cats

[walker]

Why do cats bring home things they've caught

[thewillow]

As a token of their love and esteem for you - their leader.

[natalie_1982]

I don't know why they do it, but my cat brought home a fox's tail once. Strangely enough he's never brought home a mouse or bird.

[smudge]

It's not very often people vacuum under the bed, so don't say you do! Anyway, when I pulled ours out, I found a little collection of skeletons & bird feathers. Just the thought of what we'd been sleeping on top of - uurrgg! Sadly our cat Smudge is no longer with us & has gone to join all the little animals & birds she once terrorised!

[thewillow]

A friend of mine thought she had this problem cracked when she got her cat a collar with a big noisy bell on it. It worked for a few weeks. No dead mice. No dead birds. A triumph. But then the cat started to bring in dead animals again. She was perplexed, so she kept an eye out the kitchen window to see that was happening. And what did she spot - the cat stalking birds with the noisy bell clamped firmly between his chin and chest to stop it ringing!

[willprentice]

I think I read somewhere that it is due to the fact that they still have the hunting instinct in them that once kept them alive, however, as we now feed them they have no need for the prey they catch!

[Helen11]

You're the top of the pack to them so the want to make and keep you happy by presenting you with gifts. It's even better apparently if they haven't killed the thing they're bringing home as they see it as an honour to keep it alive for you to kill, you get it nice and fresh as it were, in prime quality. Even though we've domesticted the cat,they won't loose those pack/pride instincts from years gone past. Hope that helps you anyway.Oh by the way don't affend them by telling them off else they'll be reluctant to bring things back alive. I see it as beneficail if they bring anything back alive as given alittle time the creature can recover from shock and I relaese it somewhere else. All the best with your hunting.

[Wisebird]

I think they bring it home for you to share a meal, although I have always refrained from doing so!

[honkytonkman]

Helen 11 is right. You should never tell your cat off if he/she brings home a pressie, whether it's dead or alive. You should always praise them as it's the highest honour a cat can bestow upon you. To scold them will leave them bewildered, severely insulted and not a little bit miffed after all the effort they've gone to.

[IggyB]

i think you should tell them off, they get the idea soon enough... daft idea trying to protect the cats feelings in all this - what about my feeling of having to clean up after half the country side my cat decided to present to me. One very successful hunting day - i returned home to find a very proud cat in my front room sitting on a frog with a black bird flying round his head and half a rabbit on the doorstep... it was like a Disney cartoon gone horribly wrong

[Kit]

Cats have a peculiar parent/child relationship with humans. At one level they think they're our kittens, so enjoy being stroked (ie "washed"), and some have kitten habits eg chewing wool and kneading with their paws. However at the other end of the cat psyche is the idea that they have to teach us how to hunt, as parent cats do, and bring home their catches - often half-alive - to show us how it's done. Yuk.

[Kit]

And IggyB - that's the funniest mental picture I've had in a long time - thanks for the laugh!

[KittyKat]

They find you steping in the mouse brains and guts very funny!