You open the door, and there it is, placed carefully on the mat. Your cat looks very pleased. Why do cats bring you dead animals? It isn’t because you’ve been forgetting dinner. Experts have a couple of ideas, and one of them is a little insulting to your hunting skills.
Theory One: You Are A Hopeless Kitten
In the wild, mother cats bring prey back to their kittens. It feeds them, and it also teaches them how to hunt. Emmanuelle Baudry, an ecologist at Paris-Saclay University, told Live Science that this is the main explanation, and that our cats may see us as “not so efficient kittens.”
Veterinarian Stephanie Liff sees it as something of a compliment. Your cat is comfortable at home and thinks of you as family.
Theory Two: Home Is The Safe Place To Eat
The other idea is more practical. Outdoors, a cat has to watch out for other animals that might take their catch. Home is a safe place to store it or eat in peace. In that case, the gift is not really for you. You just happen to live there.
Why Some Cats Hunt More
Being well fed doesn’t turn off the urge. Cats were domesticated thousands of years ago, but they have kept the drive to hunt. Some hunt all the time, though, and others hardly ever do.
A 2023 study in the journal Ecology and Evolution found that cats their owners described as dominant, aggressive, or active brought home more prey. Shy cats, and cats who were friendly with their owners, brought home less. It also depends on where a cat lives and how long they spend outside, so country cats often have more chances than city cats.
What To Do When A Gift Arrives
- Don’t punish your cat. They won’t connect it with the hunt, and you’ll only stress them out.
- Wear gloves or use a plastic bag to pick it up, and wash your hands afterward. Prey can carry parasites and diseases.
- Clean the spot where it was left.
- If the animal is alive and hurt, keep your cat away and contact a local wildlife rescue for advice.
How To Get Fewer Surprises
The most effective step is the simplest. As Dr. Liff explains, limiting what your cat can reach limits the behavior.
- Keep your cat indoors, or give them a safe enclosed outdoor space.
- Move bird feeders away from where your cat can reach them.
- Satisfy the urge another way. Daily play with toys they can chase and pounce on gives them a safe way to hunt.
This helps wildlife too. Cats kill billions of birds and small mammals every year, and keeping them inside also protects them from diseases that prey can carry, such as bird flu.
Your cat will still think that you can’t feed yourself. But at least you’ll stop finding it on the doormat.
