Eating Mice
 

While I have Maggie outside she has been catching mice, lots of them. Usually she just brings them to me and drops them. Some dead, some not. Today she caught a mouse, killed and started to eat it before I could stop her. She is ex feral, only 10 months old and has made so many adjustments in her new life. Is it really bad for her to eat mice? She is pouting because I have ended our outside time for today. Thanks, Laurie

What if the mouse she ate had also eaten poison that people put around their homes? Wouldn't she be poisoned as well?

Cindy

Thank you Cindy. We live on an acreage in the country, there are no other homes nearby but your point is valid. People here keep cats to control the mice. I did not realize how dangerous it could be. Laurie

there are lots of things to worry about anywhere and with any situation. personally, if you live out in the middle of now hwere and its known that cats keep the mice down... id let her have her fun. mice are very healthy to eat if they havent eaten any poison. keep up with your frontline or whatever you use as a topical flea control (it also kills other parasites) and watch out for tape worms and you should be fine. toxoplasmosis is also a concern.

-ashley

My Solomon eats mice and the only problem we have is with tapeworms. I get the vet to give us a year's worth of meds every annual visit (which amounts to about 2 pills every 3 months), and this seems to keep things under control...he's healthy and happy...

Yes, tapeworms and other parasites are an issue with cats eating mice. When I had my hunter had him dewormed for tapeworms annually just in case.

I think it is in their nature to catch mice, kill them and eat them. If you live in a rural area, (there must be a lot of mice there and they multiply quickly). I don't know if farmers, or maybe your neighbors put poison out to kill mice? Is it legal in your town to do this? If someone is using poison, your cat and others are in danger! Are you the one who socialized your feral cat? I rescue cats and any pointers would be appreciated. I find that feral females are much harder to socialize.

My indoor/outdoor cat eats mice, rabbits, voles, birds. He's well fed from me, but he can't resist the odd game feast. I have to give him worming medication for tape worms approximately every 4 months. My previous dog Yogi :rip:used to eat any that the cat left lying around if he could find them before I could.
Hurts me more than them to watch them eat them :yuck:

Cindy

we too are rural, and for some suicidal reason mice do come in the house. Our cats usually eat them, we find tails once and a while, thats it. I prefer to take them away once they have killed them, and give them some treats instead ( for a job well done) but I cant be here 24hrs a day to watch them so.... nature takes it course.

I havent had a single problem yet, our "wild" cats ( trapped indoors after lives out doors) are not the big mice eaters. Its our little born in the shed and bottle fed female. She is a mouse killing machiene! Keep them up on their wormings and things should be fine.

Thanks everyone for your advice. We are first time cat owners and I am grateful to have this forum to come to. I will try to discourage her from mousing. I can get her to do almost anything if I shake the bag of Temptations. Winter is approaching here and her time outside will be limited. She does not like the cold.

Good luck on the discouragment part, think it may be part of her personality and instinct:yuck:. My hunter, couldn't stop him, he at the head only and left the body for us on our deck, or would bring back live ones for my HRH Princess Puddles, who would not do too much with it, so my husband had to dispose of it :frustrated:.

:cat: Linx loves to hunt and eat voles. I don't see many mice around here at all, just voles. And they are tiny little things, no bigger than 2 inches from head to rear. I catch Linx gutting them and leaving the guts behind, but he eats the rest. The crunching sound grosses me out though. :yuck:

Last summer he got tapeworms and I obtained some pills. This summer, no worms at all. He doesn't appreciate the constant butt check for worm segments though.

We are also rural, no farmers near, just household gardens. I haven't seen him catch near as many voles this year and half wonder if he was too good a hunter last year. lol

I caught him prancing around with a bird in his mouth in August and asked him to let me see what it was. He let me have it and I noticed it was still alive - then it flew away! Poor kitty lost his prize that day.

Two summers ago, I found a lined up row of 4 dead chipmunks under the truck. I don't know what the deal was with that display, but had to dispose of stiff bodies. I guess they were too furry for him to eat.