Play and meaty meals stop cats killing wildlife

[FfFfFfFF 58,120]

Feeding pet cats meaty food and playing with them to simulate hunting stops them killing wildlife, according to a study.

Eating grain-free food led to the cats depositing a third fewer mouse and bird corpses on doorsteps, while just five to 10 minutes of play with a toy mouse cut the killing by a quarter.

There are 7.5 million cats in the UK and they are estimated to kill about 100 million animals a year. The toll is billions in the US and 230 million in Australia. Mammals such as mice, rats and rabbits make up two-thirds of the UK kills, a quarter are birds such as sparrows and blackbirds, and the rest are frogs and lizards.

Playing reduced the number of mammal kills but not bird kills. This may be because playtime was often in the evening, close to night-time when cats hunt mice and rats, the scientists said. Bird hunts usually take place in the morning.

The researchers do not yet know if more playtime would have cut hunting more, or if the effects of giving meaty food and playing would add together, but they aim to do further research. 

The new research is the first to tackle the root causes of why well-fed cats still hunt and the scientists said the results were good for wildlife, cats and their owners.

George Bradley, from SongBird Survival, a charity that funded the research, said: “The study shows that cat owners – like me – can take a few easy steps to really improve the health and happiness of our pets as well as make a really big difference for all our wildlife.”

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/feb/11/meaty-meals-and-play-stop-cats-killing-wildlife-study-finds

[SHALLOW 16,469]

Is that even a real problem? 

[Runway 27,876]

Let cats be cats

[Kimmo 82,284]

So we should let mice run around the house? 

I understand birds but mice... 

[FfFfFfFF 58,120]

4 minutes ago, SHALLOW said:

Is that even a real problem? 

There are 7.5 million cats in the UK and they are estimated to kill about 100 million animals a year. The toll is billions in the US and 230 million in Australia. Mammals such as mice, rats and rabbits make up two-thirds of the UK kills, a quarter are birds such as sparrows and blackbirds, and the rest are frogs and lizards.

[..] Bradley said populations of songbirds such as sparrows and willow tits had fallen by half in the UK over the past 50 years.

3 minutes ago, Runway said:

Let cats be cats

Cats can be cats even if they are being fed meat and play with humans. 

1 minute ago, Kimmo said:

So we should let mice run around the house? 

I understand birds but mice... 

Yes! Outside your own home there are and there will always be mice, and if you follow hygiene rules such as washing your hands after touching dirty things, not eating from the ground, keeping food stored etc they won't affect you.

[Lucas 31,126]

21 minutes ago, FfFfFfFF said:

There are 7.5 million cats in the UK and they are estimated to kill about 100 million animals a year. The toll is billions in the US and 230 million in Australia. Mammals such as mice, rats and rabbits make up two-thirds of the UK kills, a quarter are birds such as sparrows and blackbirds, and the rest are frogs and lizards.

Hm but this is how the food pyramid works or whatever is the term for this in english... I don't think we can really call it a problem

[Rj Barker 3,331]

2 minutes ago, Lucas said:

Hm but this is how the food pyramid works or whatever is the term for this in english... I don't think we can really call it a problem

I think it's because of the ever increasing amount of cats in the urbanised areas, that the rate of population growth in its primary food species (mice birds etc) can't keep up. 

[FfFfFfFF 58,120]

10 minutes ago, Lucas said:

Hm but this is how the food pyramid works or whatever is the term for this in english... I don't think we can really call it a problem

Yes but it doesn't mean much. Domesticated cats aren't an endemic species in most of the world, so in a sense you can argue that they are invasive in the ecosystems or Europe, North and South America, Australia. They are a predator that didn't need to be there. Plus, the number or deaths itself raises concerns from scientists or wildlife specialists.

[GagaSine 7,464]

My cat has like five toys and will not play with any of them or interact when we try to play with her, she just stares.

But I don’t have this issue anyway because she is a lifelong indoor cat.

[Thwack 771]

Just keep your cats inside.