Bleedin Cat

[Islay]

So Brice has turned out to be a first class hunter!! He has just brought in the third bird in as many hours!!
So far I have managed to catch and release all three! if I put on a collar and bell will this help the situation - he is a bit of a wanderer and I do worry that the collar may put him in danger (none of my other moggies have collars)
Any advice from fellow slaves gratefully accepted!

[Georgiesmum]

Yes, I think all cats should have a collar and bell, its not fair to the birds if they havent.Years ago mine had his identity disc also and phone number, which proved very usefull. when he went on one of his jaunts when I first rescued him.

[ladybirder]

Please get a collar with a bell Islay, one that will snap open if it gets caught on something. At least the sound of the bell will give the bid a second or two warning. This time of year we have so many young birds about that aren't yet street savvy. Thank you for caring.

[mazie]

Don't put a collar on him Islay. We put one on our cat and it got caught on a branch. Our small female cat is the same, always bringing birds in. She doesn't harm them so we have always managed to rescue them. X

[whiskeryron]

lucky you, did he manage to answer the phone himself without assistance ?

[ummmm]

Would Brice even accept a collar now?

[B00]

I get where Mazie is coming from but you can buy collars with elasticated strips on which will stretch if the cat is stuck on something.

[whiskeryron]

That's for Georgiesmum

[Islay]

I don't know ummmm but I know I have to do something, I came home last week on various days to dead birds beheaded and in various states on massacre!!

[Islay]

Well its shopping day and we are going to the pet shop for the monthly food so will look at the different collars - but I can't let it continue like this, we have an orchard and this time of year its like an all you can eat buffet for him!!

[ladybirder]

My newly rescued cat has a snap off collar from Pets at Home and he has even managed to snap it off himself so they do work. Our garden birds need all the help they can get and it is such a small thing to ask cat owners to do.

[ladybirder]

Brice will probably kick off Islay but he'll get used to it if you persevere.

[Islay]

He's gone from being feral to being a loving little fur ball to staying out all hours and bringing home prey

[dieseldick]

" I don't know ummmm but I know I have to do something, I came home last week on various days to dead birds beheaded and in various states on massacre!! "

poor birds, maybe get rid of the bloody cat dont you think, i know what i would do , report your cat to the RBSP for starters !!

[Islay]

Lol is that why you live down south now? Because you have been laughed out of Belfast?

[ummmm]

Never heard of the RBSP?

[Buenchico]

Collars are cruel to cats. There's a risk of strangulation and cats often end up with a bald ring around their neck where the collar has rubbed.

Cats are meant to hunt but (if they're getting plenty of food from humans) they're usually only really serious about it when they're young. My four could kill ten birds and a handful of mice between them in a week when they were a year old. Now that they're 3½ it's down to just one or two birds,and an odd mouse or two, per month.

[Islay]

Well Chris I have bought and put on him a quick release collar and bell, as the little devil caught another when we were out - so that is 4 in 1 day!!

[Smowball]

God shame it's not mice instead!

[Buenchico]

I'm surprised that it's a male cat that's so good at hunting. It's usually the girlies who're great at it (presumably because they're genetically coded to be able to hunt for both themselves and their kittens).

My three boys largely seem to have the attitude of "Yawn, I'm far too grown up now; I'm not going to bother doing what I did when I was a kitten", whereas the tiny little girl still does an airborne backwards somersault just to catch a fly!

[RATTER15]

I found a dead cat hanging from a bush in my garden once!!