Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: Raz on December 15, 2010, 12:11:12 PM
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Hello,
Our much loved TomTom who we recently bought home from a rescue centre keeps bringing home “gifts” for us. As much as we appreciate it, the problem is freaking my wife out. So far we have had several rodents and birds.
First of all, is there anything we can do to discourage TomTom from bringing home the presents and is there any health implications for him especially from the rodents.
Many thanks
Raz
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Raz, welcome to Purrs. :)
Sadly, there's nothing really that can be done to prevent Tom Toms generous behaviour. It's instinctual for a cat to hunt so they'll continue whatever reaction you give.
http://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-hunting.html (http://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-hunting.html)
If I see one of my cats fast enough, they usually get bundled back outside. I then go out and see if the prey can be saved or not.
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:welcome: to Purrs ;D
Agree with JS that this is just natural to cats, some more then others ;)
Tom Tom is gorgeous ;D
My black and white brings in toys not presents and made it clear to me that they were not for mt , quite early on :rofl: :rofl:
However I do try to save them if they are alive but usually they have died from shock :(
He could be at some risk if he eats them and would then need worming regularily but if like my two big cats, they are well fed and just want to play,
Mine get wormed once a year at vets when having annual health check.
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:welcome: Awwww, TomTom loves you! Without meaning to sound flippant, you would probably have a better result working to reduce your wife's negative response than change your cat's instinctual behaviour. I find gifts of small rodents cute/ interesting, but have never been presented with a sewer rat ... I suspect I'd scream blue murder. :hug:
You might try a bell on TomTom's collar BUT please only use a quick-release collar so he does not strangle himself on a branch. When I had outdoor cats I also had a magnetic cat flap which helped eliminate large prey, as the magnet could not get close enough to trigger the flap with a large mouthful. :sneaky: Unfortunately you cannot use a magnet and bell together, but there are now microchip activated cat flaps which might have much the same effect.
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Cats are sneakie and learn to move without the bell ringing LOL
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:thanks:
Hello to one and all.
Thank you for making us feel so welcomed.
Thank you all for your kind comments and advice. I'm glad to say, some of the birds Tommy caught we managed to save. Unfortunately the rodents were not so lucky. We are having a cat flap installed soon (microchip activated) which will hopefully eliminate the problem.
Best wishes for the festive period to you and your pets.
Raz
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Ours bring home all sorts - mice, rats, rabbits and pheasants but tend to leave small birds alone for some reason but the bird table had to go as the cats were sitting waiting for them :rofl: