I’m at a friend’s place and the cat keeps bringing in dead (or half-dead) animals into the house. It’s my understanding that cats think we are big, helpless kittens that don’t know how to hunt. Hence, they think they are doing us a favour.
It seems like a few mice actually escaped and found refuge in some walls in the house, so these “presents” are actually more than just annoying (and smelly if the dead animal ends up behind the couch).
Play with it more often and don’t let it outside, that’s really the only way.
My friend insists on letting it out because animals aren’t supposed to be kept in captivity. And it’s not easy to play with cats if you’re gone 10 hours a day
My family used to have the view that keeping cats indoors was cruel until one of our indoor/outdoor cats came back after being attacked by some unknown animal in what seemed like a safe suburban area. He was fully vaccinated and recovered mostly without incident, but he had to have a surgery and spend extensive time in the Cone of Shame with limited movement so he could recover.
And once we started keeping the cats indoors? It was unbelievable how much nature outside recovered. It was more than just songbirds everywhere (though we did have plenty of those). We saw hawks and owls. Woodchucks and deer would wander in (yards weren’t really fenced at this area… it was more on the rural side of suburban). Foxes and rabbits and wild turkeys. I once saw pawprints in the snow that I think were from a stoat. We could not believe how visible a difference just keeping the cats inside made.
And honestly, the cats didn’t really miss being outside after a week or so adjustment period. Once, a year or so in, Mom accidentally left the door to the outside open, and one of our cats just got this resigned look like “oh, I guess I have to go patrol the area, huh.”
Now, this was a two-story house with like five bedrooms and a basement, so it was more territory than, say, an apartment, which can make a difference. We also had two cats to keep each other company, so the house being empty during the work/school day wasn’t as big a deal. Space concerns are a bit tougher to address (though I will recommend catification, catios, and leash training for cats to do supervised outdoor walks), but if the concern is a cat getting lonely during the work day, then I’m just saying that two cats are not appreciably harder to take care of than one and after the introduction period they can do wonders for keeping each other entertained.
Your friend is a bad pet owner.
If they don’t think animals should be kept in captivity, they shouldn’t keep a pet. Pets are, by definition, captive animals. If I befriended a pigeon by feeding it, it wouldn’t become my pet; it only would if I captured it.
Let your friend know that most experts agree:
Outdoor cats are devastating to the local ecosystem, and have a significantly shorter lifespan than indoor cats.
I have. They don’t believe the science. “Cats only kill weak and sick animals”. I’ve given up on it. Can’t convince a mind that’s made up. But the cadavers are annoying the whole household, so I was hoping for some possible solution that didn’t involve getting the friend all wound up.
Put a little bell on their collar; it’ll heavily cut down on the prey they can sneak up on.
Unfortunately there are no magic solutions. Corpses will keep happening if the cat is allowed outside. Be glad you’re not my childhood friend, her cat would deposit corpses on their pillows 😱.
Take the cat. Be the Cat Protective Services the cat needs. Then find real friends who aren’t so delusional they probably shouldn’t be considered legally capable of giving consent.
Jesus christ get a grip on reality ffs.
Where is my grip on reality (not socially comfortable consensus delusion, but reality) failing?
“Abandon your friend and steal their cat.”
That’s crazy.
Probably wandered here from Reddit. The cat groups there are wild.
It was half joking, but realistically, the cat is basically innocent, stuck in the care of a person who refuses to listen to reason in favor of their irrational beliefs, like a kid raised by a religious zealot. I won’t actually say the poster should go commit whatever crime cat kidnapping is, but I would say their friend may not be capable of making sound decisions, which inherently makes them untrustworthy, which makes their friendship dubious. If you can’t trust someone, they’re not really a friend.
Did the cat choose of it’s own free will to come live with your friend?
If not, your friend is already responsible for a domestic animal they chose to acquire. That comes with responsibility. Domestic cats aren’t compatible with the outside environment and cause ecological damage.
Cats are apex predators, and your friend is subsidizing their pet far past what the local bird population can support. (Plus indoor cats live longer.)
Unless you’re on an actual working farm, household cats belong indoors.
My cat was lousy catching birds… but man, did she ever open a can of whoop-ass on the mice, rabbits and squirrels.
Since she’s been dead - the fucking squirrels managed to get into the rafters (which are finally getting closed up as I type this) and we’ve had three mouse infestation waves. The rabbits have completely wiped out the backyard garden now, 5 years running.
Time for a new cat?
Well, this is the consequence of letting it outside unfortunately- on top of risk of injury and death but I’m sure y’all know that already. There’s not really an effective way to train them against this behaviour the way you might a dog.
So long as there’s critters outside the cat is going to hunt them. Maybe you could try to give the kitty a snag safe cat collar with a bell? It might alert the wildlife so they have time to avoid being caught.