Do you ever come across an instance when you spot a dead mouse or a dead bird on your porch or the doo-step courtesy of your beloved feline friend? Well, it may make you question why do cats bring you dead animals, like what purpose do you serve in this entire scheme. It can seem quite a strange behavior from your cat that you have difficulty wrapping your mind around. But the simplest thing is that cats have their own way of thinking and making gestures.
For instance, whenever you open your door to let your indoor cat inside. She comes accompanied by a dead rodent, and this type of action can leave you scratching your head as well. This is because you may wonder why your cat brings a dead rodent into the house when you have filled their food bowl with mouth-watering treats and snacks.
But before you decide that your cat is simply ravenous and insatiable or a cold-blooded killer, here is some backstory that you should know about your cat’s strange behavior.
Why do Cats Bring You Dead Animals?
The answer is simple; it means cats have considered you as part of their family and are bringing you a dead rodent as a loving gesture of it. For us, we display love by doing something nice for a loved one or by buying gifts for them. Similarly, for cats, it is almost like giving a gift to their owner because they are pack animals that means they want to share their bounty with you. So, in retrospect, catching prey is not because they are hungry.
The fact that they are not hungry explains why they may not even eat the dead rodent or bring in an inedible one. That means that if your cats even bring in other dead animals that they would not normally eat, then it is most likely due to hunting or wanting to please you.
Hunting
Like their wild counterparts, domesticated cats possess similar instincts of hunting. The female cats often train their kittens by bringing in dead animals to show their babies how hunting is done. These dead animals can range from lizards to rats to birds. Cats cannot resist their hunting instincts which can become one of the reasons why they bring in dead animals to you. However, that does not mean it is not an offering from them. Through hunting, cats depict their affection for you, and as a mama cat would teach her kitten how to hunt. Similarly, your indoor cat is prompting you to join it in hunting because it communicates to them how to survive, and they want these life-saving skills to be passed to you.
As a Form of Playful Activity
You may have tried to redirect and give an outlet to your cat to replace hunting, due to which they are bringing you dead animals. That is because cats are carnivores by nature, so they might engage in playful activity when they see insects or lizards move around them. So don’t be worried if you see them bringing you dead animals. That is just a by-product of their playful prey hunting that they do to fulfill their instinctual drive.
What Kind of Dead Animals Are Cats Likely to Bring to You?
Your indoor cat is likely to bring you either mice, lizards, insects, and rare birds. Cats will not bring you any out-of-the-blue animals. They are most likely hunting or playing with smaller animals than them and can easily be attacked with their claws. That is why it usually consists of your lizards, insects, and even flies.
After all, cats do make amazing house pests, and there is a reason why people tend to keep them in place of getting a pest-control.
Now that you know the backstory behind your cat’s offerings, some of you might want to prevent your cat from bringing in dead animals inside the house.
How to Prevent Your Cat from Bringing In Dead Animals?
Let’s admit, picking up a dead mouse or seeing it lying around your house puts you off severely, and you dread the thought of cleaning up the area. No one wants their house to be occupied by dead animals. But, on the other hand, as long as you have your cat, you are likely to face this consequence. So what is the solution?
The only way you could possibly prevent your cat from not bringing dead animals is by keeping it inside your house at all times. That is unlikely because trapping your cat completely inside your house and barring them from stepping outside is heading a little towards cruelty. So the next possible solution that you have is to get a cat flap door with a 2-way lock.
By getting a cat flap door, you can give your cat access to their food and litter while keeping it locked when you know their prey is likely to be vulnerable.
The other way is to play with your cat excessively. Cats are most likely to go on a hunt when they are not being stimulated enough through various playful activities. Keeping your cat engaged by playing with ball games or using interactive toys ensures that their need is diminished. Once your pet is tired out, it will prefer to take a nap rather than go out for a hunt.
Our Final Thoughts
A combination of locking the cat flap door and engaging in playful activities with a cat is a sure way of preventing your cats from bringing you dead animals. So, the next time your cats bring you dead animals like dead rodents or lizards, use one of these tips to prevent them from going on an inedible rodent hunt. Maybe even accept their gift and caress their fur to know that you loved their offering
