Bringing home live birds and mice....

[PrincessFiona]

OK...so Scouty has officially gone from bringing us dead gifts to bringing them into the house completely alive and then dropping them at our feet to chase. Recently, he brought a bird, and we had to chase it all through the living room and dining area...we were finally able to get it out by removing the screen from the windowm in the kitchen and shooing it out gently with a broom.

A question for all cat people here.

What is THIS about?

kris

My grany always told me that when a Cat brought home a dead bird it was a gift to his owners to tell them he loved them, otherwise he would have just eaten it himself.

Edited to add: I'm also very blonde and do believe things that people tell me, but this has some logic to it.....doesn't it?

[PrincessFiona]

But why is he now bringing them to us alive?


kris

to practice magic tricks ????? :witch:

Sorry have no idea. When we lived in the countryside and had loads of land and a river going through the garden we had 15 cats, we've had all sorts of gifts, dead and alive

[mommax3]

I think it is completely normal. Our cats (when they were indoor/outdoor, in TX) did this all the time......I think that is how the snakes got in my house. We also had a baby bunny that we were able to return safely to the great outdoors.

I think your cat thinks you all need to learn to hunt, or he is trying to take care of you by providing food, or he just thinks these animals make really cool toys and would like to play with them inside, where it is more comfy.

Sally

[MrsC]

I read somewhere that cats think that they are our owners. They also think we are incapable of catching our own food. Not only is is a gift but it's a meal for you. :yum:

Our cat went through phases of doing this. All we could do was close the windows and doors so she couldn't get in. Even then she would scream at the window with a wriggling mouse in her mouth.

But why is he now bringing them to us alive?


kris

Because he lurves you.

Holy crap, if I had a cat bringing snakes in the house...that would be a crossroads for me and the cat.

[Ames]

I agree with Nellie!

[mommax3]

Yeah, I didn't figure that one out for awhile. But somehow I couldn't picture a snake wriggling its way through the small crack we left in our garage door, through the length of the garage, and up and through the cat door that was in the door between the garage and the house. They were always baby snakes that were harmless (although they still TOTALLY gave me the creeps). DH is the one who finally figured out how it was happening.

Sally

[spotty_dog]

We all tend to believe that my in-laws' cat does it just to amuse herself by watching people running around trying to catch the live critters. The dead ones she disembowels and carefully aligns the organs where her owners will step on them with bare feet early in the morning.

They live on a small rural island with no cars within miles, no natural predators, and no obnoxious teens. My cats don't go outside, so the only "gift" I've ever gotten was a little house gecko since we moved here. And they eat flies, which is a bonus.

[DCJenn]

My cat doesn't bring me gifts. Noooooo, she invites all of the other neighborhood cats to come in for a meal and a quick potty stop.

I am the Holiday Inn for cats.

Jenn

[MrsC]

I gave our cat a chicken wing and she had no idea what to do with it. I love to know what she'd do with a live mouse. If it doesn't come in a bag or box she's hopeless.

[MissCrabette]

Our two cats are strictly indoor cats so we don't get any surprises from them. My nine year old dog, however, enjoys bringing us presents. She's brought us birds, chipmunks, and squirrels. This past Thursday she brought a RAT. I was utterly disgusted and took her straight to the shower. She was banned from the bedrooms for a day or two but I can no longer say no to those pretty eyes.

[PrincessFiona]

Scouty is actually an...indoor cat He sneaks out at every opportunity, that stinker. I have had to quit putting food in my bird-feeder because I feel to guilty bringing them right in for him to taunt.

kris