What is the meaning behind the “habit” of some cats to bring their victims to their owners? A gesture of affection or the need to eat the prey safely.
If you have a cat, and unless you live in a house with no access to the outside, it’s very likely that you’ve woken up to find a gift from your feline on your pillow: perhaps a dead bird caught on the balcony, or a lizard.
Have you ever wondered why they do it? It won’t surprise you to learn that the answer isn’t as simple as it seems, and there are several theories that could explain this unpleasant habit: LiveScience has collected them and also interviewed a couple of feline behavior experts.
Predatory or maternal instinct?
The first (of the experts) is Stephanie Liff, veterinarian and director of the New York clinic Pure Pawrs Veterinary Care. According to Liff, at the root of the habit of bringing dead animals home is the so-called “predatory instinct” (although the word “instinct” is now outdated). In simpler terms, cats like to hunt, and even domestic ones cannot resist the temptation to chase prey. But why bring it home instead of consuming it on the spot? According to Emmanuelle Baudry of Paris-Saclay University, the most accredited hypothesis is that it is a maternal behavior: when kittens are not yet efficient hunters, the mother takes care of providing them with food. This doesn’t mean they consider us humans incapable: on the contrary, according to this interpretation, it would be a gesture of affection towards us and a demonstration that they feel comfortable with us.
Every cat is a story in itself.
This last detail is precisely the basis of another theory, which suggests that cats bring us dead animals instead of eating them immediately precisely because they feel safer within the domestic walls; eating in peace is one of the things cats prefer. However, it must be said that several studies have shown that not all domestic cats hunt with the same frequency, or bring their victims to their owners.
This is where another hypothesis fits in, which is that there is a strong link between the animal’s individuality and its tendency to give us dead birds: more dominant and hyperactive cats tend to kill more often and bring more carcasses home – as is also true for those living in the countryside compared to those living in the city.
How to avoid it.
And what about the solution? Is it possible to prevent the house cat from filling our bed with dead lizards? According to Liff, it is impossible to eliminate such a deeply rooted behavior. However, it can be limited as much as possible, for example by preventing the cat from roaming freely.
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