Reasons Why Your Cat Could Bring You Dead Animals & How To Stop It

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Cats are beautiful little creatures, but sometimes they can show weird behavior and leave their owners speechless. If you are a cat lover, you have most probably heard or even witnessed sometimes in your life your cat bringing you some dead animal.

This could be a bird, lizard, mouse, or any other animal your cat will find attractive. But why is that? Why do cats like to bring you dead animals? Is this something connected to their past, or is this could indicate some behavioral problem? Let’s check this out.

Why do cats bring you dead animals?

Don’t be surprised if you wake up one day to find a dead animal beside your bed. Many cats like to show this behavior, no matter if they are outdoor or indoor cats. This is completely normal for them, and there could be a few reasons behind it.

If you are a “lucky” owner that regularly receives dead animals from your cat, you will have to find a good way for your cat to stop this behavior since it can cause many problems in the long run. Here are the most common reasons why your cat could bring dead animals into the house.

1. Hunting instincts

Cats in the wild need to be fierce hunters to survive. Even the mothers teach their young ones how to hunt for prey and secure food. So don’t be surprised if your cat starts to bring you back home dead animals.

This is written in their genes, and even though you own an indoor cat that never had to hunt to get food, her instincts could kick in. Consider this as a compliment because cats will bring their prey into the area they feel most secure, and in this case, this is your house.

2. Gift

Some cats could see prey and all the little animals as a potential gift they can bring back to you. This act could also be considered as a compliment from a cat’s perspective, although we would rather not receive this “gift.”

3. They want to play

Often, your cat will not try to kill the animal but rather start playing, and while playing, she could unintentionally kill the animal if we are talking about a smaller animal. Afterward, your cat could bring you the dead animal since she’s unsure what else to do.

What to do if your cat brings you dead animals?

Cats killing and bringing home dead animals is a serious issue that must be addressed. Although this will, in most cases, be natural for them, it doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do. On a yearly basis, cats started to kill billions of small animals, which certainly has some effect on the environment.

If your cat is one of them and likes to chase and kill smaller animals, you will have to find a proper way for your cat to stop.

How to stop your cat from bringing home dead animals?

To remove this behavior from your cat’s life, there are some steps you can take to help your cat and stop her from killing and bringing home dead animals. Depending on the level of hunting your cat is at, some cats could quickly stop with this behavior, while for others, you will have to put in extra work.

Here are the 6 proven tips you can do to remove this sort of behavior from your cat’s life

1. Redirect your cat’s attention

For starters, you should try to redirect your cat’s attention. Usually, cats that like to hunt and bring home dead animals are under-stimulated, and only providing enough daily activities for her will solve this problem.

Find interactive toys or even a furry mouse toy that your cat could chase around the house, and she will get the same satisfaction after catching it. That way, she will not need to go outside and hunt for real.

2. Walk your cat on a leash

Walking your cat on a leash could solve this problem for you. With a leash, your cat cannot roam around and possibly hunt and kill small animals. More and more cat owners have started to use a leash as it provides extra security for your cat while outside.

3. Keep your cat indoors for a certain period of time

It is a well-known fact that these small animals cats like to hunt are mostly active at night and dawn, so keeping your cat indoors could solve this problem. If there are no animals, your cat will not be able to hunt.

However, this is only a partial solution, and your cat can still potentially hunt birds and other animals that can be seen during the day.

4. Put a bell on her collar

Putting a bell on a cat’s collar will not stop the cat from hunting, but it will be a great alarm for all the animals that the attack is coming. With this bell, other animals could have a proper time to react and save themselves.

This will solve the problem of your cat bringing home dead animals, but your cat could become anxious and nervous since she couldn’t finish the hunting process.

5. Change her feeding schedule

As we said in the beginning, hunting is a natural thing that most cats will have in their DNA to find food for themselves. Maybe the reason for hunting is that your cat is feeling hungry and wants to find food.

Try rearranging her feeding schedule and splitting her meals into more frequent ones. That way, your cat can receive food every few hours, and she may not have the urge to hunt.

6. Talk to your vet

If nothing above solves your problem, our last piece of advice is to speak with your vet. He will for sure have a few more recommendations on what you can do to remove this behavior from your cats’ life.

World Cat Finder Team