I know most people won't like this but there's a growing interest in feeding cats the "natural" way. And they [the enthusiasts] recommend keeping mice which will be fed to your. Mice are relatively inexpensive because you can feed them only left-overs and they multiply fast which means your cat will have a fresh supply of prey all the time and you'd save a lot of money on cat food. Question: would any of you cat owners do this?
Live mice are a significant disease and parasite risk. They are also not a safe complete diet. Honestly if I was going to go this route at all I would breed rabbits. But in either case the sticking point is that I do not know how to humanely kill them and I don't really want to learn. I just couldn't do it. I also suspect that with the dietary supplement powder, and all the associated costs accounted for, kibble and table scraps is probably not only the easier option but the cheaper one too. After all, kibble is often discounted sand covered by coupons.
Pardon me for this remark but cats don't really eat mice. Cats would prefer to eat fish and chicken meat. So I don't see where the mice gets into play. The vet said that it is just a myth that cats like mice but in truth, cats see mice as intruders in the home hence they chase mice. Our first dog is a rat chaser too and she had killed about 5 mice and 8 rats but didn't eat any. She just killed them.
If they were feral, they would eat anything that moves, actually They didn't eat the rats because you were already feeding them. There are no chickens in the wild. Not in these parts anyway lol. Either way, I couldn't keep mice to feed cats. I would get attached.. and even if I pushed myself not to, I would know my animals are killing a mouse and although the natural way, I couldn't stomach it. I would be sad all the time lol.
I've seen cats chase anything that moves, from geckos to little birds and kill them for the pleasure of it. What makes you think that cats will actually eat the mice, and not just slowly torture them to death without showing any further interest in them afterwards? I think providing cats with live mice would be a cruel practice to engage in. If they find mice around the house and kill, and even eat them, it's a different matter (in my eyes).
A well fed cat likely won't eat the mouse. I've seen plenty of feral cats (and even outdoor pet cats) eat almost the entire rodent.. usually aside from the skull. A hungry cat isn't too picky.
Absolutely not. I have recently become the reluctant owner of a cat. I do not hate the cat, but in general cats are not my thing. This one is an "indoor/outdoor" cat - he lives in our basement and has a door that allows him free access to go where he pleases. He is not allowed to be in any livable area of our house due to allergy sufferers. As a result, he can hunt freely, and does. I believe he is a happy cat. We feed him dry cat food, but I'm sure he makes meals of small birds and rodents he catches outside, and that is fine. If I was a true natural cat enthusiast, I wouldn't raise mice to feed my cat. To me that sounds too much like the scene from Jurassic Park where the goat is tied to a rope and offered to the T-Rex. Cats want to hunt. If you think they need more meat, let them be outdoor cats. They will figure it out.
I completely agree with you, Penny. The health risks, however minor, do not compensate for whatever benefits we may get from this, be it monetary or what not. As long as cat food isn't known to have adverse effects on my cats, I shall stick with it. That seems to be a much better alternative than attempting something like mice breeding which could have otherwise catastrophic risks, no matter how small or unlikely it may seem. Kibble is hardly expensive either, so I don't see why I would actively choose to avoid it. (I did a double take on reading "discounted sand", I know realize that might just be a typo! )
Then you wouldn't have a snake or any other carnivorous reptile as a pet? Most people who have snakes and other carnivorous reptiles as pets have to breed mice so their snakes will feed. It's much cheaper for them than going out to some pet store and buying live mice all the time.
Nope! and that would be the main reason lol. Plus I don't believe in confining animals. Just like how I was a meat eater once.. it was easy to disconnect from my food if I just didn't see it being tortured or killed. I closed my eyes. I do the same for my pets that eat already dead animals.. I have to close my eyes or I'd be sad all the time about it. I could never actually bring an animal into my house and feed it to my pets. If I were vegan years ago, I wouldn't even have my cats right now, I don't like contributing to those industries to feed them, but I have to.
Denis, you're right; I don't like this! I honestly don't see anything natural about this, and I wouldn't do it. For argument's sake; It'd be like keeping a lion as a pet, and then going out and killing game and feeding it to your lion LOL I mean, really, what's the world coming to?!
There are people who'll do anything as long it saves them some them money. I've heard that some snake owners let their mice or rats roam free in their basements and any time they want their snakes to feed, they simply take them down to the basement and it hunts for it's prey the "natural way." Confined thusly, I don't think it's that "natural."
I have no issue with it. Many people breed mice for snakes & tarantulas so I really don't see a dramatic difference between those things. It would really depend on which type of rodent & how well you are taking care of them. The truth is it's a ton more difficult to breed & cultivate things than it is to pick them up in a store.
I think it's less complicated if you just settle for fish and cat food (dog food can also be an alternative). There will always be mice whether or not you breed them. Besides, breeding will cost you more because you have to feed the mice and let them grow until they're big enough to be eaten. Unfortunately, domestic cats don't eat mice unless they're helplessly starved. They're rather eat chicks and insects.
Based on my experience, cats don't eat mice. I have six cats, and none of them ate mice. They would hunt them, but the cats would just play with them. If you really want to raw feed your cat, there are many websites that would teach you how. None of them advice breeding cats for food!
I personally wouldn't do it just because I don't find it necessary even if it means I would be saving a bit of money. I think if you are adopting a pet then you should make sure you have sufficient income to comfortably feed and house them so I'd only ever do it if I thought that mice would be beneficial aside from financial reasons. Also, like many here have said, mice aren't specifically their natural prey anyway.
Oh, boy. I wonder how they came up with cats needing to eat mice. We know they like to chase them. My buddy likes to kill birds. What's next? Are you suppose to let the mice run around your house too? Let the cat catch and eat the natural way. Come on. Should you let the dog go chase and kill the Bison or cow? There is more to this trend of mice for cats. I wonder what is behind it. I wouldn't trust it. They are GMO mice. Biogenetics or something. Fake mice maybe. The snake is really different than the cat. Cats like to play with smaller animals and sometimes kill them. Mine always just did it this way. Anybody who has a snake for a pet is going to go for this killing of live mice anyway. My dog can't stand the squirrels he acts like he wants to rip them apart and have them for dinner. He saw a dead one and went over to it like an angel. He's not going to eat it. Hunt, chase, and play is what cats or dogs like to do. I am pretty sure that when any animal gets the taste of blood it can't be good to do. Makes them a little crazed. It might be more fun to put some fish in a small tank and let the cat scoop them out. I love to watch fish they are so beautiful. I think most cats would just play with them anyway.
No, I don't want to kill any mice. I don't want to "murder" them, and my cat also doesn't kill mice and birds. He just bites them until they're dead. Buying cheap fish and cooking it would be the better and cheaper choice. Over here, a kilo or half a kilo only costs a little over $1.
The type of diet you're talking about is "prey model raw." We fed our dog prey model raw for a while and I have a friend who uses it with her cats and ferrets. The problem with raising mice isn't the expense or killing them - mice are cheap to own and easy to kill with a small rubbermaid container and some dry ice to create a fast, humane, gas chamber. It's the work involved and the smell. Cleaning cages takes time. You also have to account for the cost of the cages and water bottles (which do not last forever), the cost of food, the cost of bedding, and the cost of the dry ice to kill them. In addition, while you can feed them food scraps, for them to be optimally nutritious for your cat, it's better to feed them a more balanced diet. You can plan a balanced diet for them and feed them a balanced diet with human food instead of mouse chow but you have to be careful, not just toss anything in the cage. Wild rodents are likely to carry disease but cage-raised feeder rodents are usually healthy if fed a good diet, kept in a clean cage, and not exposed to wild rodents. Also, even cats on a prey model raw diet should not eat only mice or only any single food. They should have chicken or small bird occasionally. They should also get fish. Rabbit is a good occasional option but is not high enough in fat to be fed as the only food item for more than a few days. If I had a cat (which I don't currently), I might consider prey model raw feeding for it but I would not raise rodents myself. Raising rodents would only be more cost effective than buying them if you need to feed a large number of cats. You can buy already dead feeder rodents at most pet stores or even order them online.
Being an animal lover I could never do this. It seems really cruel to me. The poor little mice. My cats are strictly indoor cats so they never eat any type of rodents anyway. There are lots of ways for your cat to get healthy, natural food without feeding them live mice. I find this so sad.
