I'd love to have a cat.......but there is a problem

How about giving a home to an older rescue cat? My cat is 16 now and gave up hunting a couple of years ago. For a couple of weeks before that we were sure he only brought in birds or mice he'd actually fallen over. Nowadays he rarely leaves the garden.

If you keep your fuzzy inside the house (many cats actually do very well being exclusively indoors; our girls do) this helps to minimize the issue.

Lots of people co keep their cats inside now, for many reasons, and build a “catio” enclosed by allowing said cat a little safe outside space.

All of my cats have been hunters but only the last one brought one bird home which was flying around. Horrific. She used to kill rats but couldnt get it and herself through the cat flap for my praise and admiration! I think not. Mice arrived alive, usually when I was having my supper and she would sit on the floor enjoying her hot supper.

I don't have a cat although I do yearn for one at times.

We have so many birds in our garden since our last cat died, & when I'm tempted, I just think how much I would miss the smaller birds & how much slug damage I used to contend with when my hunter cat lived here, & reluctantly pass.

Most of my cats have been real hunters and there's nothing that you can do-apart from noisy bells attached to their collars .
I had two cats that weren't though .
One was a Persian -too frightened to go into the garden on her own.
The other was Himalayan who was also a very precious pussy cat who would rather sit indoors all day.

2 doors from where I used to live a man filled his garden shed with budgies.Never saw so many cats licking their chops 🤪

I support the Cat Trust and our local rescue cat society with donations. I live on a main road and it would not be fair on the cat to keep it indoors and the main road would be so dangerous for it. So I do what I can.

I have one Cat that can't even catch a Spider if it runs past it.
My other Cat isn't a Bird catcher but she does a good line in Mice and brown field Rats.
Cats in their nature are Killers, you never know what you will get.

We had a rescue Maine Coon. The only thing he was the least bit interested in catching was the odd fly. Basically, he couldn’t be arsed and usually missed, thinking better of it, halfway!

Joanofarc99

Unless you are vegan, you are also responsible for the killing of living creatures so you can't complain about a cat following its natural instincts. And at least the creatures it could potentially kill had a full , free life I like the poor, tortured , overfed chickens on humans plate who are all shoved in a confined space and lead miserable existence

That should say unlike not I like

Unless you are vegan, you are also responsible for the killing of living creatures so you can't complain about a cat following its natural instincts. And at least the creatures it could potentially kill had a full , free life I like the poor, tortured , overfed chickens on humans plate who are all shoved in a confined space and lead miserable existence

Have a look at the Ragdoll breed. They are large, lazy and have little survival instinct.
They are recommended as a indoor cat for their own safety 😁
Great to snuggle up to too.

I’ve had cats all my life and only two were keen hunters.
Keeping your cats safe indoors is the same as not allowing dogs to run free, as they once did. No doubt they enjoyed a brief life of scavenging, fighting and reproducing but our dogs are now kept at home.
Huge numbers of cats get killed by traffic.

Thank you for your responses and advice. I do agree that an animal has its own nature and I would not want to keep a cat always indoors, as it could not live its natural life. I think the truth is that i just have to accept that if i do not want small creatures killed by a pet, i cannot really have a cat. I understand the idea of the bell, but doubt it would save every bird or animal. Thank you again!

No, it’s their instinct to hunt. You could get a catio though, to prevent your cat roaming, whilst allowing it outside.

We have kept cats and one was a hunter who would bring back mice etc., but this is the natural food chain, and though they don’t eat the prey the urge to predate is strong. However, you can put bells on your cats collar to warn the prey, as another poster said or get a rescue cat that is a house cat. Personally I respect the animal world and so accept predatory behaviour as part of that world but of course cam understand it can be brutal.

We adopted a British Shorthair from a rescue who'd always been a house cat. He goes into the garden occasionally but has only ever jumped over the fence once and got stuck in next door's garden! He has never shown an interest in catching birds or mice - they're a very lazy breed and prefer to be waited on! Might be worth investigating the breed if you're looking for a cat that loves their home comforts!

Without this instinct they wouldn’t survive! So you can never expect any cat to suppress this innate behaviour. It is an important part of what makes a cat.

It’s nature and anything else is going against an animals natural instincts which I personally feel is wrong.
I don’t agree with keeping cats indoors I think it’s cruel to change animals to our needs
Not all cats are hunters and most birds are very adapt at keeping out their way. None of my cats ever brought birds home although I know many do

Cats nature, but if you let it out put a couple of bells on a safe collar that snaps open if caught on a bush etc,