Cat Advice

Discussion in 'Pets and Animal Lovers' started by vmtaurus, Jan 3, 2012.

  1. vmtaurus

    vmtaurus Bronze IL'ite

    Messages:
    321
    Likes Received:
    47
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Gender:
    Female
    Hi,
    I am hoping to get some advice from cat lovers here.
    We adopted a street kitten about 8 months back and he is now close to a year old. We stay in the ground floor of an apt and that makes it easier for him to go out on his morning rounds and come back. He is usually out for about an hour and two after which he comes back on his own. We have a lawn, and he likes to sit in the sun, eat grass and play around for awhile before coming in.

    Of late, he has figured out how to hunt for rats...I initially thought he is doing it for fun, and as is his instinct, but he has now increased the kill in frequency and also eats the rats! He is unpredictable in the sense that he would not even go out for 4-5 days and suddenly one day just sprint out and go hunt, kill and eat a rat.

    I am very freaked out about this, as I am 18 weeks pregnant too. Hygienically I know this cannot be good for either him or us...we gave him a bath twice when we caught him eating the rat when he came back. But it's obviously not practical to do it every time. In doors, he has free access to everything, though we prevent him from entering the kitchen and dining table (we have an open kitchen as its an apartment)..but I am sure he climbs all over when we are asleep.

    I am at my wits end..Today again in the morning he went and brought a rat and ate it...and came back in. This time he figured we were ready to give him a bath and scooted out of the house, and is refusing to come back.
    Oh..i must mention..last week..he just went out and never came back till the next morning! He was within the apartment compound only, as we could see him (hanging around in the basement), but he refused to come to us.

    We feed him dry cat food, milk and water. He used to have wet cat food, but just would not after sometime.

    Any idea why he is doing this?
     
    Loading...

  2. tinku

    tinku Silver IL'ite

    Messages:
    399
    Likes Received:
    142
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Gender:
    Female
    Hi there,

    I enoyed your post particularly

    But I have only a doggie with me and dont know about cats. But it made me feel good to read it. Anyway, as you say, its unhygenic to let him in after killing a rat.

    Meanwhile, you can approach a pet clinic and ask his doctor about what could be done.

    May be the cat lovers can give you some sound advice in this regard.
    Wait a while till they pour in.
     
  3. vmtaurus

    vmtaurus Bronze IL'ite

    Messages:
    321
    Likes Received:
    47
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Gender:
    Female
    Thanks Tinku :)

    I was going to ask my vet doc anyway, but wanted to also check with this forum, if they have come across such a scenario.
     
  4. scarlet

    scarlet Junior IL'ite

    Messages:
    28
    Likes Received:
    5
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Gender:
    Female
    Hi Vmtaurus,

    As per my experience with cats, its little difficult to control them. They unlike dogs, are very free spirited animals.
    We had two cats in our home. Miaw and Jiaw. Both were siblings and close with each other till they were 2 years old. Then they couldn't stand each other so miaw had to leave that area where our house was there. It was a sad incident for us. Then we saw miaw roaming in the next street. The other cat jiaw was there with us for 9 yeras. Jiaw is a strong alpha.He will just look like a tiger cub with same light and dark brown stripes over his body. He used to go and come out of the house as he wish. He will usually come for food and rest. He will be waiting outside the kitchen mewing for my mom to come out with food. He has some particular places inside our house where he used to relax and sleep. He had never stealed anything till he was there in our house. He used to patiently wait for my mom or us to fed him with curd rice. Curd rice is his utmost favorite. Sometimes he won't show up for 3-4 days. Then he will come for food mewing out loudly. He died last at the age of 9 due to very old age. We used to give him strengthening tonics when he became very old and weak. We loved him so much.

    My advice will be to leave your cat little free as it is difficult to train a cat. He will come around in some time. Try to feed him with curd rice or something else which interests him more. (I can hear you murmuring "Right now he is more interested on rats :)"
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2012
  5. tashidelek2002

    tashidelek2002 IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    4,489
    Likes Received:
    2,031
    Trophy Points:
    308
    Gender:
    Female
    I am wondering ...is he catching rats or is it mice? If he is eating mice, I don't see how that is going to affect the household although its best if he does it outside so you don't need to watch. He is craving the fresh meat taste and also the sport of catching.

    I would suggest that you take him to be neutered at the vet's. He will become more mellow and stop wandering as the wandering is the search for a female which he is starting to be interested in. It also will get rid of most of the that bad tom cat smell when he urinates in his box (or whereever) and as he won't be getting into fights over females, he won't be getting beat up all the time.

    As cats and dogs are carnivores, a meat diet is really the best for them.
     
  6. vmtaurus

    vmtaurus Bronze IL'ite

    Messages:
    321
    Likes Received:
    47
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Gender:
    Female
    Hi Scarlet, Thanks for sharing your lovely story! Yea, we have left him to his devices now...it seemed to be a phase, because he has suddenly stopped doing it now. Or he is smart enough to do it far away from home!
     
  7. vmtaurus

    vmtaurus Bronze IL'ite

    Messages:
    321
    Likes Received:
    47
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Gender:
    Female
    Hi Tashi, he is catching rats..though like I mention in my above post, he has suddenly stopped it, as it seemed to be a phase...OR is not bringing his prize home!
    His diet is completely carnivores i.e only cat food...
    My guess is it was the thrill of the new...he has reached neutering maturity now, and we will be doing it shortly. Guess that also should help him mellow down.

    Thanks for chipping in! Appreciate it.. !
     
  8. tashidelek2002

    tashidelek2002 IL Hall of Fame

    Messages:
    4,489
    Likes Received:
    2,031
    Trophy Points:
    308
    Gender:
    Female
    Well, if it is really rats, he should be applauded as sometimes they are hard to kill. Just be sure he has all his shot especially in in this case rabies. It may be that some rat family has decided to move closer to your home and he is getting rid of them in order to take care of his home. How noble would that be?
     
  9. vmtaurus

    vmtaurus Bronze IL'ite

    Messages:
    321
    Likes Received:
    47
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Gender:
    Female
    Hehe..agreed! And yup, he has had his shots..
     
  10. SChandran

    SChandran New IL'ite

    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Gender:
    Female
    Dear

    Please never bathe yoe ur cat. They hate it. It is natural instinct for a cat to hunt for rats or mice and sometimes they even eat garden lizards. If they are successful they catch the young ones of birds too. I have had cats for about 10 years which did all of these. But i was not really bothered.

    My sis has cats now and she feeds then this cat food called "Meow" . She tells me that her cats do not go out and eat anything else. you could try that too.

    Regards
    Uma
     

Share This Page