Mice For Cats

[Kazzy08]

Read a really interesting post on a mouse forum last night. There's a breeder on there that feeds mice to his/her cat. A fitting whole prey diet. Thinking I may switch my cats over to f/t mice once I get mine producing enough.

Can't believe it's not more common, especially for reptile keepers that also have cats. If you think about it, it's the perfect diet for cats. Maybe add in whole bird prey (quail or chicken chicks) occasionally, to keep the diet varied, though domestic cat ancestors feed mainly on rodents.

Any other cat/reptile people ever consider this? I mean, raw diets are common for dogs, and they are quite a bit more complicated than cats (omnivore vs. carnivor). Thoughts? Opinions? Goofy cat pic included. Ignore the mess, was cleaning some mealworm tubs.

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[Eavlynn]

I've heard of people feeding mice to their cats and ferrets, but I've never actually done it, even though I have plenty f/t mice and chicks on hand. It makes sense though, I mean, it's not like they go to the store and buy cat food in the wild.

If you try this, let me know how it goes!

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[Kazzy08]

I've heard of people feeding mice to their cats and ferrets, but I've never actually done it, even though I have plenty f/t mice and chicks on hand. It makes sense though, I mean, it's not like they go to the store and buy cat food in the wild.

If you try this, let me know how it goes!

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I sure will! There's a process I read about from someone that feeds 50 some odd cats mice (I guess she cares for a feral colony) to get them switched. Apparently commercial foods are highly scented to attract the cats to eat it, since most aren't really true to their nature.

I'll certainly update if I do this! Just need to up my mouse production a good bit. I've got 3 cats, and from what I understand an adult cat needs about 3 adult mice a day. Of course, the mice will be humanely euthanized and frozen beforehand.

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[Eavlynn]

With 3 a day, and 4 rescue cats at home, I'd have to have a mouse breeding setup myself! Which isn't out of the question later down the road, it certainly would save us in feeding cost for the reptiles.

If you do this and see a noticeable change in their health and energy, I'll make it happen in the future! (I wonder if it will make their breath smell like dead rodents...)

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[Kazzy08]

With 3 a day, and 4 rescue cats at home, I'd have to have a mouse breeding setup myself! Which isn't out of the question later down the road, it certainly would save us in feeding cost for the reptiles.

If you do this and see a noticeable change in their health and energy, I'll make it happen in the future! (I wonder if it will make their breath smell like dead rodents...)

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I've got three cats, so I definitely understand! I'm trying to get more mice to amp up my breeding so I can start doing this. I've offered my cats pinkies, but they don't know what to do with them quite yet. I'll keep you updated though!

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[Eavlynn]

I wonder if they'll even eat them. Being domesticated, they may not. My boyfriend's cat, Wesley, caught a mouse once. He played with it for a long time, but didn't seem to have any intention of eating it. I'd be half afraid to find them in my shoes! Haha

The woman who fed mice to feral cats likely had more luck because they were used to hunting for food. It'll be interesting to see what your cats think of the mice.

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[Kazzy08]

I wonder if they'll even eat them. Being domesticated, they may not. My boyfriend's cat, Wesley, caught a mouse once. He played with it for a long time, but didn't seem to have any intention of eating it. I'd be half afraid to find them in my shoes! Haha

The woman who fed mice to feral cats likely had more luck because they were used to hunting for food. It'll be interesting to see what your cats think of the mice.

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From what she said about hers, there was definitely a process to get hers eating them. Most were used to processed dry/wet foods, and didn't understand the mouse in their food dish.
First, switch to wet food.
Second, start adding purred pinkies (that'll be fun..), steadily increasing pinkies to wet food amount.
Third, start leaving pinky chunks (oh boy...), so they'll get used to chewing
Work up to whole pinkies (soak in tuna juice or something to entice them initially), then slowly work up to adult mice.

The main issue is most commercial foods have scents added to entice that cats to eat it, so they are quite a bit more smelly than mice will be. You also have to get their jaw muscles working, so they get used to having to truly chew their food, especially with the bones.

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[Eavlynn]

From what she said about hers, there was definitely a process to get hers eating them. Most were used to processed dry/wet foods, and didn't understand the mouse in their food dish.
First, switch to wet food.
Second, start adding purred pinkies (that'll be fun..), steadily increasing pinkies to wet food amount.
Third, start leaving pinky chunks (oh boy...), so they'll get used to chewing
Work up to whole pinkies (soak in tuna juice or something to entice them initially), then slowly work up to adult mice.

The main issue is most commercial foods have scents added to entice that cats to eat it, so they are quite a bit more smelly than mice will be. You also have to get their jaw muscles working, so they get used to having to truly chew their food, especially with the bones.

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That definitely sounds like quite a process. I may just stick to regular food. Occasionally they'll eat raw chicken, or egg. I wasn't happy with the fillers in most commercial foods so I transitioned to Taste of the Wild. They actually look healthier since we made the switch about a two years ago.

I don't think I have the stomach for pureed pinkies haha. I've pureed roaches and worms for beardie slurries, but I dunno about pinkies. I did have to cut one up, in an attempt to entice a baby monitor to eat. I'll never forget that!

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[Kazzy08]

That definitely sounds like quite a process. I may just stick to regular food. Occasionally they'll eat raw chicken, or egg. I wasn't happy with the fillers in most commercial foods so I transitioned to Taste of the Wild. They actually look healthier since we made the switch about a two years ago.

I don't think I have the stomach for pureed pinkies haha. I've pureed roaches and worms for beardie slurries, but I dunno about pinkies. I did have to cut one up, in an attempt to entice a baby monitor to eat. I'll never forget that!

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Yeah, the beginning process won't be fun, but at least they will be humanely euthanized beforehand. And I have a blender specifically for animal stuff (I, too, have blended plenty of bugs).

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[Kazzy08]

They've really got to stop being so cute...haha!

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[Candybugs]

I couldn't do it. I pulled a gray bunny out of a huge snakes tank once and drove away with it. Lol. I feel guilty about worms and crickets sometimes .

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[Kazzy08]

I couldn't do it. I pulled a gray bunny out of a huge snakes tank once and drove away with it. Lol. I feel guilty about worms and crickets sometimes .

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Lol I understand. Circle of life, and everything, though. These mice will live happy lives (I swear I'm making more toys for them every night...haha!), and be humanely euthanized beforehand, so there will be no suffering

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[Candybugs]

I was so scared grabbing that bunny. It still makes me laugh. The snakes name was Kat and she just watched me get him. She was probably thinking the same as me way too cute to eat.

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[Kazzy08]

I was so scared grabbing that bunny. It still makes me laugh. The snakes name was Kat and she just watched me get him. She was probably thinking the same as me way too cute to eat.

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Aww! I had to do that once with a bunny at the shop I worked at. Coworker decided to try to feed the big anaconda a live rabbit (and the friendliest rabbit I've ever met), and I walked in as he put the bun in the cage. Thankfully, Annie (the conda) only ate frozen/thawed, so she didn't pay much attention to the bun, and I got him out. My coworker got an earful from me about the dangers of feeding live rabbits (they'll rip a snake up if given the chance), and not to touch the live rabbits.

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[fureverywhere]

I couldn't do it. My daughter has a cage of pet rats and they're the cuddliest creatures. I love rodents too much to feed them to another creature. Another fun fact...my cats are all old and spoiled, the dogs aren't the brightest crayons in the box. We have a colony of mice hidden somewhere deep in the house. I mean if you were a mouse looking for a home you'd pick the house with a bunch of large predators right? But the truth is that unless a mousie runs right beside a cat they ignore them. I can just imagine their faces " You actually expect us to EAT that?".

 

[Kazzy08]

I couldn't do it. My daughter has a cage of pet rats and they're the cuddliest creatures. I love rodents too much to feed them to another creature. Another fun fact...my cats are all old and spoiled, the dogs aren't the brightest crayons in the box. We have a colony of mice hidden somewhere deep in the house. I mean if you were a mouse looking for a home you'd pick the house with a bunch of large predators right? But the truth is that unless a mousie runs right beside a cat they ignore them. I can just imagine their faces " You actually expect us to EAT that?".

Lol! Well, there is actually a parasite called toxoplasmosis that is carried by rodents. The parasite needs cats for one of its life cycles, so it will actually caused rodents to be attracted to the smell of cats so that they get eaten. It also affects the majority of people with cats.

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[Mom2Dovakiin]

I would never be able to do this lol. I use to raise rats (not breed, just rescue). That's the main reason why I've never had snakes even though I love them too lol.
I do like Taste of the Wild cat food though. I only have a small mom and pop pet food store I shop at for it.

 

[Eavlynn]

I would never be able to do this lol. I use to raise rats (not breed, just rescue). That's the main reason why I've never had snakes even though I love them too lol.
I do like Taste of the Wild cat food though. I only have a small mom and pop pet food store I shop at for it.

I get frozen rodents so I don't have to feel so bad about feeding them off. I wouldn't mind having a pet rat, but with cats and snakes, it's probably not the best idea haha.

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[Mom2Dovakiin]

shoot, at one point I had like 3 dogs, 3 cats and around 10+ rats in the same house. The cats and dogs learned real quick not to mess with my rats lol.
Course, where I lived at the time, making sure not to leave my sliding glass door open was kind of important. One day I left it open and a road runner decided to check out the rat cages lol.
Thankfully no one hurt, but it was a learning experience hehehe

 

[Eavlynn]

shoot, at one point I had like 3 dogs, 3 cats and around 10+ rats in the same house. The cats and dogs learned real quick not to mess with my rats lol.
Course, where I lived at the time, making sure not to leave my sliding glass door open was kind of important. One day I left it open and a road runner decided to check out the rat cages lol.
Thankfully no one hurt, but it was a learning experience hehehe

I'd be more concerned about the snakes catching a whiff of them. Although I'm sure the cats would torment a rat as well. Our felines can be a bit rude.

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