The 12 Kitties of Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my kitty gave to me..

One - not so lively - Mousey

( Fictional story.. Only kamikaze mice would enter this house)

Why do cats do that?

How many times do you hear about a feline offering of a dead mouse.

Are they just being icky?

Is it a gift?

Are they showing us that they appreciate all they do for us, and would like to share their snack? 

Ha.. A cat showing appreciation.

No.

They think we suck at hunting and they are trying to show us.








 Smug little creatures.

I am only half joking.

Lets think about what we know for fact

• Momma cats in the wild bring dead mice to their babies.
• When the kittens are a bit older, Momma brings them injured mice.
• Momma needs to teach her babies how to kill the prey in order for them to be able to survive on their own.

• Even if Momma was never around to teach this to their babies, or Momma and her young have never stepped foot outside it is in their predatory instinct to hunt and kill.
• Cats are natural born killers.

The Mickey and Mallory of the bird, bug and rodent world. 
Fantastic cat names by the way.

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If your cat brings you a half dead mouse, maybe your cat thinks you are more advanced than a 5 week old kitten! good for you!

But what if Fluffy is a boy. That throws the Motherly aspect out the window.

 I recall, way back when I was a youngin - my Cat left a dead mouse for me... On my pillow?
Noooo In my pillow case!!
That only ever happened once.
As he got older he started bringing me Potatoes and Green Beans..

I believe he understood my views on hunting and decided to take a different approach. 
No?
Maybe the mouse just got wise and stayed away.
In regards to that kitty, the gift idea seems to sounds possible.  He was my little guardian...
Crap now I am sad.
***********
Sebby has only ever brought me .. nothing, he steals from me. 
Willow steals as well.
Molly ignores me.
Onyx too.
Cubby...I do not think he has ever brought me anything. 

Some of the foster kittens have brought me toy mousies. 

I am a little annoyed now.. where are my gifts? Not that I actually want dead critters.. I do not.. 
They could bring me toys. 

Ungrateful meows... 

Maybe I should take it as a compliment. They don't need to hunt for me.. they do not need to teach me. 
Maybe they see me as less of a stupid human and more of an over grown feline. 
***********

Since killing is a natural drive for our fantastic little meows.. they might have killed a mouse and then realized they were not hungry..
Maybe they are just trying not to waste their food?

Regardless of the reason behind why a cat brings you dead or half dead tiny animals - one thing seems to be constant..
Do not scold your cat for doing this. 
You can ignore them, then throw away this 'gift?'
If they have a tendency to hunt toys and bring them to you - and you think it is kinda cute- play along.
The cat did a good job. Praise them.
Don't over do  it.. they are not stupid.


Cats are fantastic creatures, each unique in their own way.
We have tiny tigers and panthers living amongst us. ( they like to think they are tiny tigers and panthers)

If on the first day of Christmas my kitty gave to me
A not so lively mousey...
I would do my absolute best not to freak out...
Then I would consider myself lucky..
That I am not a mouse...
Then I will assume that my cat must like me. 



Afterthought.....
I find it disgusting that people could look at a cat or kitten and think are evil...
I absolutely agree that they are tiny little serial killers - they toy with their prey and kill for no reason at times...

They may even enjoy it...

If you think about it ... it's creepy. 

But..

They do not profit from killing these animals. 

They do not make billions of dollars by slaughtering animals on a daily basis to feed mass amounts of people who are not obligatory carnivores. 

They do not buy special equipment to stalk their prey and give themselves an overwhelming advantage over these creatures. 

They do not mount the heads of these animals on their walls.

They do not stuff these animals and keep them as a trophy.

If you allow your cat outdoors then you are putting birds and other small animals at risk. 

No I am not a moron... think about it. 

We buy bird feeders, bird baths, and put them up in our back yards.. then we let out bird killers. 

We build communities where wildlife live, then get angry at the wildlife for getting into our garbage - but we are too stupid to put our garbage in something they can not get into. 

We grow gardens in our back yards - then get mad when animals eat the food. 

The garbage, the garden, the bird baths, and bird feeders all have something in common.. they draw in small animals which cats kill. 

  Save a Birdy... keep Fluffy inside.