[SephysManda]

Does anyone ever feed mice to cats? Or even dogs? Do they like freshly dead or f/t? Which size mouse do they like the best? I sure hope I'm not the only one wanting to feed mice to cats.

I would've posted this on the main forum, but not sure if anyone would be offended.

 

[SarahC]

my dogs are happy to eat mice and I feed my ferrets almost exclusively on them.There is a member on here who breeds just for her cats.I also feed them to injured wildlife I find.Crows,hedgehogs many creatures.Something might as well have the benefit.

 

[Kallan]

I feed my culled mice to my cat.

 

[sarahsnake]

my cats wont eat them.
they`re a bit useless my cats

 

[Marjolijn]

I feed my culled mice to my cat. Freshly dead. She doesn´t like ´cold´ones.

 

[gothling]

my cats wont eat them.
they`re a bit useless my cats

yeah neither will ours, they bring home moss and eat that?? but if they find a mouse it just gets patted around the garden and left.

 

[Oneweek22]

I plan to feed my mice to my cat. Only the extras but I would prefer to pass on some merles to other breeders but again Im still waiting on my merle to get pregnant/start showing! I have a mouser and she will be very happy. She seems impatient as she sneaks into the bedroom to watch my mice run on their wheels. It will be at least another month before she gets any but why not? Everyone knows cats eat mice so what if we gave the mouse to them or they caught it themself. I fed my ferret catfood and mice when I had him years ago and he was happy as ever with live as my cat will be also. No freezing here.

 

[The Village Mousery]

hmmm cull the mouse first... dont just give them to the cat live, could take hours for the cat the kill the poor thing if the cat desides it not that hungry and cats have a tendancy to play with there food.

 

[Kallan]

Everyone knows cats eat mice so what if we gave the mouse to them or they caught it themself. I fed my ferret catfood and mice when I had him years ago and he was happy as ever with live as my cat will be also. No freezing here.

In the UK it is illiegal to feed live mammals to other animals so that's not an option for us here! (Just pointing that out in case anyone over here decides to try it!)

 

[SephysManda]

hmmm cull the mouse first... dont just give them to the cat live, could take hours for the cat the kill the poor thing if the cat desides it not that hungry and cats have a tendancy to play with there food.

I wasn't gonna do live so no worries there.

 

[Oneweek22]

I fed my ferret f/t mice mostly but an occasional live mouse. I do realize the laws are different and I should have made note of that in my post. Maybe I even sounded a bit arrogant as well sorry. I would freeze but my boyfriend wouldnt put up with dead mice in the freezer so thats out for me.

 

[SarahY]

I would freeze but my boyfriend wouldnt put up with dead mice in the freezer so thats out for me.

My husband won't either, so I had to buy my own little freezer!

Sarah xxx

 

[WillowDragon]

Luckily we have a huge freezer, so the bottom drawer is mine LOL

 

[sarahsnake]

i have the top drawer

 

[Oneweek22]

I didnt think of getting my own mini freezer. Great idea!

 

[CatWoman]

I breed especially for my cats. I feed twice a day and each feeding session takes 40-50 adult mice (~30g each), so breeding my own mice is more cost effective.

I pre-kill and then freeze the mice for about a week. If you're going to feed to cats, it's really in your (and your cat's) best interest to freeze the mice first, so that you make sure to kill any Toxoplasmosis cysts that may be present in the mouse. Freezing the mice to 10F/-12C or colder for at least 3 days kills the tissue cysts and breaks the cycle, which helps keep you and your cat safe and sound. It's especially important for people with compromised immune systems or who are/may become pregnant.

My cats don't care if the mice are frozen first, as long as I warm them up before I feed them. I usually take them out of the freezer the day before and thaw them overnight in the fridge. Then, I soak them in ~100F water for about 15 minutes immediately before feeding.

I have a second fridge and a chest freezer just for pet food

 

[Kallan]

How many cats do you have?

 

[The Village Mousery]

i'm guessing about 20 to 25 cats as most cats need 2 to 3 mice per day feed wise..

 

[CatWoman]

43

 

[Kallan]

Wow :shock: Do you breed them or rescue or jsut have loads? :lol: