Expert: Dear Tabbi - 5/16/2009

Question
Hi my 18 month old cat kimi is a very good hunter but she keeps bringing animals dead or alive through the cat flap  and into my house.
In the last few months i have come home to find dead mice, rabbits, fish, birds and slow worms in my house. Yesterday she brought in two baby wood pigeons, not even old enough to see and unfortunately they died a few hours later. I know its her nature to kill but I don't want to keep coming home and finding animals in my house. Sometimes the animals are still alive and i have to catch them and take them to wildlife rescue centers.
Do you have any advice to stop her bringing them into my house. I have tried locking the cat flap when I'm out but she is an outside cat and isn't happy inside.

Answer
Emma,

That is a common problem with hunter type cats and cat flaps.

She is bringing in her prey to keep it safe from other cats. It is an inherited trait from the wild. In the wild they will hide their catches from other predators until they can eat it. Se is not catching things to eat it, but the inbred trait and behavior is still there. Se is also proud of them and probably gets upset when you take them away. With a cat door it is nearly impossible to keep her from bring in his prizes.

Mine would do that with mice and birds. I had to set up electronic mouse traps because they would bring them in and they would get loose and hide! Once in a while a bird would still be alive and it would get loose. Then it was Laurel and Hardy time with a bunch of cats and me trying to catch a bird in the house!

I didn't have a cat door but I left my door cracked open so they could go in and out. When I caught a cat bringing something in I would say "NO! Take it back outside!" firmly, and go to the door and boot the cat back outside with his prize. They finally learned (though occassionally they will still try). Another one would scratch at the door (if it was closed) to come in with a prize in her mouth (usually it was a bug). I would say "drop it!" and not let her in until she did. It was cute watching the indecision on her face. She wanted in really bad, but didn't want to let go of her prize. Coming inside usually won out.

What I suggest you do is say "NO! Not in the house!" firmly and loudly, and you take her prizes back outside, then come back in the house. Let her know that having her prize outside is OK, but in the house is not OK. BUT don't let her think she is bad for hunting and catching something. That will screw her up mentally because what she is doing is normal behavior and instinct for her. If she brings her prize inside again, repeat it until she get the idea that she is not supposed to do that and you don't like it. Cats usually try to please.

Cats do not have any reasoning ability, they go by association and habit. She needs to learn 'prizes' outside....cat inside. She will (hopefully) learn if you are consistant and firm with her and her behavior. She will (hopefully) learn to find another 'safe place' for her catches somewhere outside. Or like my cats do (most of the time!), play with it until they are bored with it, THEN come inside.

If she is not getting it, you can ratchet up firmness of the message. This is if she has something in her mouth and she comes in.....have a rolled up newspaper handy and slap her with it while pushing her out the cat door with her catch, saying "NO! Outside!". The noise of the newspaper will scare her, but it won't hurt her. Don't scare her TOO much or she will drop her prize in fright! If it is still alive, you hope that she will catch it again...then make her go outside with it.  When she comes back in after that with no 'prize', then pet her, tell her she's a good kitty, and give her a treat (tuna, a piece of tinned sardines in oil, etc.) You want her to be scared to bring something inside, but NOT scared of you. Keep doing it until she makes the association that when she bring a prize inside she will get the newspaper after her.

The only thing you can do is try to break her of the habit. It depends on the cat's personality, stubborness, and willingness to listen to, and please, you, and your determination and patience.

Since you do have a cat door, and you aren't home, then I would put something as a block between the room the cat comes in to through the catdoor and the other part of the house so the cat has to jump the blockade to get past it but her 'prizes' (hopefully) can't.

Tabbi