Play with your cat – and protect feathered friends

ONE of the consolations of lockdown and travel restrictions has been my ability to feed the birds every morning.

It has become such a habit that they are all there waiting at the appointed time.

Blackbirds, thrushes, chaffinches, robins, various tits and the odd pheasant or two peck about busily before a flock of wood pigeons descend to hoover up whatever is left.

The downside has been that all this activity has sparked the interest of my neighbour’s cat, who prowls and stalks his prey.

The RSPB estimate that domestic cats kill about 55million birds annually (never mind the rodents), although (remarkably, in my view) RSPB spokesperson, Helen Moffat, said: “there is no clear evidence that this is a major cause of the decline in any bird species in the UK.”

I guess that boys will be boys and cats will be cats, but I know that many cat owners fret about their feline friends hunting but are reluctant to keep them indoors, for obvious welfare reasons.

Collars with bells are ineffective and pose a risk to the cat but a recent study has discovered ways that hunting and killing can be reduced.

Robbie McDonald and a team of researchers at the University of Exeter Environment and Sustainability Institute monitored 355 cats who regularly caught wildlife.

They found that, when owners played a simple “chase and catch” game with their cat, the frequency with which rodents were killed was reduced by around one third, though it had less effect on the number of birds killed.

The results, published in the journal, Current Biology, also demonstrated that, when the cats’ normal diet was replaced with a fresh meat diet, which contained none of the plant-based protein found in commercial food, the number of rodents and birds killed was reduced by 36 per cent.

Exactly why this occurred is not clear but Professor McDonald speculated that hunting might be stimulated by the need for a specific mineral or amino acid. And there is more. Feline behaviourist Sarah Ellis, of International Cat Care, said: “It was reported by some owners that they felt closer to their cats as a result of this intervention.

“Cats were engaged with play and some even solicited the play, a behaviour I am sure many owners will find appealing.” So, it’s a win, win.

Happy owners, contented cats. Safe birds.

All I need do now is convince my neighbour to buy a pet mouse, a fishing rod and some mince…

(The study was supported by the charity, Songbird Survival.)