So we’re kickin’ back eating some tender barbecued ribs. She’s done, and I’m just finishing. The front door is open, and the baby gate is up to keep the cat in. Then a small bird flew in. It tried to get out through the non-opening front window, and the SO told me to get a towel. Harvey the Indoor Cat is on the hunt. I washed the barbecue sauce off of my fingers and went to get a towel, when the bird made a mistake. It came down to the sill. Harvey got him. The SO pulled him away, and I picked up the stricken bird with the towel. Maybe it’s just stunned?
I tool the bird outside and set it, on the towel, between a couple of potted plants. It was breathing rapidly. After a few minutes I asked if I should despatch it. ‘No, let it rest.’ After ten minutes the poor thing was still on its back, breathing rapidly. I was about to get up and put it out of its misery, when the SO went out to look at it. She rolled it over so that it was no longer on its back. The bird looked around and flew away.
I felt bad for not killing the bird when it seemed fatally injured. I’m glad I didn’t, as it really was just stunned. The cat had a little adventure, and got some praise for being a Great Black-And-White Hunter.
The bird didn’t fly very far. SO went out and looked at it, and it was lying in some tall-ish grass. After about an hour she went out and touched it. It flew into a tree.
I wondered the same thing about the tree! I’m not sure any of my cats would have been so proactive. Moths and small things, sure, but an actual bird? I wonder what any of them would do…
From local bird rescue groups, it’s my understanding (for those of you who may encounter a stunned bird from flying into a window or whatever) to either leave them alone if they’re in a safe-ish area, or place the bird in a small box where it’s nice and dark and quiet for an hour or two. Usually they’ll be fine once given a chance to recover from the stun. Happens a lot around here and that’s the advice the animal ER gives over the phone.
A bird landed on the outside windowsill today, which somehow immediately attracted the attention of my cat Fiona, who was napping near the window. Fiona jumped up on the inside of the windowsill to examine this creature. Fiona and the bird looked at each other for a moment through the glass, then the bird flew away. Fiona jumped down, and went back to her nap.
I have no doubt that if the window was open, Fiona would have had a snack. As it was, I wished I had a camera handy to get a photo of the two of them looking at each other.
While I did see the bird come down to the sill, the SO, who was watching, said the cat actually leapt and caught the bird near the top of the window. She said he had it in his mouth, and I saw him with it in his paws. (He’d been de-clawed [front paws] before the SO got him from a shelter.)
It was dark when I left the house this morning, so I didn’t see if the bird had died and fallen out of the tree. But I take its flying twice to be a hopeful sign.
Sorry to break it to you, but most cat-caught birds die from infection. Your concern was admirable, however, a more correct strategy would be to capture the bird, put it in a box, and take it to the nearest wildlife rescue.
We had a bat in the house the other night, and Athena, who desperately wants to be an outdoor cat (although she has spent her entire life indoors (except for some escapes and occasional supervised outings)) was on the dining room table jumping at her new toy ever time the creature circled around her. Never quite got it, but I think that was due to evasive maneuvers by the bat.
Of course he can! (He jumped higher than that to get the bird.) He just doesn’t want to. He’s content to lie by it and feel the breeze and survey the world.
It’s his kitty TV.
Am I the only one thinking the cat deserves to keep the bird? After all, he caught it. I think he did a wonderful job catching it without claws and deserves a reward for catching the intruder.
My cats would have played with it for a while, passed it around some and then ate it. Though I do prefer they eat their fresh treats outside.
I’m sitting on the couch doing my work, and the SO is on the love seat looking for a better job, when we hear some commotion over by the printer at the front window. I thought it was the printer doing something.
Another bird had flown in the open front door, and then made a U-turn into the front window. The cat was very interested. He’d been watching birds all morning. ‘Mom’ caught the bird in her hands and launched it out the door, telling it to stay outside.
But once it comes inside, the bird is the invasive one.
My two cats would’ve played with the bird until it was unable to move much. Then they’d have lost interest. If the bird were small enough, they’d leave it in one of my shoes.
