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Cats are natural predators. In the wild, they would hunt small rodents, small animals, and small birds. They would watch, stalk, jump, and kill their prey. While you might provide your cat with two square meals a day, regular treats, and plenty of time and attention with a fake bird on a piece of elastic at home, this isn’t always enough to quell their instinct to hunt.
If your cat brings you dead or half-dead mice and other animals, it could be for many reasons, including as a gift. However, if you are not enjoying receiving these “presents,” there are a few things that you can do to minimize or eliminate the behavior.
Read on to learn more about this intriguing habit and the actions to take to help prevent it.
The 5 Methods to Stop a Cat From Bringing Mice Home
If your cat does bring you dead mice, you should avoid the temptation to get upset. You should thank your cat for their gift and then try the following steps to help minimize the number of dead mice that you are given in the future.
1. A Collar With a Bell
Put a bell on your cat’s collar, and it will warn prey when they are coming. It essentially removes one of your cat’s greatest weapons: stealth.
When buying a collar for a cat, do remember safety. A rigid collar that sits tightly and securely around the neck can get stuck on branches and other surfaces. This can trap the cat and prevent them from escaping. Worse still, it could tighten and prevent your cat from breathing.1 Ensure that the collar is quick release.
2. Limited Time Outdoors
One way to prevent your cat from hunting any prey is to stop them from going outdoors. However, if you still want your cat to enjoy time outside but want to prevent the catching and killing of animals, restrict their time out there.
Birds are more prone to attack just before sunset and after sunrise. They are a little groggy, and their senses are not as keen as at the height of the day, so they are more likely to get pounced on by your cat. Mice tend to come out at night, so this is when they are more prone to being caught by your cat. This is why you are more likely to find a dead mouse on your back doorstep first thing in the morning.
Consider when your cat is bringing gifts most often, and then stop them from spending too much time outdoors during this time. Arrange meal times and activities to encourage your cat to remain at home during these intervals.
3. Limited Access to Easy Prey
Feeding tables and birdbaths are beneficial for wild birds because they provide a regular source of food and somewhere to sit and bathe. They can also be beneficial to your cat because they provide a guaranteed spot where birds are going to hang out and where they aren’t necessarily paying attention.
Similarly, feeders may attract other animals, such as mice that eat the remnants of the food on the floor around the base of the feeder. Even if you keep the bird food in a shed or garage, there is a reasonable chance that the mice have found it and your cat has worked out where they are heading.
Put feeders out of the reach of cats, and use baths that are not easy for cats to get on, to protect little animals from feline hunters.
4. More Playtime
No matter how often and how much you play, your cat may still head out and feast on local wildlife. But if your cat has started bringing in a lot of dead animals, it could be that they’re catching the mice and other animals simply as a means of entertainment. Even if this isn’t the case, if you play with your cat more, it can sate their feline desire to get out and chase things.
Interactive toys, like fishing rods with pretend birds, are especially appealing to hunter cats. The movement of the bird mimics the erratic movement of a wild animal, and since the toy is usually plastered in catnip, it will appeal to your pet’s senses.
A laser pointer is another popular toy, and it’s not only fun for your cat but also easy for you to play with. You can sit in your favorite chair and gently encourage your cat to burn off energy by chasing the dot.
5. Training
This particular option may fall under the heading of “hopeful but unlikely,” but you can train your cat to perform desirable actions and prevent them from performing undesirable ones.
Training your cat to stop bringing you dead gifts can be difficult, partly because you are attempting to stop your cat from doing something that is perfectly natural to them and is ingrained in their behavior. Cats are also quite independent.
When your feline friend brings you a dead mouse, thank them, and then give them a catnip-scented toy to play with before disposing of the dead mouse when your cat’s attention wanders. Keep doing this, and eventually, your cat may choose to bring you catnip toys instead of dead mice.
Why Does My Cat Keep Bringing Me Dead Animals?
Before you determine the best way to stop your cat from bringing you dead mice, you should determine why they partake in this interesting habit. Nobody really knows what goes through a cat’s mind, but possible reasons for bringing in dead mice include:
- The Thrill of the Hunt: Cats observe, stalk, pounce, and kill prey in the wild. They are instinctive hunters. Even though the closest activity your housecat has to hunting is to find their food bowl under the kitchen unit, it is still an instinctive reaction. This is evident in kittens that have never been out of the house but still twitch as they watch birds and other potential prey out of the window. Effectively, your cat might be bringing you dead animals because they can’t help it; it’s instinctual.
- Safety: If your cat is a natural hunter and enjoys eating the food that they catch, they may simply be looking for the safest place to eat their quarry. If you find prey near the back doorstep or elsewhere around the garden, it could be that your cat is bringing their catch back to a spot where they know they can safely eat it without losing it.
- Teaching: Your cat probably views you as an inferior hunter. They can catch birds and small animals, but all you can catch is a shopping bag. They may be bringing you dead animals home in a bid to show you how it’s done, as a teaching exercise rather than as a gift.
- Gifting: While your cat may not see you as a hunter, they likely see you as a provider because you can make food appear in their bowl. You also give them love and attention when they want it and meet all of your cat’s other requirements. The dead mouse at the door could be your cat’s way of showing you just how grateful they are for your efforts. After all, they went to the effort of stalking and hunting that mouse!
Neighbor’s Cat Leaving Dead Animals
Your neighbor’s cat has the same possible motivations for bringing you dead animals. If you have little to do with the cat, it is likely that your doorstep is simply a convenient location and free from would-be food thieves.
If you feed your neighbor’s cat, they could be repaying a kindness, and if you have ever let them inside, they could have recognized your inefficiency as a hunter and are trying to provide you with the essential skills that you need.
Stray Cat Leaving Dead Animals
A stray cat is leaving food on your doorstep for one of these listed reasons. Stray cats tend to be more protective over food and more likely to eat the small animals that they do hunt down. Safety and convenience, therefore, are the most likely reasons. If they are leaving the catch as a gift, remember that stray cats don’t know where their next meal is coming from, so leaving food for you is something of a risk for them.
Conclusion
Cats are exceptional hunters. They especially excel at watching, stalking, preying, and stealthily leaping on their quarry. They will hunt mice, small birds, and even frogs and butterflies. They may bring some of these animals to you as a gift or as a training aid, and it can be difficult to convince them to stop, so try these techniques.
Featured Image Credit: B_kowsky, Pixabay
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