A Michael Broad Blog
There are 3 reasons why domestic cats apparently torture their prey by playing with them. I list and discuss them here. It is a form of feline behaviour which at best irritates their human caregiver and at worst disgusts them. It does, however, provide the cat’s owner with an opportunity to save the mouse. …
When a cat eats a bird, it will sometimes pluck the bird’s feathers beforehand. That, though, is a simplistic statement because it seems that it is more complicated than that. The same or very similar methods are employed by both domestic and wild cats. This is no surprise because a domestic cat behaves like …
There are two parts of this page. In the first part I described the results of this study back in 2008. In the second part I have revisited the study and described it again because I wasn’t happy with the first effort. I’m still not entirely happy but there it is. Cat’s urine smell …
The answer to the question in the title is that you should praise your cat for her maternal generosity. You should then take the mouse from her while stroking her and complimenting her. You should then quietly dispose of the mouse if it is dead. If it is alive you should place it outside …
Stable isotopes in hair can reveal dietary protein sources. Scientists from the University of Exeter, UK, trimmed a whisker from each domestic cat participating in their study; once at the start and once at the end of the study. These domestic cats were allowed outside to hunt. They measured the stable isotope ratios in …
You may know the answer so I won’t go on about this. It’s actually often a reversal of roles depending on the gender of the cat. Normally the human owner of a domestic cat is the surrogate mother, the provider of food and security. Under these circumstances, normally, the domestic cat behaves as a …
The answer to the first part of the question is yes, cats can eat maggots and they sometimes do when grooming and the answer to the second part is no, cats cannot get maggots from eating flies. Can a cat eat maggots? Yes, they can. I can think of a good example. Years ago, …
There are advantages to presenting the back of your hand when greeting a domestic cat, including your own cat. I always do it. This may be because my cat is a former feral cat and is perhaps a little twitchier than your average domestic cat. However, I have found that if I inadvertently wave …
