Hunting And Bringing It In

jadeandalex

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So my dear, wonderful Jade has decided that if Sparky won't go outside and learn to hunt, she will bring the hunt inside to him. In the last 8 months since it started she has brought in:
2 live but injured field mice that were both caught and released
4 crickets 2 got eaten 2 got played with till death and were discovered a few days later
1 bird. I only know about the bird because when we got home from work there were feathers strewn down my hallway. I assume the rest of the bird has been ingested. I haven't found it anywhere else.
I absolutely don't mind Jade hunting. She was raised a barn cat, it's all she knows. She can't seem to wrap her mind around the fact that Sparky is 100% a fat house cat who has no desire to step foot outside, or hunt for his food
she is bringing them in the window when she knows when we are sleeping. She waits because she knows if she brings it in while we are awake we will put it back out. We can't close the window because that's the only way she will come in the house, she will sit in the windowsill and yell until we let her in, even if we open the door and yell for her.
All this being said, how do we stop her?
 

abyeb

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I’m sorry, but I can’t think of anything that you could do to stop this behavior, other than keeping Jade inside. It’s instinct for cats to hunt. So, if let outside, they will hunt. Jade is also showing a behavior seen in mother cats with their kittens- where the mother brings partially killed prey to the kittens as a hunting lesson. It sounds like Jade seems to think that Sparky needs to learn that skill.

Some cat owners put a bell on their cat’s collar to warn potential prey, but that’s not very useful, as cats can learn to walk without the bell ringing.

If you do decide to keep Jade inside, there are plenty of ways to keep her entertained. Here are some helpful articles:

The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside

Bored Cat? What Cat Owners Need To Know (including 10 Actionable Tips)

How To Make Your Home Bigger (at Least For Your Cats)

There are ways for Jade to experience the outdoors without the risk of her bringing home uninvited “guests”. You could leash train her, or even build a catio!

Harness And Leash Training For Cats

Cat Enclosures
 

Kflowers

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Jade is trying to teach Sparky how to survive in case everything goes bad. You aren't going to be able to explain that's a bad thing, or that he's not smart enough to learn. Be patient, he may surprise you. Our least bright, seriously, he never learned how to back up, cat turned out to be a super mouser. He didn't mind sitting by the wall for weeks before the mouse stuck his head out. The first one he caught and put in his dish. The mouse climbed out. Cat stiffened, arched and hit with the death pounce and it was over. After that he was a first strike cat.
 
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jadeandalex

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I’m sorry, but I can’t think of anything that you could do to stop this behavior, other than keeping Jade inside. It’s instinct for cats to hunt. So, if let outside, they will hunt. Jade is also showing a behavior seen in mother cats with their kittens- where the mother brings partially killed prey to the kittens as a hunting lesson. It sounds like Jade seems to think that Sparky needs to learn that skill.

Some cat owners put a bell on their cat’s collar to warn potential prey, but that’s not very useful, as cats can learn to walk without the bell ringing.

If you do decide to keep Jade inside, there are plenty of ways to keep her entertained. Here are some helpful articles:

The Five Golden Rules To Bringing An Outdoor Cat Inside

Bored Cat? What Cat Owners Need To Know (including 10 Actionable Tips)

How To Make Your Home Bigger (at Least For Your Cats)

There are ways for Jade to experience the outdoors without the risk of her bringing home uninvited “guests”. You could leash train her, or even build a catio!

Harness And Leash Training For Cats

Cat Enclosures







Thanks, but we don't want her to be an indoor cat. She is miserable inside, will refuse to eat and just be generally depressed. She will stay in for longer times during the winter, but she always ends up back outside
 
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jadeandalex

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Jade is trying to teach Sparky how to survive in case everything goes bad. You aren't going to be able to explain that's a bad thing, or that he's not smart enough to learn. Be patient, he may surprise you. Our least bright, seriously, he never learned how to back up, cat turned out to be a super mouser. He didn't mind sitting by the wall for weeks before the mouse stuck his head out. The first one he caught and put in his dish. The mouse climbed out. Cat stiffened, arched and hit with the death pounce and it was over. After that he was a first strike cat.


He understands the idea of hunting, he is just too fat to be stealthy. And lazy. Endlessly lazy.
 

Kflowers

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Nothing like cuddling up to a fat lazy (one who'll stay put) cat on a cold night.
 
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