I searched for a post regarding the concept of feeding live white mice to my cats, but could not find anything about it. Is it possible? Would it be considered cruel or inhumane? would it be more like their diet in the wild? Any thoughts on this/
I think this is a really bad idea M Mardon
Unless your cats have been born and raised as outdoor/feral cats they won't know what to do with a live mouse. They'll probably play with it and eventually kill it, but they won't eat it until they get really hungry. Letting cats go hungry until they are so famished they try to eat unfamiliar food can cause liver damage.
There is also the chance that the live mice could bite or scratch your cats.
Finally there is the mess. When my (former feral) cats bring in a mouse from outside they only ever eat part of it. There's always a head or a bloody pile of guts to clean up the next morning.
So it's likely to be a very cruel, messy and potentially dangerous way to feed your cats.
Far better to feed them commercial raw or a home made diet if you don't like the idea of giving them canned cat food.
You're welcome.WOW I am glad I asked, thank so much for your candid reply. I am very interested in finding the very best way to feed my little twin black cats, Yin & Yang.
True, but in the wild snakes eat a lot of different kinds of fresh live animals too, and seem to do well in captivity with just frozen/thawed mice or rats. Idk if anyone has tried it with cats, but theoretically there shouldn't be a problem.There are some factors to consider when feeding whole prey.... cats don’t only eat mice. They will eat different kinds of rodents, birds, bugs, maybe even rabbits. They don’t just have one food source in the wild. Also, when they eat food in the wild it’s fresh and there’s no nutrient degradation. For these reasons, people who feed whole prey rotate proteins to ensure nutritional adequacy.