs that hatch. Then you are good for at least 3 to 6 months. You have to give them the correct dosage for their weight.

 

[samyoz]

Worming is recommended every 3 months for outdoor cats (because they do eat live prey afterall), minimum of 6 months. That would apply to your kitty if you want to offer him a healthy wild mouse once a week or so.

I used to buy a few live feeder crickets at the pet store for one of my cats (before they stopped selling them). I'd put him in the bathtub with one cricket at a time. He loved the game, and the snacks. It didn't once occur to me to "humanely euthanize" the crickets...would have taken all the fun out of it for the cat. Stalking, pouncing, and killing is half the battle.

With a mouse, I would really only be concerned with mouse body parts being carried all over the house, floor, rug, furniture...or if the cat didn't catch it and it ended up loose inside. For those reasons, I wouldn't let a live mouse go in the house. My current kitten will take a "dead" chicken gizzard and play with it like a toy all over the room before eating it...kind of nasty....so I close her in the bathroom so there's less clean up when I want to give her a "gizzard-toy-snack". Like di-and-bob, I don't feel a lot of sympathy for a rodent.

I don't worry about the mess, when he started eating I put the mouse on a napkin(as he used to eat) and he ate it on the napkin, when he finished, I threw the napkin away and that's it.
Maybe you should start training your cats to do that

 

[orange&white]

I expect that too much chemical wormer is a risk to the cat and too heavy a worm infestation is a risk to the cat. The scientists must have figured that 3 months was a balance between the cat not getting so heavily infested with worms to make it sick...and also not putting too much medicine in the cat to cause harm.

 

[orange&white]

I don't worry about the mess, when he started eating I put the mouse on a napkin(as he used to eat) and he ate it on the napkin, when he finished, I threw the napkin away and that's it.
Maybe you should start training your cats to do that

I have two cats with "table manners"; they eat over their saucers. I have one cat who is a slob; she drags her food off the saucer onto the ceramic tile floor...and all over the room if I give her a big piece of meat. Wouldn't have it any other way.