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Mice For Cats

Katie.Shinkle

Katie.Shinkle

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Read a really interesting post on a mouse forum last night. There's a breeder on there that feeds mice to his/her cat. A fitting whole prey diet. Thinking I may switch my cats over to f/t mice once I get mine producing enough.

Can't believe it's not more common, especially for reptile keepers that also have cats. If you think about it, it's the perfect diet for cats. Maybe add in whole bird prey (quail or chicken chicks) occasionally, to keep the diet varied, though domestic cat ancestors feed mainly on rodents.

Any other cat/reptile people ever consider this? I mean, raw diets are common for dogs, and they are quite a bit more complicated than cats (omnivore vs. carnivor). Thoughts? Opinions? Goofy cat pic included. Ignore the mess, was cleaning some mealworm tubs.

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I don't do this, myself, but have heard of others who do give f/t rodents to their cats.
Don't really see anything wrong with it as far as health concerns, etc. Especially considering how cats love to catch wild mice and, oftentimes, eating them or a portion of them. Seems that domestic raised mice would be a "healthier" option, over wild mice, for what is, actually, a natural prey animal, of cats, anyway.
Plus, if f/t, the mouse would not be submitted to the "torture", of being "played with", prior to being killed.
Hopefully you won't be squeamish about left over, beheaded, or gutted, or torn up, rodent carcasses. ;)

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Pasodama said:
I don't do this, myself, but have heard of others who do give f/t rodents to their cats.
Don't really see anything wrong with it as far as health concerns, etc. Especially considering how cats love to catch wild mice and, oftentimes, eating them or a portion of them. Seems that domestic raised mice would be a "healthier" option, over wild mice, for what is, actually, a natural prey animal, of cats, anyway.
Plus, if f/t, the mouse would not be submitted to the "torture", of being "played with", prior to being killed.
Hopefully you won't be squeamish about left over, beheaded, or gutted, or torn up, rodent carcasses. ;)

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Haha, yeah, I think I'll be alright. Need to get me a good garbage disposal lizard for that. Maybe a savannah monitor would take care of any leftovers lol!

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Sounds like a great idea to me - a lot of processed cat foods are full of cereal which can lead to diabetes, and if cats don't drink enough, dried food can provoke kidney issues.

Actually this was one of those ":face_palm_02: why has no one thought of this before" moments for me. How does it work out financially over dried or tinned cat food?
 
But I agree with Deb, it's not always a totally clean operation...

Here's my goofy mighty hunter. She catches these herself about once a week (we are in a very outdoor area). She actually usually eats 100% of the mouse, sometimes leaves bits of a rat, but not for long... so I think it will depend on working out how many to feed so that s/he will eat the whole thing rather than playing with bits s/he doesn't really want.

Of course we have to worm her regularly because her mice are wild, whereas your home-reared ones shouldn't have that problem.
 

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Helenthereef said:
Sounds like a great idea to me - a lot of processed cat foods are full of cereal which can lead to diabetes, and if cats don't drink enough, dried food can provoke kidney issues.

Actually this was one of those ":face_palm_02: why has no one thought of this before" moments for me. How does it work out financially over dried or tinned cat food?
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I haven't started it yet, but feeding the few mice I have now has cost me next to nothing. I keep them in some tanks I had that were empty, and also have tubs ready once I have to split anyone up. For bedding I'm using torn up newspaper and paper towels. May switch to aspen, which is still super cheap. I don't fully clean the tanks each week, because that actually makes the males mark more, so I don't go through too much bedding. Most people I've spoken to on a fancy mouse forum feed their own home mixes which are all cheap. Mainly oats, seeds, and low grade dog food. I also give mealworms about twice a week, which I already breed so have an ample supply.
Helenthereef said:
But I agree with Deb, it's not always a totally clean operation...

Here's my goofy mighty hunter. She catches these herself about once a week (we are in a very outdoor area). She actually usually eats 100% of the mouse, sometimes leaves bits of a rat, but not for long... so I think it will depend on working out how many to feed so that s/he will eat the whole thing rather than playing with bits s/he doesn't really want.

Of course we have to worm her regularly because her mice are wild, whereas your home-reared ones shouldn't have that problem.
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The little information I've found on the subject says that adult cats would need about 3 adult mice a day. I have 3 cats, so that's 9 a day. I'll definitely have to up my production. Once I get a good production going, I'll start culling adults and freezing them, and work on getting my cats switched over to it. I've offered them pinkies, but they have no idea what to do with them yet. Lol! I'm sure I'll figure out a good ratio for my cats once I get everything going.

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Katie.Shinkle said:
Also, your cat is freaking gorgeous! Looks like a chimera.

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Why, thank you! :) My cat is a weird island mix.. we get a lot of strange things within our limited breeding population (we have ginger females, unheard of in most places).

I'd love it if you'd keep this thread up over time - I'm very interested to see what you work out if you decide to go for it.
 
Helenthereef said:
Why, thank you! :) My cat is a weird island mix.. we get a lot of strange things within our limited breeding population (we have ginger females, unheard of in most places).

I'd love it if you'd keep this thread up over time - I'm very interested to see what you work out if you decide to go for it.
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I've seen very few ginger females here. Cat and their color/gender genetics are fascinating. I have 2 tortoiseshells myself.

I'll certainly keep this thread updated! I currently only have 1 buck and 3 does, but 2 does have had a litter (18 total, but culled down to 13 to remove the bucks), and my other Doe is pregnant. Trying to find some more breeders locally to up my production.

For now I'm concentrating on raising up just the does (culling litters down to at least 6 for each female seems to be better for the litter as a whole, so bucks will be culled early on). Once I have a good amount of pinky production, I'll start feeding the culled pinkies to the mice (pureed) to get them started. Then I'll move up from there, and start letting the bucks get bigger before culling.

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Sure can relate to the cuteness being a problem.
Even with adults it always bothers me. Time has not had much effect on getting used to it.
Wish you lived closer because I have way too many mice at the moment. Could speed things along for you.

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Pasodama said:
Sure can relate to the cuteness being a problem.
Even with adults it always bothers me. Time has not had much effect on getting used to it.
Wish you lived closer because I have way too many mice at the moment. Could speed things along for you.

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Oh yeah, it's definitely not going to get easier. The things we do for the animals we love, though.

Wish you were closer as well! There are not many breeders around me at all. One I've spoken to hasn't responded back to my messages in a few days now :/

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I got myself super hooked. Mice now represent the majority of my collection. Still not producing much yet, as most are too young to breed, but ill have 34 does and 6 bucks once they are all grown, not counting the 3 day old litter on the ground now. Some new ones I picked up today:

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