Our Murderous, Fluffy Friends

I have been asked by many people over the years how to get an animal to stop trying to kill other (usually smaller, prey) animals. For example: How do you get a cat to stop killing birds (or mice, or rats, or bats, etc)? and, how do you get your dog to stop hunting small animals (like cats, rabbits, birds, chickens, etc)?

There is no easy answer to this question. Our carnivorous pets are doing what their instincts are driving them to do. In most cases, growing up with another type of animal (like a puppy growing up with a cat(s)) is enough to make the bigger one not too keen to rip the smaller one apart - but not always.

There are things you can do to try minimise the harm your pet can cause - let's have a look at some of those ideas here:

1. Simplest: let your pet grow up and interact with many different animals regularly. (This may not work for cats!)
2. Constantly supervise your pet. You could keep your cat indoors, and allow the dog outside to play only when you are watching and can stop any murderous activities. This is an option your pets will probably not enjoy, side effects can include stress/depression related health issues.
3. In the case of cats: Put a collar with a bell on it. These do have a quick release buckle that releases when it gets pulled so they won't get inadvertently choked. Allegedly. Bell is meant to warn small critters of their impending doom, allowing them a chance to escape. If they're fast enough.
4. Severely admonish your pet when you catch them in the act of attempted murder. NB - this would need to be while it's happening, not after when they bring the corpse to you for your approval.
5. Ignore them when they bring you a (corpse) present. Show them that you are completely disinterested in these shenanigans.
6. In the case of dogs: Lots of exercise. Make them too tired to hunt. Although you'll get tired first - try anyway. Exercise means a good hour or two of running, not a brisk 30 minute walk.
7. In the case of dogs: Give them a job to do. Teach them tricks and such. Do stuff with them that makes them use their brain muscles as well as their rest-of-body muscles.

The bottom line is that you may not be able to change this killing-spree-inclined behaviour in your beloved pet. Some dogs and cats have this killing drive more or less than others. Shepherd-type dogs have been known to carry abandoned baby animals to safety. They have also been known to eat helpless baby animals. If your pet likes to kill despite your best efforts, then do what you can (and what is fair to them) to minimize their access to small creatures. They are doing what they were designed to do.

It is also possible to have a pet become more aggressive towards other animals that they used to accept without issue. This can be caused from a wide range of factors, including: not enough exercise (too much pent-up energy that gets released as aggression, excess weight often comes with this particular factor), pain causing aggression, psychopathy, neurological issues, etc.

You don't have to like your pet's killing sprees, but try not to be angry with them - they are doing what they were literally born to do.

I originally wrote this post here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/18397158