Cat behaviouralist needed

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Rikkitic

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# 208580 17-Feb-2017 21:30

My cat keeps bringing mice into my room from outside. If I react in any way, it opens its mouth and lets the mouse go. I have a good relationship with my cat so that is not the issue, but if I make any move, it gets distracted and forgets to hang onto the mouse. I have tried in every way I can think of to gently steer the cat back out the door without it dropping the mouse but nothing works.

This is driving me crazy. I don't want to lock the cat out, I just want to find a way to get it to leave the room without leaving the mouse behind. Is there any trick that can solve this?

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# 1722033 17-Feb-2017 21:41

Play with the cat more - hunting games like a mouse on a string. Let it get the mouse fairly often so it satisfies the urge to hunt.

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# 1722085 17-Feb-2017 23:05

Build a chicken wire outer room. Get the cat to come in there rather than the house. Drops mouse, mouse escapes and you can let it in to the main house?

mattwnz

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# 1722092 17-Feb-2017 23:56

Do you live in the country? There shouldn't be that many mice outside for the cat to bring them inside if you live in an urban area. My cats used to catch lots of birds and bring them back (mainly small rats with wings type birds), but now they are inside cats, so that solves the problem.

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# 1722107 18-Feb-2017 07:48

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tdgeek

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# 1722123 18-Feb-2017 08:47

Maybe growl and shoo the cat outside if it brings mice in? Then treat it in a loving way otherwise. It may relate mice to anger, and cease and desist. You will have the mice inside issue still, but hopefully temporarily.

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# 1722124 18-Feb-2017 08:54

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Get another cat (Gareth Morgan will love you for that) which loves to catch mice and takes them outside. Or, you could get a Terrier dog. "Terriers are the most famous group of dogs known for their ability as ratters."

If these don't work you could always abandon the house and live in the shed. If the cat doesn't go there you have solved the mouse in your house problem.

Rikkitic

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# 1722125 18-Feb-2017 09:01

mattwnz:

Do you live in the country? There shouldn't be that many mice outside for the cat to bring them inside if you live in an urban area. My cats used to catch lots of birds and bring them back (mainly small rats with wings type birds), but now they are inside cats, so that solves the problem.

Yes I do. We have an unending supply of mice, not to mention the odd rat. My cats are used to coming and going. If I tried to keep them inside they would destroy the house.

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Rikkitic

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# 1722126 18-Feb-2017 09:04

tdgeek:

Maybe growl and shoo the cat outside if it brings mice in? Then treat it in a loving way otherwise. It may relate mice to anger, and cease and desist. You will have the mice inside issue still, but hopefully temporarily.

If I even smile at the damned cat, it drops the mouse so it can see what I want. I have tried many times to shoo it back outside, but it always runs around me further into the room and then drops the mouse.

I reject your reality and substitute my own. - Adam Savage

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# 1722160 18-Feb-2017 11:16

AFAIK this is its 'pack' mentality and it's actually showing you love by "bringing home the bacon" (food) to share. We found that if we praised the cat at all (like smiling at it) this got worse, but if we picked up the mouse and just chucked it outside rejecting its overtures (we don't want your food) it decreased thee incidence and eventually stopped the 'food' in.

We also live rurally, and my poor 5YO was really upset several times when his beloved 'Tinks' brought in baby rabbits to share 😂

https://www.pet-happy.com/why-is-your-cat-bringing-mice-home/

They also suggest a bell (so the cat can't actually catch the mouse in the first place...

*edit- added link

bagheera

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# 1722177 18-Feb-2017 11:32

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I did train my cat to bring the mouse / rat /bird to front door. What i did each time he got me a "gift" was to pick both cat and "gift" up, take him to the spot, then praise him for the gift there. he soon learned to bring me the gift there and meow for me, i could away tell that it was "gift" time as that type of meow was "look at what i got you moaw" that he never used with out a gift. You might get some laugh if you got guest and he bring you a gift tho - meow meow - one moment i need to thank my cat for the rat......

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# 1722178 18-Feb-2017 11:32

I would think that the cat bringing mice into the house is a normal part of cat behaviour. Mice and rodents are a main part of a cats diet and they [cats] are social animals - so they will bring food back to the family.

Typically I would think the cat would bring the mouse back to the den first, this is usually the place you both spend most of your time so a bedroom or lounge.

If the cat wont let go of the mouse, just gently hold the cat with one hand and hold the other hand close to the mouth to catch it when the cat lets go. If the cat lets go early, you have a mouse to catch :)

One thing I might suggest is that cats are kinesthetic learners, so you can teach it to 'fetch' a toy and after that to 'fetch and drop the toy in your hand. To do this, simply find the cats favorite toy and some cat treats and the process is similar to dogs- it will probably take about a week until it becomes routine. It can help a bit if you also know some basic cat communication signals such as 'slow blink' and the like.

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# 1722284 18-Feb-2017 15:32

Ignore the cat?

Let it eat the mouse.

Mine won't mess about, they learned from experience that if they played around, I would remove the rodent and they missed out.

Now there's no messing about, bring them in or whatever, they're caught and eaten straight away.

Rikkitic

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# 1722299 18-Feb-2017 15:53

I wrote a post earlier that somehow disappeared. I can't figure out what happened to it but I was trying to clarify my issue since people seem to be getting the wrong impression.

The problem is that the cat brings live mice inside and lets them go. Then he destroys the house catching them again, usually several times. If I try to intercede in any way, this just encourages him to let them go sooner. I am looking for a way to get him and the mouse outside before he lets it go, but as soon as he sees me make any move he runs further inside instead of outside, even going around me to do so, and then lets the mouse go. I am not fast enough to catch the mouse myself so my goal is to find a way to get him back outside without him releasing the mouse first.

Edit: I forgot to add that if I don't do anything, he keeps letting the mouse go until inevitably it finds a place to hide that he can't get at. Then he walks around in circles yowling until he gets bored and goes to sleep and I am left with another live mouse in the house. This is the part I would like to try to avoid.

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mattwnz

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# 1722341 18-Feb-2017 17:37

Probably not using a cat door is the only solution. Cats that don' t have a cat door will usually wait by the door meowing, so you can get rid of the mice before they get inside..

kiwifidget

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# 1722343 18-Feb-2017 17:43

Wouldn't a one-way cat door go some way to helping?

Many cat doors can be set to one or two way with latches.

Cat can go out whenever but cant get back in.

You let the cat back in when it lets the mouse go.

It would require a few interrupted nights but eventually the cat may learn that bringing mice inside isn't allowed.

And if all goes well you can set the door to two way and the cat lets itself in at night sans mouse

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