Bringing Frogs Home!

[Diddeen]

Ok my cat is a bit unusual.. he doesnt go out and kill animals and bring them home dead or decaptitated... but.. he does insist on bringing live things back to our garden to 'play' with Last week i had a young blackbird who was not seriously injured but he'd chewed quite a few feathers off of its back and tail so it couldnt really fly so i took it to the vets as it was otherwise very lively and healthy.. Now twice he's brought home live frogs! Each time the frogs arent harmed and yet he is carrying them in his mouth from another garden (dont know where) over fences to our garden and then procedes to poke it so it jumps, chase it, pick it up in his mouth and throws it! Each time as soon as ive seen him and realised what he's playing with ive gone and taken the frog away and released it outside our garden, dont know where the pond is that its from. Ive looked at both frogs and neither have been harmed at all, just a bit shocked, and yet he's had it in his mouth lots! He isnt normal is he Not that i want him to kill things.. but i do hate him 'tormenting' live animals even more
Anyone elses cat do this? We were going to try put a bell on him but that isnt going to help frogs is it

[Moli]

Frogs do not live in ponds, they live in the undergrowth, they go to water to spawn, so he could well be finding them in your garden...One of my boys once brought a frog home, and dropped it in the kitchen, where it hopped all over the place, much to the delight of my other cats!!I did catch it and put it in next doors garden...............

[dandysmom]

He's normal. They don't have the concept of "torture" as we do, and doesn't realize he's hurting/terrifying the prey...it's a game to him. Unpleasant to watch, but just nature in one of it's less pleasant aspects. And yes, they can carry things in their mouths without harming them: mum cats often carry live prey home to teach the kittens how to hunt.

[Diddeen]

Definitely no frogs in our garden Next door's garden is really overgrown as no-one has lived there for a year so maybe they live in there I've seen him jump down off the fence and run about then suddenly realise what he's doing My sisters' cats all bring home dead or half eaten things so thought mine was just being odd He's used to living with 3 house rabbits so i have a feeling he doesnt see live animals as food.. only toys

[dandysmom]

I think the hunting is hard wired; they will do it instinctively. But if mum cat didn't teach them how to kill and eat the prey, and they are well fed house cats, chances are they won't. As you said, they don't think of it as food........

[MrsH]

My cats are terrible for bringing frogs home. They love the way frogs squeak when the cats "play" with them and dive into the grass after them. Once Molly brought in 8 frogs in one day, or was it 1 frog 8 times?

[angieh]

Smudge used to bring home live creatures, mainly shrews or voles and let them loose in the house to play with. That used to cause us no end of "fun" of course, trying to get them safely out again. Frogs too, and both she and Merlin used to love the frogs hopping - and yes, they do squeak don't they, poor things.

I don't think your cat is abnormal Diddeen - just being a cat!

[dandysmom]

Originally Posted by angieh

Smudge used to bring home live creatures, mainly shrews or voles and let them loose in the house to play with. That used to cause us no end of "fun" of course, trying to get them safely out again. Frogs too, and both she and Merlin used to love the frogs hopping - and yes, they do squeak don't they, poor things.

I don't think your cat is abnormal Diddeen - just being a cat!

Speaking of hopping: Sultan used to love catching grasshoppers in the garden, letting them loose to watch them jump, then catching and doing all over again until the poor thing was so worn out it just sat when poked!