Stopping cats from killing birds?

[poiuytrewq]

Is there a way, collars and bells? Do they work?
OH found a kitten last year and she is still a bit feral though much better. However she is a killing machine. She’s taken to bringing her prey into the house and eating it loudly next to me working. On the plus she eats every scrap if I don’t get it off her in time but the odd time, and it’s rare thank god, it’s not dead.
She just came in with a squeaking baby bird. I got it off her but it was beyond saving.
So horrible, I’m starting to really wish he’d never found or managed to catch the bloody thing. I know it’s natural but this is getting too much!
Our other cat kills mice out on the yard but maybe a few a week not a few an hour.

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Babies and fledglings are the saddest ones! I did buy this for my killer and she has never brought me a bird when wearing it, but has still managed to catch rodents whilst wearing it!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/39288162...XMXMdO7MN2sLzSis6Clo7Bfskn|tkp:Bk9SR7qm5MezYg

I also added bells and a light for nighttime excursions...

None of the other cats hunt anything, unless you count Huffle's obsession with flies lol, but Lillycat is savage!

 

[Burnttoast]

Feeding straight meat (we feed ours raw) as opposed to cat food and playing with them are supposed to reduce kill rates. Our murderer does seem to have improved over time in that she's moved from birds to rats

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Cats often used to wear a bell attached to a safe collar to stop them catching birds. Would that work?

 

[poiuytrewq]

The first collar is hilarious, a clown ruffle. I can see why it works though.
I had no idea they existed. Thanks!

Food wise, she weirdly won’t eat wet food we give or any sort. She puts away more dry food than a Labrador but won’t touch anything else!

Pas, this is what I wondered, if it actually works.
I don’t think I could get a collar on her but Mr P might be able to. She’s not really holdable.
Cheap enough to get one and try though.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Babies and fledglings are the saddest ones! I did buy this for my killer and she has never brought me a bird when wearing it, but has still managed to catch rodents whilst wearing it!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/39288162...XMXMdO7MN2sLzSis6Clo7Bfskn|tkp:Bk9SR7qm5MezYg

I also added bells and a light for nighttime excursions...

None of the other cats hunt anything, unless you count Huffle's obsession with flies lol, but Lillycat is savage!

Looking through the other listing photos I think that maybe easy enough to just make, looks like it’s threaded over a regular breakaway collar like a hair scrunchie.
They are both in overnight so that’s not a bother.

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Looking through the other listing photos I think that maybe easy enough to just make, looks like it’s threaded over a regular breakaway collar like a hair scrunchie.
They are both in overnight so that’s not a bother.

Yeah they're fairly straightforward in design, though I think the holographic circles are also there to help birds spot them. I only really use it during the breeding season as she doesn't seem to hunt birds too much at any other time of year. But I’m impressed she’s not managed to loose it yet, I gave up with normal collars as she kept coming back without them.

 

[LadyGascoyne]

Our neighbour has started keeping her cats in at night and until after about 7am. It has vastly improved the situation. They didn’t eat their prey but would leave half dead baby rabbits, mice and birds at around the house and then half killed my beloved robin which was the turning point for us. It was actually the 3am to 7am period which was the most murdery.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

The way I see it, bells on their collars increases the odds a little bit in favour of the prey, so I would use it, if I allowed my cats to go outside their cat enclosure. But it's one of those things that can work very well sometimes, and not that much other times.
After all, the bell only sounds when the cat moves, so when it sounds it does alert the birds about that there's something to lookout for moving around nearby them, but if the cat patiently sits still stalking e.g. a nest, the birds only hear the bell arriving, and then there's no sound until the cat either leaves, or attacks.

Another thing with bells is that a clever cat that is good at hunting, can figure out that something have started to alert their prey of their presence, so trains up their sit patiently still hunting skills even more. The collar HufflyPuffly uses on Lillycat seems to be designed to alert the birds regardless whether the cat moves or not, which I think makes it sound very interesting. I'd give that one a try if I was in your situation.

 

[HufflyPuffly]

The way I see it, bells on their collars increases the odds a little bit in favour of the prey, so I would use it, if I allowed my cats to go outside their cat enclosure. But it's one of those things that can work very well sometimes, and not that much other times.
After all, the bell only sounds when the cat moves, so when it sounds it does alert the birds about that there's something to lookout for moving around nearby them, but if the cat patiently sits still stalking e.g. a nest, the birds only hear the bell arriving, and then there's no sound until the cat either leaves, or attacks.

Another thing with bells is that a clever cat that is good at hunting, can figure out that something have started to alert their prey of their presence, so trains up their sit patiently still hunting skills even more. The collar HufflyPuffly uses on Lillycat seems to be designed to alert the birds regardless whether the cat moves or not, which I think makes it sound very interesting. I'd give that one a try if I was in your situation.

Yes that exactly^ it's also why the collar isn't as effective for mice as Lillycat sits and waits for them to emerge from the undegrowth so the visual warning is not as effective and the bells don't help. I did also try (dont laugh) a cat cologne to see if an unusual smell might help, but mostly I found trying to get her to stay in overnight cut out at least some of the savagery on the rodent population!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Be very careful with cats and collars.

I've posted this pic before. I found this cat collar, complete with bell and name disc but thankfully no attached cat, hooked onto our mains energised electric netting.



Not our cat, but a very lucky one.

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

Shadow's favourite thing is to bring live birds into the house. I don't think I'm brave enough to try and put a collar on him. Nor would keeping him in be an option. He would ram the cat flap or destroy something in order to get out.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Our neighbour has started keeping her cats in at night and until after about 7am. It has vastly improved the situation. They didn’t eat their prey but would leave half dead baby rabbits, mice and birds at around the house and then half killed my beloved robin which was the turning point for us. It was actually the 3am to 7am period which was the most murdery.

Yep same, ours are always in by dark and allowed out at about 7 the next day. I hope that helps.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Be very careful with cats and collars.

I've posted this pic before. I found this cat collar, complete with bell and name disc but thankfully no attached cat, hooked onto our mains energised electric netting.

View attachment 118920

Not our cat, but a very lucky one.

This is what worries me, I only have normal rope electric fencing. Certainly Arlo (older cat) doesn’t go far but he doesn’t kill constantly either.
Not sure about Ava (newer killer cat)

She’s currently out and hasn’t been seen for many hours which is unheard of and but if a worry. Always in by now

 

[poiuytrewq]

Oh! No it’s just come home…. Yay!!!

I joke (kinda)

OH absolutely adores this bloody cat, he’d be devastated if she didn’t come home.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Many years ago, we were lucky that my mum decided to go and have a look out in our garden for no particular reason, because she spotted our second cat Felix having managed to get a branch stuck inside his collar, and was being hanged. We rushed out, and managed to get him down.

But that happened back in the 80's, the whole concept of Cat safe Break Free collars was unheard of back then. Now they exists, the collar Lillycat is using is a Cat safe Break Free collar, designed so that if her collar does ger stuck on something, it should break, and release her.
Just like there's helmets for children today, which are designed so that if the child plays with the helmet on, and it gets stuck, the child shouldn't be strangled, without instead the buckle or something else is designed to break, and release the child.
I don't know if the collar in Tiddlypom's photo was broken or not, but even if it wasn't, there still wasn't any cat left in it, so presumably the cat managed to get out of the collar.

As I think someone else have said on another thread, how many cats do you know of that have been found strangled by their collars outdoors?

How many cats do you know of that have been killed on the roads?

Our first cat was run over, and killed by a speeding car. A neighbour saw it happen. Missan stopped liked she always did, looked both ways, no cars, so she started running over the road, when a speeding car suddenly came over a crest, flying down the road so fast Missan didn't stand a chance. She didn't wear a collar.
When we got Felix we tried to keep him only indoors, but when he insisted on going out, we put a collar on him, even after he almost hang himself. We chose to think that it was unlikely he would be that unlucky again, and the collar might make him more visible to drivers.

P.s. Eventually our nerves couldn't take it anymore, and we began building our first cat enclosure.

 

[Nasicus]

I used to stitch a multitude of bells onto my sisters cat's (breakaway) collar, he looked like a tambourine and sounded like a procession of morris dancers but it definitely curbed the number of critters he managed to catch!