Happy Mondo Missy Monday, Missians!
Thanks for joining us for our second full week of Christmas in July 2019! I hope all of you had an awesome, safe, and fun Fourth of July weekend.
On a little less happy note: To any of our readers in areas of California affected by the earthquakes, we send our love and prayers to you!
Okay, in our second week of C.I.J, our theme is gift-giving. And I can see no better way to kick things off than with another comical post about why cats make the suckiest gift-givers of all. Now don't get me wrong, I love all things "cat." And when it comes to the love cats give, that's one present that's hard to top! But it's the types of gifts they give of a certain other variety that aren't always so awesome.
To tell us about some of the more "craptacular" gifts given by cats and to explain this behavior, we turn to the article, "Why Do Cats Bring Their Owners 'Gifts' of Dead Animals?" by Amy Shojai, from thesprucepets.com.
https://www.thesprucepets.com/cat-hunting-gifts-553946
Thanks for joining us for our second full week of Christmas in July 2019! I hope all of you had an awesome, safe, and fun Fourth of July weekend.
On a little less happy note: To any of our readers in areas of California affected by the earthquakes, we send our love and prayers to you!
Okay, in our second week of C.I.J, our theme is gift-giving. And I can see no better way to kick things off than with another comical post about why cats make the suckiest gift-givers of all. Now don't get me wrong, I love all things "cat." And when it comes to the love cats give, that's one present that's hard to top! But it's the types of gifts they give of a certain other variety that aren't always so awesome.
To tell us about some of the more "craptacular" gifts given by cats and to explain this behavior, we turn to the article, "Why Do Cats Bring Their Owners 'Gifts' of Dead Animals?" by Amy Shojai, from thesprucepets.com.
https://www.thesprucepets.com/cat-hunting-gifts-553946
"Why Do Cats Bring Their Owners 'Gifts' of Dead Animals?"
by Amy Shojai
Although it's been 10,000 years since cats were domesticated, their instinct to hunt remains strong. That's good news for people who own cats as a form of pest control, but not quite as pleasant when your furry indoor cuddle companion finds a lizard somewhere in the house and brings it to the foot of your bed. If you've ever wondered why cats leave "gifts" for their owners in the form of dead animals, chalk it up to their instinct to hunt prey and feed their loved ones.
The Thought Behind the 'Gift'
Cats are born to hunt. Even if domesticated cats know they don’t need to catch their own food to survive, they cannot resist the urge and often enjoy the hunt and chase. Some cats that catch prey will bring their owners the dead animals—or, perhaps even more unpleasantly, sometimes ones that are still alive—to show off their prized catch for later consumption, as a teaching aid, or as a gift.
Additionally, cats are pack animals, and they often want to share their bounty with their family. This is especially true of female cats who would normally teach their young how to hunt and eat. This means when a cat brings you an animal they caught, be it alive or dead, they consider you a part of their family. Their instincts are telling them this is what they need to do to survive and that they need to pass these important, life-saving skills onto their family.
This prey-catching behavior has nothing to do with being hungry. Rather, the “prey” being caught by indoor cats often isn’t edible at all, but rather toy mice, balls, and garbage they felt that they “hunted.” These items may also be presented to you as gifts, even though they are inedible.
Redirecting Prey Drive With Toys
The natural prey drive in a cat cannot be suppressed, but it can be redirected to playing rather than hunting. Rather than reinforcing prey drive by playing, the activity satisifies a cat's desire to hunt. Any toy that requires your cat to chase and catch an object is mentally stimulating its natural prey drive, including feather wands, laser pointers, moving toys, and other items that your cat simply cannot resist trying to catch.
A cat needs mental stimulation, especially if it is a cat that seems to have a strong prey drive. If it doesn’t have anything to hunt, chase, and catch, then it will find something to fulfill its prey drive. They might pounce on your feet as you walk by or climb up the curtains to catch imaginary prey.
Engage your kitty in plenty of playtime every day to redirect their natural hunting behaviors. This not only reduces behavioral problems for cats that are prone to bringing mice or lizards to your door, but it also provides exercise for the cat. Indoor cats are often overweight and can use a little help in shedding the pounds via movement.
Although many cats are satisfied with chasing a laser pointer, some need to simulate "killing" their prey, too. If your cat seems frustrated or continually seeks to destroy objects that it finds on the ground, such as a lone shoe, provide the cat with prey that it can "kill," such as a small stuffed animal.
Sparing Outdoor Wildlife
Outdoor cats that hunt and kill native wildlife are so good at it that they are considered invasive species and detrimental to native populations of birds. Alert wildlife of an impending cat attack by attaching bells on a breakaway collar of an outdoor cat.
Okay, so even though having your cat bring you dead things as gifts, definitely sucks, it's nice to know that this behavior can be channeled into other more productive and healthy ones; and it's also good to understand why they do this. They like hunting--plain and simple. And they need mental and physical stimulation.
A laser worked great with Missy; but she also had her share of toys that she could wrestle with and "kill," (which kept her from bringing me any highly unwanted insect or rodent gifts). Hopefully by giving your cat substitute kills in the form of toys, you can avoid being given such gifts too. But it's the thought that counts, right? In this case, actually, no...LOL
That's it for now. See you all back here tomorrow for more animal givers.
Until then,
This is your host, J,
signing off...
Okay, so even though having your cat bring you dead things as gifts, definitely sucks, it's nice to know that this behavior can be channeled into other more productive and healthy ones; and it's also good to understand why they do this. They like hunting--plain and simple. And they need mental and physical stimulation.
A laser worked great with Missy; but she also had her share of toys that she could wrestle with and "kill," (which kept her from bringing me any highly unwanted insect or rodent gifts). Hopefully by giving your cat substitute kills in the form of toys, you can avoid being given such gifts too. But it's the thought that counts, right? In this case, actually, no...LOL
That's it for now. See you all back here tomorrow for more animal givers.
Until then,
This is your host, J,
signing off...
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