# Can an Orphan Kitten be a Mouser? (Pics, too)



## Organic Cowgirl (Oct 6, 2007)

We were gone for two weeks. When we got back, we found a mama cat and three kittens in our barn. I put food out, but within a few days, Mama and two kittens were gone and only one lone kitten remained, screaming pitifully for three days. I put food out for her, but after I felt pretty sure Mama wasn't returning, I put out a live trap for the kitten. We have her in the house (for 3 days now) and she's a REALLY nice kitten. We'd like to put her back in the barn as a mouser/rat catcher, (NEUTERED, of course.) She's about 6 or 7 weeks, I'd guess. Any chance of her knowing how to mouse? Could I buy feeder mice to imprint her on them as food?

As an aside, I'm pretty sure I know how the kitten got separated from its family. I think Mama was moving them through the neighbors' deep meadow. I saw them trying to catch something and they said, "We hear kittens!" I am guessing they broke up the group and Mama and the other two got thoroughly scared away. When this kitten couldn't find her family, she made her way back to our barn. Just guessing, of course.


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2008)

Some cats do learn to hunt on their own. You can certainly help her along with feeder mice.

As a general rule, the best hunters are trained by mama, but they are born with the instinct, so a little encouragement might make a successful mouser.


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Go buy a grey mouse from the pet store and let her play with it. She will figure out why you gave her the mouse and go from there.


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## Willow101 (Feb 20, 2008)

I don't have many momma barn cats as we spay and neuter everything before they have a chance to 'do their thing.' But I do get a lot of litters in to rescue and many of them stay here as there just aren't any homes available. They have no momma and many do learn to hunt rather efficiently so I think instinct is just as important as a momma to educate.

What I have noticed when we get a mom and litter is mom will start with either dead or close to dead mice and work her way up to healthy squirming mice. Not sure this is nessecary but if you have a slow learner you might try with a dead mouse first.

I do have one poor cat who goes down to the pond and drags home cat tail roots. He sees to think they are great prizes and I often find them on the kitchen floor. The first time I saw one in the dark it looked like a small monster. Scared the poop out of me. Now I know what they are.

Willow101


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## thaiblue12 (Feb 14, 2007)

Fishing pole toys work well too. They have a natural hunt ability and you can help it along. I would start with a fishing pole toy and see if she has a good time with that before letting a mouse loose in your house or barn. They do make pretty good looking mouse toys for around .99c in Petsmart. You can tie some string to it's tail and have you son drag it around. Fun for both of them.


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## Cashs Cowgirl (Jan 26, 2006)

I don't have much advice about the kitten and getting mice, but your little boy is just too cute! Those cheeks...my grandmother would just love those!


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## bumpus (Jul 30, 2003)

.
THIS IS A SUCCESFUL MOUSER:















bumpus
.


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## naturewoman (Nov 12, 2002)

I'll second the cheeks comment. And he looks like his hair is spun gold. What a cutie. That kitten is adorable too. If they are that age and have been living with mom in the wild, they've probably already seen mice she brought them to play with. I have two bottle-raised girls who were found in an orchard at a couple of weeks old, and they are two of my best mousers. They taught themselves. It really depends on the cat. Some are just naturals...some don't seem to have any interest. But you will want to raise her outside (in the barn?) so she has natural things to chase like butterfies and bugs.


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## Guest (Jul 19, 2008)

bumpus said:


> .
> THIS IS A SUCCESFUL MOUSER:
> 
> 
> ...


THIS IS A BETTER MOUSER.


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## GoatNamedDunn (Jun 20, 2008)

Do you have other cats?? My kitten 3 monthes old is being "taught" to hunt by my 13 year old mouser. He brings the kitten dead mice, and the kitten LOVES it. He also catches live mice and lets them run around for the kitten. The only thing I dont like is they are both indoor/outdoor, and the kitten wants to bring his prey INSIDE for us all to share! Oh boooooy!


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## naturewoman (Nov 12, 2002)

ladycat said:


> THIS IS A BETTER MOUSER.


What is that, a sqat?


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## Organic Cowgirl (Oct 6, 2007)

I, unfortunately, do not have another mouser. Our other cat is 4 yrs old and you have to punt him in the @ss to get him out of the house. (He is lucky we have a farm with no traffic and can be indoor/outdoor. Too much time in the house and he starts peeing willy-nilly, despite the fact that he hates being out. :nono: So, out he goes, or he gets a one-way trip to the vet. Anyway, point is, he doesn't mouse. Heck, he hardly gets up off his side, always sprawled out on the rug. 

We'll do the fishing pole games and the live mice/bugs. We do intend to raise her in the barn mostly, but we want to make sure she is thoroughly human-tame first. Half-wild barn cats are fine, but I'd rather my own are not.


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

We have 11 cats. The majority of them were abandoned kittens. The majority of them grew up to be excellent mousers with no encouragement or training from me. 

The exception is our cat Casper. I think his problem is he was a strictly indoor cat until he was 14 years old. He has no clue what a mouse is!

One of our barn cats, Harley, was an indoor cat until age two. One day he decided to move to the barn. Now he's a barn cat and our best mouser. 

Definitely play with the cat, but don't worry to much. Most cats are natural hunters.


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## shadowscribe (Jun 24, 2008)

Like ladycat said, some cats learn to hunt on their own. My parents rescued an orphaned 4 week old kitten 3 years ago and almost every morning they wake up to find a nice stack of dead mice/rats/birds by the door and Riley sitting nearby looking very pleased with his contribution.

The kitten is absolutely adorable by the way.


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## Superman (Jul 16, 2008)

My 2 cents, I'd recommend using something other than a fake mouse to train them. 
Sometimes they get the idea that mice are toys and not food so they'll catch them, play with them, then let them go. 
You might try teaching them with a mouse from the pet shop, knocked in the head. 
When I was a boy we used to shoot a mouse with our BB guns to play with the cats. 

When it was all over they got a healthy snack and we got to point and go "Ewwww! That's cool!" at the carnage.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Give her a ball or two to play with in the kitchen floor that way she gets the idea of the chase...
Set a mousetrap and give her the dead mouse to have for her very own.
Let her outside as often as you can.. especially dawn and dusk.
Give her moths and toads to hunt.


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## celticfarmgal (Feb 25, 2008)

get the snap mouse traps ( Plastic clothespin type traps) then give the caught mice to the cat to play with ( outside of course) they usually get the picture.( helps if you get the mice right away when they aren't quite dead yet) I have one cat that I now can set down in an area where I have just seen a mouse and he will hunt it down and catch it in minutes. then I escort him and his catch out the back door


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## Organic Cowgirl (Oct 6, 2007)

Hey again!

Mama Cat and one kitten is back in the barn today. That was an enormous surprise. I caught the second kitten, currently known as Hiss'n'bite.  So, I have a few options. I can toss both kittens back to Mama. Will she accept the kitten back that has been gone from her for a week or more? I can keep both kittens caught until they're tame and put them back in the barn, but then we're back to the making sure they are good mousers. Or, some other option. 

It's important to me that our barn cats are pretty tame. I don't mean they have to be lovey-dovey, but I need to be able to pick them up for basic care, or something. With that in mind, what would you do?

Oh, thanks for all the sweet compliments on our son. We think he's pretty cute, too. LOL


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Tame both kittens. Easier on you and the kids.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

None of my cats had any training from Mom and they are all good hunters. (currently have seven). Even the ones that only go out occasionally have no trouble catching and bringing me presents. The big difference between the house and barn cats is the barn cats normally eat thier catch, the house cats give it to me.

I had one cat that was very timid. At the time we had a fenced back yard, and she slowly started venturing out. 

One day she was at the door meowing - the "come see what I have" call. She was so proud of herself - she caught a grasshopper! Of course, you have to praise them when they bring you the "prize". I don't think she ever learned to catch anything larger . . .

However her son was one of the best hunters. He even caught a pidgeon off the neighbor's garage roof once. Neighbor saw it all too, or no one would have beleived that a solid white cat could sneak up on a pidgeon on a dark roof.

Cathy


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## GoldenMom (Jan 2, 2005)

My two barn kitties were "stolen" from mom as little babies and are great hunters. It was very important for me to have tame barn cats and the best way to achieve that is to get them young and socialize them.


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## ChristyACB (Apr 10, 2008)

If you have lots of stuff for the kittens to catch, they'll probably catch on that they should go get it in time. I wouldn't let the momma have them too much longer or without your interference since they'll get unsocialized again in a big way. Momma cat is probably going to be pretty upset that her babies are gone, (they are mothers like other mammals), and it might be more cruel to give them back and forth.

I wouldn't go so far as to buy mice, but definitely catching one to stimulate their instinct isn't a bad idea. 

Good luck with the kitties!


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## Jennifer Brewer (Aug 3, 2005)

That kitten looks more along the line of 7-8, maybe 9 weeks. Which is old enough for momma to have begun the mousing training, and old enough to be taken away from momma. If you can tame momma, then tame and feed them all, and she'll make good mousers out of them. Try and get momma fixed if you can afford it. Some shelters do a low-no-cost spay on feral cats. You just have to catch them.

If momma can't be tamed, you may want to take them away. They probably have enough instinct to learn how to mouse through trial and error.


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## PennyJ (Mar 31, 2008)

Willow101 said:


> I do have one poor cat who goes down to the pond and drags home cat tail roots. He sees to think they are great prizes and I often find them on the kitchen floor. The first time I saw one in the dark it looked like a small monster. Scared the poop out of me. Now I know what they are.
> 
> Willow101


:rotfl: That's really funny! 

Glad to hear mom & another kitten is back! And Hiss'n'Bite is a great name  How are things coming along?


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## Organic Cowgirl (Oct 6, 2007)

I caught Mama tonight. She is so light that she got in the trap and ate heartily two times before I caught her. To catch her, I cracked the lid on a can of cat food and she had to fight with it to try to get the food out, dropping the trap door. Before, she just went in, ate delicately and was not heavy enough to trip the foot pedal.

Anyway, I brought her to the house, tried to transfer her to the dog crate and she escaped into the house. I shut the bedroom doors and it was a comedic episode of me trying to catch the cat in a towel while she flew from one hiding spot to the next. DS, naked from his bath, stood on a dining room chair and I kind of growled, "You stay put, I don't want her to hurt you by accident." He replied a few minutes later, "Mama, I'm scay-wed." (scared, a word you never hear him say.) 

I was timid about actually catching her, b/c I REALLY don't want to be bitten by some totally feral cat when I'm pregnant. Eventually, she trapped herself, trying to get back into the trap even though the door was down. She was pressed up against the door and Good Kitten (the one pictured) had her cornered, growling and hissing at her. I moved the kitten gently and got the trap lined up well and scooted Mama into the crate.

I picked up Good Kitten and put her in the crate with Mama, where she had seven fits and really tried to run Mama off.  Crazy kitten. It was about three hours later that I finally found Hiss'n'Bite again and caught her, with much hissing and spitting. I put her back in the crate, too and she smelled Mama, then went to cower in the litter box.

We'll see how things are in the morning. I have no clue whether to expect Good Kitten to reacquaint herself with Mama, but suspect Hiss'n'Bite will, as she wasn't gone from her as long and is still so 'wild.'


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## Organic Cowgirl (Oct 6, 2007)

Both kittens are now contentedly nursing off Mama. I picked up Mama once today and she calm, but scared.

We'll do our best to tame the two wild ones. Good Kitten may have found a spot in DH's heart. Oh boy...just what we need, another pet.


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