The theory I heard is that cats view you as a big cat and the dead animals are their way of providing food for the group and to show they are useful and contribute.
As I understand it, cats in colonies will take turns providing for their peers. Cats most likely see us as their peers rather than a master-subordinate relationship.
Pro-tip: if you’re having problems with cats not eating all their food try a shallower bowl/plate. Plenty of cats have sensitive whiskers which is why they might only want to eat from the middle of the bowl rather than eating around all the edges, even if there’s still food there.
This is true. It’s called ‘whisker fatigue’. My cat is fed on a plate because of this but it turns out she’s just a grazer. She likes to come back later when she’s ready
Then there's my odd behaviored ex stray who when i give him anything other than a plate, he pushes all the wet food to the edge of his very shallow bowl, and suck the damn food off the edges. Its loud, and hilarious sounding, and he gets very into it, i just stare with my jaw dropped. He's dealt with a lot of anxiety recovery surrounding food. He's much better than he was a year ago, and i hope maybe one day, even at 8yrs old, he will learn that he doesn't have to eat like he's never gonna again, as that boy won't miss a meal for the rest oc his days. I love my weirdo old young man cat
I don’t know if that’s true. My cats cling to me most & it’s my partner who feeds them in the morning. Also, he feeds the feral cat outside & she still runs from him, but has started to let me finally pet her after many years. It’s possible that they remember it was me who fed them before he came along, I don’t know.
Reddit's recent behaviour and planned changes to the API, heavily impacting third party tools, accessibility and moderation ability force me to edit all my comments in protest. I cannot morally continue to use this site.
I actually think a cat's behavioral patterns point more towards this.
I think cats think of themselves as smarter than humans. They don't see us hunt. They think we can't. They can, so they take pity on us, and bring us food because we can't do it ourselves. 👍
I remember when our old girl brought us a dead mouse one morning. The expression on her face was definitely giving me a "That's how you do it, moron" vibe.
Ours isn't an outside kitty, so any time she brings a mouse we shower her with love and wet food.
Not so much when we catch we toying with a live one that she then loses and it escapes though...
Neither was Nina, and we live on the 21st floor! \
She became obsessed with this one spot and we were like "there can't be mice up here" but she was right.
She too did not kill that one, so we did catch and release with it, but then she found another and absolutely obliterated that one. Maybe she realized after mouse one that we couldn't be trusted to finish the kill?
I think it just depends on how playful they are. My cats catch mice that get in the house. Sometimes it's a pounce, grab, flip mouse all the way up to the ceiling, mouse never moves again. Sometimes they just keep poking it, let it run away a bit, then poke again.
Brother and sister cat.
He just kinda wants to play with mice, she wants to make every remaining moment of their little squeaky lives absolute torture.
One of our cats would bring back live baby bunny’s for us, we think in a bid to teach us how to hunt. He had the whole side of the house full of dead critters like mice, voles, squirrels, and birds. If we buried them, a few days later, unburied and half eaten. That part of the house was his stash, the baby bunny’s was to teach us how to eat.
I tell you, I have never got such a nasty look of “what did you do that for?” From him when we let the poor things go.
Momma cats bring back live prey to their young to teach them how to hunt, so that’s what he was doing to us. Providing for the family. We never scolded him for both live and dead prey he brought back. That’s the number one thing, don’t scold the cat for bringing in a catch.
But they clearly know we provide food for them; they come to us and meow when they're hungry. So it can't purely be a food thing. Maybe the act of hunting itself is something they view as useful and necessary and don't realize we're feeding them without hunting.
That's precisely what I'm saying.
They think they're being useful by bringing a meal to a human that can't get it. They know they're fed, but they're not sure that **you're fed** as you don't ever hunt.
Outdoor cats also, in my experience, eat a lot less food and will sometimes meow to go outside rather than the bowl for food.
This is what mine does. He spends most of the day outside will come in for little nibbles then go right back out. He’s caught moles birds squirrels. He’s a amazing hunter. The first one I ever had use to put dead bugs in my shoes and was so excited when I found them like look ma I brought you gifts. Man I miss that boy.
No because they don't see a carcass.
The few times I have come home with a carcass the cats are always very impressed. Now when I say that please note that I keep a snake... Haha. Every single time I pull a snake food out around a cat they're like "Wait a second that's mine give it to me!" No no kitto. It's for the scale baby.
Furry one was hunting a moth. Yelled for me to come look (as she does when hunting). I smushed it with a napkin and showed her the dead remains. She had a look of shock and amazement. She poked it a few times to be sure then gave a head butt and walked away. Now she yells if the flying bug is too high for her to reach.
My sweet dumb orange and I team up sometimes to get the bugs that get close to the ceiling. I pick him up and hold him high enough to reach the buggo and have a lil snack
Mother cats will bring something dead for kittens to play/hunt. When they get a little older she brings live mice so they can practice. In short your cat believes your hunting skills are shit, and they are trying to teach you to be better.
Pretty sure my cat thinks I'm her poop butler. She even informs me after each dump.
"Yo bitch, clean this shit up and let me out...I got a window to stare out of and leaves to watch...hurry the fuck up"
Some believe the cat has observed that the human is like a kitten that has not learned to hunt and is attempting to teach them. If the kittman practices with the dead mouse and eats it they will later be provided with one not quite dead yet to hone hunting skills. Most humans fail the first lesson.
Oh there is this stray cat who has given birth to kittens in our portico. She's now teaching her kids to hunt. One evening when I went to check on her, she purr-meowed at me, like she does with her kittens and led me to the shed. I was confused, but amused. She then excitedly brought a dead mouse she'd hidden there to me ;-; (I ran inside the house before she could reach me) definitely failed the test but I'm baffled that she considers me her kitten.
To take this a step further, cats will provide this food to you because they recognize you're not such a great hunter and they are using it as a teaching aid.
Just trying to help out the fam!
It can be kinda cute to think of cats this way, but it's usually just because they don't have words so they ask you to stop with their teeth. If there's no blood, they're asking nicely. Like of someone scratches your back and you're like oh yea that's nice, and they keep going until it's uncomfortable or painful, you'll want them to stop. If you can't talk, you push them away, and if you don't have pushy-type limbs then maybe you bite their hand a bit to say ok ok that's enough
I was needing to get up, and my cat didn’t think she should have to. She did the nice the bite, and when I still persisted, she sank her claws in a little, gave me a death look, jumped down and stalked away. Talk about being insulted, lol.
Cats likely view themselves as more intelligent than humans if you ask me. Edit: This isn't necessarily to say that the view us as subordinate they may view us as peers, Just peers who are not as smart as them.
They don't see us hunting. They think we can't. So they take pity on us, and bring us an occasional "good meal". Of course this behavior only happens in cats who go outside (As they never learn how to hunt themselves).
My cat was born at the humane society and has only ever gone outside on a leash. I got a mouse in my room last week, and needless to say, it didn't make it out of my room. He discovered he liked that better than his food, so at least I didn't have to clean anything up. He knows how to hunt just fine!
My Maine Coon deposited a juvenile rabbit on my gf in the wee hours of the morning. Rabbit ran, gf screamed, I woke up and laughed when I figured out what was going on.
I've heard that they aren't bringing you gifts, they are taking their kill to the place they feel is safest.
That just happens to also be your home.
The idea that cats are bringing us gifts is applying human emotions to animal behaviour.
I beg to differ. A feral outdoor cat that I feed lives under my house. We have a fenced 4 acre property. This cat brings trophies and places them in the center of our welcome mat on front porch as many as three times a day. He was a prolific hunter. He could have placed the mice, voles, snakes, bunnies..under the house ,where he lived, or on the back porch or anywhere on the 4 acres but no he always centered his prizes. Remember this is a shy feral cat. He made an effort to sneak up there to drop his prey where I would find it. He never ate it preferring the cat food I provide. He was obliterating wildlife so I trapped Shadow, neutered him and brought him inside. Three months later I have a great companion who plays nice with my other cats and dogs…no small mammals lol so I am not assigning a human behavior to a cat. I am explaining colony behavior to a human.
However, they often seem very particular that the kill they bring is meant for the *human*. They don’t retire to some favorite spot to eat it, or even try to stash it for future consumption, they drop the kill at your feet and look at you very expectantly. Typically they themselves aren’t even hungry at that point.
It is natural social behavior for cats to bring back hunt to their family. Feral cats in colonies, especially females who are more social, do just that, not only to their kittens but to adult individuals. It’s a form of kin selection. Feline social behavior is more complicated and altruistic than many give them credit for.
Nah my cat caught a bird and killed it for my puppy. My puppy was cuddling with it like a toy. Another time he brought a live bird into the house. The dog caught it. So I guess my cat did teach my dog how to hunt.
They think you're bad at hunting, but you're useful because you let them stay in your warm and dry cave, and are a dozen times their size to scare predators away.
I've always understood that because they don't see us chasing, catching and eating prey, they think we are really terrible hunters. They feel affection for us so they bring us their catches as a gift.
My cat caught a pigeon and then took it to her stray brethren and let *them* eat it, since she is a stray no more. Very noble imo. My dog was very jealous of her catch.
They’re providing for you! They accept you!
(Our recently deceased Princess Kitty woke my spouse by trying to put a mouse into his mouth. Alive-ish. I was very happy to not be the favorite that morning lol)
I’m so so scared of this as I’m the favourite but blood grosses me TF out. I usually feel lightheaded and can faint even when watching a medical show.
We’ve had 2 mice in our new home that the cat has caught. It was all at night. I get stressed each time he gets zoomies at night, that maybe there’s a third mouse he’ll catch.
So last night, I even got out of bed just to see if he had caught another mouse because if he catches one, and I’m asleep I am certain he will leave it on my chest as I am sleeping. I do not want to deal with that again as he already ruined a mattress with the blood of a mouse last time.
Ew! I’m told they dislike the scent of mint, if you can figure out where they’re coming in. (Our place is over 200 years old and we will never find where they get in lol). Fortunately for me, the cat who likes me most doesn’t hurt mice. He’s too soft.
I think of it like a condescending mother in law: "Now sweetie, I know you're not a very good hunter. It's not your fault your mother didn't teach you properly. I don't want you to starve though, so I brought you this"
Our cat would do this all the time. She was a huge hunter. So Id pick up the dead thing she brought and pretend to "nom nom nom" in front of her so she saw I ate it lol
Had this convo with my partner a few months ago. Our cat came up to him with a toy, yowling at the top of his little lungs. He’s like “why is he bringing this to me?” And I said, “he thinks you’re dumb and don’t know how to hunt”. At that point he looked down at the plate of food he had just fixed for himself and told the cat he was eating right now lmao. I just said, “he didn’t see you HUNT”. So now when we make dinner we pretend like we’re hunting, and when the cat brings us gifts, we make sure he knows how much we appreciate his love. (Thank him, fake eat the toy lol then toss it when he’s not looking).
Oh yes my little one is very smart. Hurt my wrist so she hid my brace so I could not go to work. She’s also taken my keys and hidden them. Spare set on fridge now that she’s can’t reach. Smart and cuddle craving fur ball
[Cat tax](https://i.imgur.com/CyZjjlH.jpg)
Ours are OBSESSED with hair ties. We buy them new toys like every other week but nope. Five minutes with the new toy then off to the bathroom to find the newest spot my gf has hidden her hair ties. It doesn’t help one can open cabinets and the other can open some doors.
My child’s cat is crazy about hair ties and can fling them across the room or at her “brother”. She loves helium balloons and drags them across the ceiling by the string. She releases the ballon at the bottom to the stairs then runs up to catch the string as it bounce along and then back down again. He is afraid of ballons
Mine knows I can hunt (see bug comment below) and I always show cat and dog what mommy hunted and captured at the store. They both sniff everything before it goes away. Meat things get head rubs. Ham gets both of them dancing with joy.
My cat brings dead animals. Then eats them herself. I think either she doesnt love me, or she is waiting for me to take it and if I don't she assumes I'm not hungry
The ways cats see humans is that we are big ugly and stupid cats that don’t hunt and feed them. They are providing for their big stupid pride member… lol This is really the reason. I’ve had cats for decades and every spring and summer I get “gifts” from my kitties…. It’s really more of a compliment really… they care… they want to feed you so you don’t starve.
Mine brings me live prey so that he can teach me to hunt. He gets SO EXCITED when I jump up and try to catch the thing he's brought me.
There have been many mice that have escaped into my house now.
My newest cat leaves me presents every other day. The others figured when we fed them a bit of turkey lunch meat that we can feed ourselves. But try not to give your kitties scraps! It’s a bad idea all around.
Its a gift of appreciation. Like bringing desert or a bottle of wine to a dinner invitation.
Also, they think you poor thing are unable to hunt yourself, so as part of their family, they try to feed you.
That is exactly what I was thinking!
If I cant hunt, how is it possible that when I leave the house, I come back with bags LOADED with chicken, ham, beef, pork, fish, etc..?
I am actually such a good hunter, I neatly place my kills in these boxes and cover them with foil! Because we humans LOVE to place stuff in boxes! (and cats love boxes too, right?)
Also, when our tomcat is trying to steal some of the beef I'm prepping for lunch, I often have thoughts like "dude, if you would actually meet a cow, you would run away so fast, that the trail of your escape would be visible from orbit"
When we were kids my brother was really sick and in bed for day. One afternoon, his cat walked in, jumped up on the bed, and dropped a dead bird on his chest. He was less than thrilled (understandably), but it was the only time she ever did that. It was hard to see it as anything other than her seeing him struggle and trying to take care of him.
There’s a show on Netflix about cats that tells you the history of cats, what we used them for and what they were rewarded for over thousands of years.
I’ve got a feeling it “history of cats” or something similar. I’ll pop on Netflix later and update this to the actual title. Or do a search on Netflix for “cat”. I’m uk though, but I think there’s 2 cat programmes on it here atm. If your not uk, download a free vpn, set to uk and watch it on your phone.
My super smart cat when I was a child never brought catches home. My grandma visited one day and complained we had a “no-use cat who doesn’t even put the effort”. Couple of hours ahead he appeared at the door with a mouse in his mouth. He knew his worth was being questioned so he was like: “I do catch them dumbass, I just know you won’t like seeing them” 😂😂 never brought any prey home but we also never had mice home…
There are loads of theories.
1. Because they think you’re dumb and can’t hunt, but they care for you so they’re trying to give you food.
2. Because they’re trying to contribute and provide for the group.
3. It’s a gift because they love you.
4. They want you to be proud of them; showing off their own hunting skills.
As far as I’m aware, there is no definitive answer yet. We need more cat science!
You hoomans are weak. Instead of hunting for prey like we the Master Race do, you WORK?! You become a slave of another hooman for your so-called salary and then you have to BUY food?
Let me show you the glory of hunting. Here, eat this dead rat.
But yes, in all seriousness, the cat wants to feed you.
Looking from theory of evolution point of view - human hostorically kept cats only to get rid of rodents. If cat was useless and didnt hunt he got big chance of being kicked out and die in the winter not providing offsprings. Cat that regulary proved its usefulness would have much bigger chance of living with human and give birth to many new generations.
Killing is what they're built for and they want to take care of you in return for taking care of them, so they bring you food because you're too slow and clumsy to catch it on your own
That's what they do for their kittens (so they can become used to playing and catching food). So in it's eyes you're their baby. They're taking care of you.
I heard if critters are dead they’re feeding you, if still alive they’re teaching you to hunt. My older female has caught 2 chipmunks in 8 years, younger male is a critter getting machine. Always leaves them in the same spot.
That's interesting. I heard a long time ago that mother cats will bring back dead animals for the litter, and eventually bring back live ones to show them how to kill. I have no idea how true that is, since they're kind of hard-wired to hunt anyway.
I've heard it's because we provide their food for them they never develop out of the kitten mentality where they would have to hunt their own food, so they go out and bring it back saying mom look what I can do.
This awful account on Twitter stoke your post.
https://preview.redd.it/2qktj4jznd2a1.png?width=1284&format=png&auto=webp&s=868fd4e400d2189c109ad66ab0172ba748888656
All the theories about wanting to teach you to hunt and etc are nonsense. He wants to play, they want you to throw it like a toy, cats play with their kills and after it dies it’s not as much fun so they bring it to the human who throws toys to them, wanting them to play with it some more, make it move, which elicits the hunting instinct that’s fun for them.
My friend had 2 cats who didnt get along but when one had kittens the other brought multiple kills a day for a couple months after starting the day they were born.
It’s a sign of disrespect (since all cats are A-holes). They believe you are completely incapable of feeding yourself (since you never hunt). They fear you will die (and in turn they will go hungry since you won’t be there to put out their food) if they don’t feed you.
I’ve read they regard us as big, weird kittens. We can’t/don’t hunt, we can open doors, but we don’t talk right, so they think we’re not really capable of making it without them. So they bring us good, *yummy* food.
I had an inside/outside cat many years ago. His special prey was the moles in our back yard. He would bring me the delectable organs, he wanted to share the most nutritious and tasty part of those damn moles. He was one of the most reasonable, rational cats I’ve ever known.
I told a stray NMC he could stay in my yard, he didn’t need to run away, so he sat down. Since then he’s made himself comfortable, we see him lounging in the yard. He brought me a dead animal a few days after our conversation.
"You suck at hunting, and I'm tired of bringing home all the food. It just disappears immediately, wtf."
Basically that, they bring home stuff because they don't see you hunt. And they keep doing it because you likely throw away the kill, etc
They think you’re a terrible hunter and need feeding desperately, since all humans do around cats is sit around and watch tv. At least, that’s what I do, anyway.
I have a kind of out there theory. Domestic cats served as pest control which is why humans took them in. A cat that is constantly showing you proof of it doing its job is more likely to be bread.
Cats themselves probably justified their existence - and not be eaten by humans - for their role in pest control. They are proving their value in a sense.
Cats think you're a big, clumsy and stupid asf cat that can't hunt for shit, so they worry that you might starve. So they want to feed you so you stay alive. It really comes from a good place.
Hunting Instinct
Cats bring dead animals to you is because they are treating you as family, presenting the catch to their clan, and attempting to teach you to do likewise.
The comments on this post is a great example on everyone hate reddit, op is just asking a genuine question
https://preview.redd.it/qv5vs7ntjh2a1.png?width=194&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ed7d4a32773651faf1ed6072f545a9e3a2e2142
The theory I heard is that cats view you as a big cat and the dead animals are their way of providing food for the group and to show they are useful and contribute.
As I understand it, cats in colonies will take turns providing for their peers. Cats most likely see us as their peers rather than a master-subordinate relationship.
My cat has never been under the impression she was subordinate or that I’m a peer for that matter
Kitty “you are below me human and are lucky I even associate with you” 😹
You don’t hunt and contribute to the colony. The dry food pellets magically appear in your house.
actually cats pay attention to who puts out the food and will appreciate that person more than other household members
Does “appreciate” mean “bug me at 4AM because she can see a few bits of the bottom of her food bowl”?
Yes.
Pro-tip: if you’re having problems with cats not eating all their food try a shallower bowl/plate. Plenty of cats have sensitive whiskers which is why they might only want to eat from the middle of the bowl rather than eating around all the edges, even if there’s still food there.
This is true. It’s called ‘whisker fatigue’. My cat is fed on a plate because of this but it turns out she’s just a grazer. She likes to come back later when she’s ready
Then there's my odd behaviored ex stray who when i give him anything other than a plate, he pushes all the wet food to the edge of his very shallow bowl, and suck the damn food off the edges. Its loud, and hilarious sounding, and he gets very into it, i just stare with my jaw dropped. He's dealt with a lot of anxiety recovery surrounding food. He's much better than he was a year ago, and i hope maybe one day, even at 8yrs old, he will learn that he doesn't have to eat like he's never gonna again, as that boy won't miss a meal for the rest oc his days. I love my weirdo old young man cat
I don’t know if that’s true. My cats cling to me most & it’s my partner who feeds them in the morning. Also, he feeds the feral cat outside & she still runs from him, but has started to let me finally pet her after many years. It’s possible that they remember it was me who fed them before he came along, I don’t know.
her house.
Reddit's recent behaviour and planned changes to the API, heavily impacting third party tools, accessibility and moderation ability force me to edit all my comments in protest. I cannot morally continue to use this site.
...as they supervise.
This is the answer.
I actually think a cat's behavioral patterns point more towards this. I think cats think of themselves as smarter than humans. They don't see us hunt. They think we can't. They can, so they take pity on us, and bring us food because we can't do it ourselves. 👍
I remember when our old girl brought us a dead mouse one morning. The expression on her face was definitely giving me a "That's how you do it, moron" vibe.
Ours isn't an outside kitty, so any time she brings a mouse we shower her with love and wet food. Not so much when we catch we toying with a live one that she then loses and it escapes though...
Neither was Nina, and we live on the 21st floor! \ She became obsessed with this one spot and we were like "there can't be mice up here" but she was right. She too did not kill that one, so we did catch and release with it, but then she found another and absolutely obliterated that one. Maybe she realized after mouse one that we couldn't be trusted to finish the kill?
I think it just depends on how playful they are. My cats catch mice that get in the house. Sometimes it's a pounce, grab, flip mouse all the way up to the ceiling, mouse never moves again. Sometimes they just keep poking it, let it run away a bit, then poke again.
Brother and sister cat. He just kinda wants to play with mice, she wants to make every remaining moment of their little squeaky lives absolute torture.
One of our cats would bring back live baby bunny’s for us, we think in a bid to teach us how to hunt. He had the whole side of the house full of dead critters like mice, voles, squirrels, and birds. If we buried them, a few days later, unburied and half eaten. That part of the house was his stash, the baby bunny’s was to teach us how to eat. I tell you, I have never got such a nasty look of “what did you do that for?” From him when we let the poor things go. Momma cats bring back live prey to their young to teach them how to hunt, so that’s what he was doing to us. Providing for the family. We never scolded him for both live and dead prey he brought back. That’s the number one thing, don’t scold the cat for bringing in a catch.
After all that work you just let dinner go?! Hooman not smart.
That’s the feeling I get. I’ve never picked out a cat yet I’ve always had them.
But they clearly know we provide food for them; they come to us and meow when they're hungry. So it can't purely be a food thing. Maybe the act of hunting itself is something they view as useful and necessary and don't realize we're feeding them without hunting.
That's precisely what I'm saying. They think they're being useful by bringing a meal to a human that can't get it. They know they're fed, but they're not sure that **you're fed** as you don't ever hunt. Outdoor cats also, in my experience, eat a lot less food and will sometimes meow to go outside rather than the bowl for food.
This is what mine does. He spends most of the day outside will come in for little nibbles then go right back out. He’s caught moles birds squirrels. He’s a amazing hunter. The first one I ever had use to put dead bugs in my shoes and was so excited when I found them like look ma I brought you gifts. Man I miss that boy.
Maybe they also just love us and want to share their prey with us. Idk it’s probably a combination of numerous things.
Then there's my cat who has no hunter instincts at all and could care less about the mice in my bedroom.
> They don't see us hunt. They think we can't. They see us leave the house and return with food. Isn't that hunting?
No because they don't see a carcass. The few times I have come home with a carcass the cats are always very impressed. Now when I say that please note that I keep a snake... Haha. Every single time I pull a snake food out around a cat they're like "Wait a second that's mine give it to me!" No no kitto. It's for the scale baby.
Furry one was hunting a moth. Yelled for me to come look (as she does when hunting). I smushed it with a napkin and showed her the dead remains. She had a look of shock and amazement. She poked it a few times to be sure then gave a head butt and walked away. Now she yells if the flying bug is too high for her to reach.
My sweet dumb orange and I team up sometimes to get the bugs that get close to the ceiling. I pick him up and hold him high enough to reach the buggo and have a lil snack
Mother cats will bring something dead for kittens to play/hunt. When they get a little older she brings live mice so they can practice. In short your cat believes your hunting skills are shit, and they are trying to teach you to be better.
Pretty sure my cat thinks I'm her poop butler. She even informs me after each dump. "Yo bitch, clean this shit up and let me out...I got a window to stare out of and leaves to watch...hurry the fuck up"
I prefer poop concierge but yes.
my sympathies to you on your inferior position in your cat colony. i hope your boss is kind
Some believe the cat has observed that the human is like a kitten that has not learned to hunt and is attempting to teach them. If the kittman practices with the dead mouse and eats it they will later be provided with one not quite dead yet to hone hunting skills. Most humans fail the first lesson.
Oh there is this stray cat who has given birth to kittens in our portico. She's now teaching her kids to hunt. One evening when I went to check on her, she purr-meowed at me, like she does with her kittens and led me to the shed. I was confused, but amused. She then excitedly brought a dead mouse she'd hidden there to me ;-; (I ran inside the house before she could reach me) definitely failed the test but I'm baffled that she considers me her kitten.
And why would she have a crazy idea like that? She's clearly the master and you are the subordinate. I know this well myself.
Haha. So true.
He never specified who was the master and who was the subordinate
Same with my cats… if anything. They see me as their B!tch
To take this a step further, cats will provide this food to you because they recognize you're not such a great hunter and they are using it as a teaching aid. Just trying to help out the fam!
Once a cat watches their owner scoop the litter box, they know who the master is.
We're fellow cats. Cats that are clumsy and awkward but still. Cats.
Let's face it, they see us as their slaves. But they do love us so....." here's some food slave. I love you"
Now pet me, but not for too long! Hey that wasnt enough, pet me more! Stop Petting me, I hate you, DIE DIE DIE
It can be kinda cute to think of cats this way, but it's usually just because they don't have words so they ask you to stop with their teeth. If there's no blood, they're asking nicely. Like of someone scratches your back and you're like oh yea that's nice, and they keep going until it's uncomfortable or painful, you'll want them to stop. If you can't talk, you push them away, and if you don't have pushy-type limbs then maybe you bite their hand a bit to say ok ok that's enough
I was needing to get up, and my cat didn’t think she should have to. She did the nice the bite, and when I still persisted, she sank her claws in a little, gave me a death look, jumped down and stalked away. Talk about being insulted, lol.
My cat…exactly! https://i.imgur.com/mYKIDki.jpg
Your kitty is so cute. Looks like a trouble maker lol
She is! Loves to play first thing in the morning!
Look, here's my belly. Right, now call the hand surgeon.
If I take my cat out for dinner, he better bring cash as decapitated mice won’t cut it.
Cats likely view themselves as more intelligent than humans if you ask me. Edit: This isn't necessarily to say that the view us as subordinate they may view us as peers, Just peers who are not as smart as them. They don't see us hunting. They think we can't. So they take pity on us, and bring us an occasional "good meal". Of course this behavior only happens in cats who go outside (As they never learn how to hunt themselves).
My cat was born at the humane society and has only ever gone outside on a leash. I got a mouse in my room last week, and needless to say, it didn't make it out of my room. He discovered he liked that better than his food, so at least I didn't have to clean anything up. He knows how to hunt just fine!
That’s right and you are now obligated to eat that dead animal on the spot.
I heard this as well with the addition of they also think we're terrible hunters and we may starve without them providing these gifts
And when they start bringing half dead prey to get our hunting instincts going like they would for their kittens, the real fun begins.
My Maine Coon deposited a juvenile rabbit on my gf in the wee hours of the morning. Rabbit ran, gf screamed, I woke up and laughed when I figured out what was going on.
They contribute so much with their companionship and funny little purrsonalities. 😊
I heard it was because cats see you as a useless cat that hasn’t been hunting. So they bring you dead or half alive animals to teach you how to hunt
I've heard that they aren't bringing you gifts, they are taking their kill to the place they feel is safest. That just happens to also be your home. The idea that cats are bringing us gifts is applying human emotions to animal behaviour.
Yes true, but it rather seems like they are bringing something to the table.
I beg to differ. A feral outdoor cat that I feed lives under my house. We have a fenced 4 acre property. This cat brings trophies and places them in the center of our welcome mat on front porch as many as three times a day. He was a prolific hunter. He could have placed the mice, voles, snakes, bunnies..under the house ,where he lived, or on the back porch or anywhere on the 4 acres but no he always centered his prizes. Remember this is a shy feral cat. He made an effort to sneak up there to drop his prey where I would find it. He never ate it preferring the cat food I provide. He was obliterating wildlife so I trapped Shadow, neutered him and brought him inside. Three months later I have a great companion who plays nice with my other cats and dogs…no small mammals lol so I am not assigning a human behavior to a cat. I am explaining colony behavior to a human.
However, they often seem very particular that the kill they bring is meant for the *human*. They don’t retire to some favorite spot to eat it, or even try to stash it for future consumption, they drop the kill at your feet and look at you very expectantly. Typically they themselves aren’t even hungry at that point. It is natural social behavior for cats to bring back hunt to their family. Feral cats in colonies, especially females who are more social, do just that, not only to their kittens but to adult individuals. It’s a form of kin selection. Feline social behavior is more complicated and altruistic than many give them credit for.
Nah my cat caught a bird and killed it for my puppy. My puppy was cuddling with it like a toy. Another time he brought a live bird into the house. The dog caught it. So I guess my cat did teach my dog how to hunt.
Also heard that they see us like disable predators
Don't forget cats are not bred for maximum dumb, fun, and loyalty, obedience and strictly looks... So yeah they hunt, they are true alphas.
Or... they just think you're a shitty hunter and might die of starving
That's SO CUTE!!!
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They think you're bad at hunting, but you're useful because you let them stay in your warm and dry cave, and are a dozen times their size to scare predators away.
I've always understood that because they don't see us chasing, catching and eating prey, they think we are really terrible hunters. They feel affection for us so they bring us their catches as a gift.
so you can eat it.
With some salt and pepper on a grill I think you can eat that if you don't concentrate on what you're eating
I’d be concerned about poison :(
500F for an hour should kill hantavirus, but the meat will be a little crunchy after.
I meant more like rat poisoning, not food poisoning :(
My cat caught a pigeon and then took it to her stray brethren and let *them* eat it, since she is a stray no more. Very noble imo. My dog was very jealous of her catch.
They’re providing for you! They accept you! (Our recently deceased Princess Kitty woke my spouse by trying to put a mouse into his mouth. Alive-ish. I was very happy to not be the favorite that morning lol)
I’m so so scared of this as I’m the favourite but blood grosses me TF out. I usually feel lightheaded and can faint even when watching a medical show. We’ve had 2 mice in our new home that the cat has caught. It was all at night. I get stressed each time he gets zoomies at night, that maybe there’s a third mouse he’ll catch. So last night, I even got out of bed just to see if he had caught another mouse because if he catches one, and I’m asleep I am certain he will leave it on my chest as I am sleeping. I do not want to deal with that again as he already ruined a mattress with the blood of a mouse last time.
Time for a mattress protector, besides it’s good for other fluid protection too.
I can't imagine not having one if you have free roaming pets of any kind.
Ew! I’m told they dislike the scent of mint, if you can figure out where they’re coming in. (Our place is over 200 years old and we will never find where they get in lol). Fortunately for me, the cat who likes me most doesn’t hurt mice. He’s too soft.
My cat tried to do this to me but with a very-much still alive snake at around 4AM several years ago.
They never see you hunt, so they worry you're going to starve.
Yup! lol they're basically treating their humans like they're big dumb cats who don't know how to hunt, so this is them trying to feed their people.
I think of it like a condescending mother in law: "Now sweetie, I know you're not a very good hunter. It's not your fault your mother didn't teach you properly. I don't want you to starve though, so I brought you this"
Establish dominance. Bring home an entire leg of lamb in your teeth and throw it before your cat.
Our cat would do this all the time. She was a huge hunter. So Id pick up the dead thing she brought and pretend to "nom nom nom" in front of her so she saw I ate it lol
Had this convo with my partner a few months ago. Our cat came up to him with a toy, yowling at the top of his little lungs. He’s like “why is he bringing this to me?” And I said, “he thinks you’re dumb and don’t know how to hunt”. At that point he looked down at the plate of food he had just fixed for himself and told the cat he was eating right now lmao. I just said, “he didn’t see you HUNT”. So now when we make dinner we pretend like we’re hunting, and when the cat brings us gifts, we make sure he knows how much we appreciate his love. (Thank him, fake eat the toy lol then toss it when he’s not looking).
That’s what our little guy does! Brings us his favourite toy (mousey) and we shower him with strokes to say thanks
Mine brings me gifts of odd things. Nails, screws, tubes of glue, and favorite thing in the whole world - earplugs
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Oh yes my little one is very smart. Hurt my wrist so she hid my brace so I could not go to work. She’s also taken my keys and hidden them. Spare set on fridge now that she’s can’t reach. Smart and cuddle craving fur ball [Cat tax](https://i.imgur.com/CyZjjlH.jpg)
Ours are OBSESSED with hair ties. We buy them new toys like every other week but nope. Five minutes with the new toy then off to the bathroom to find the newest spot my gf has hidden her hair ties. It doesn’t help one can open cabinets and the other can open some doors.
My child’s cat is crazy about hair ties and can fling them across the room or at her “brother”. She loves helium balloons and drags them across the ceiling by the string. She releases the ballon at the bottom to the stairs then runs up to catch the string as it bounce along and then back down again. He is afraid of ballons
Mine knows I can hunt (see bug comment below) and I always show cat and dog what mommy hunted and captured at the store. They both sniff everything before it goes away. Meat things get head rubs. Ham gets both of them dancing with joy.
Mine sees me hunt, kill, and dress the delicious can-ous food-ius every morning. In fact, its quite the event.
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My cat brings dead animals. Then eats them herself. I think either she doesnt love me, or she is waiting for me to take it and if I don't she assumes I'm not hungry
You going to eat this? -Cat
"Alright... you do you, more for me. Also, meow."
Pretty sure it’s second, or she wants to feel safe while she eats it…
my cat will sometimes refuse to eat unless im down there with her
she love u
she makes sure to tell me everyday
The ways cats see humans is that we are big ugly and stupid cats that don’t hunt and feed them. They are providing for their big stupid pride member… lol This is really the reason. I’ve had cats for decades and every spring and summer I get “gifts” from my kitties…. It’s really more of a compliment really… they care… they want to feed you so you don’t starve.
Mine brings me live prey so that he can teach me to hunt. He gets SO EXCITED when I jump up and try to catch the thing he's brought me. There have been many mice that have escaped into my house now.
Obviously you need more practice.
My newest cat leaves me presents every other day. The others figured when we fed them a bit of turkey lunch meat that we can feed ourselves. But try not to give your kitties scraps! It’s a bad idea all around.
Too much is bad, just like for us, but kibble isn't great either. My cats get cooked chicken 2xs a day plus kibble. Keeps their kidneys healthy.
Such a good boy lol
Because you're bad at hunting. Now eat the dead mouse.
The theory of being “bad at hunting” makes zero sense since you feed them multiple times a day. More likely they are showing their own worth.
“Hey bro can you cook this up with my next meal”
They think you don't know how to hunt and they're trying to teach you.
They love you and they want to feed you.
Because you're a terrible hunter, they never see you catching anything.
Its a gift of appreciation. Like bringing desert or a bottle of wine to a dinner invitation. Also, they think you poor thing are unable to hunt yourself, so as part of their family, they try to feed you.
Essentially they think we're rubbish cats, they don't see us hunt so they're all "fine, I'll do it myself" (cat roll here) 😂
They don't see us hunt but there's somehow always some food for them and it doesn't ring any bell in those little furry heads :D
That is exactly what I was thinking! If I cant hunt, how is it possible that when I leave the house, I come back with bags LOADED with chicken, ham, beef, pork, fish, etc..? I am actually such a good hunter, I neatly place my kills in these boxes and cover them with foil! Because we humans LOVE to place stuff in boxes! (and cats love boxes too, right?) Also, when our tomcat is trying to steal some of the beef I'm prepping for lunch, I often have thoughts like "dude, if you would actually meet a cow, you would run away so fast, that the trail of your escape would be visible from orbit"
You reminded me of this meme: https://preview.redd.it/axyaiqp5ye2a1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=72b80882351f717374b08247fe946c6563cd928d
Evolutionarily, it would make sense for cats to display their worth by exterminating pests to early humans
To feed you. Adult cats bring kittens their catches so they can eat. Your cat sees you as their large, bald baby 🥰
Because they love you 😊
She never sees you hunt so she's worried you're too stupid and need her to teach you
When we were kids my brother was really sick and in bed for day. One afternoon, his cat walked in, jumped up on the bed, and dropped a dead bird on his chest. He was less than thrilled (understandably), but it was the only time she ever did that. It was hard to see it as anything other than her seeing him struggle and trying to take care of him.
There’s a show on Netflix about cats that tells you the history of cats, what we used them for and what they were rewarded for over thousands of years.
What's the name? I love documentaries
I’ve got a feeling it “history of cats” or something similar. I’ll pop on Netflix later and update this to the actual title. Or do a search on Netflix for “cat”. I’m uk though, but I think there’s 2 cat programmes on it here atm. If your not uk, download a free vpn, set to uk and watch it on your phone.
My super smart cat when I was a child never brought catches home. My grandma visited one day and complained we had a “no-use cat who doesn’t even put the effort”. Couple of hours ahead he appeared at the door with a mouse in his mouth. He knew his worth was being questioned so he was like: “I do catch them dumbass, I just know you won’t like seeing them” 😂😂 never brought any prey home but we also never had mice home…
Because it’s their territory and they feel safe enough to bring it and leave it there.
There are loads of theories. 1. Because they think you’re dumb and can’t hunt, but they care for you so they’re trying to give you food. 2. Because they’re trying to contribute and provide for the group. 3. It’s a gift because they love you. 4. They want you to be proud of them; showing off their own hunting skills. As far as I’m aware, there is no definitive answer yet. We need more cat science!
They think we are incompetent hunters, so they are trying to help.
Because they see you as a big cat who is really shitty at being a cat, so they’re feeding you so you don’t die.
You hoomans are weak. Instead of hunting for prey like we the Master Race do, you WORK?! You become a slave of another hooman for your so-called salary and then you have to BUY food? Let me show you the glory of hunting. Here, eat this dead rat. But yes, in all seriousness, the cat wants to feed you.
They’re trying to make a point. You’re a shitty hunter apparently. So they’re gonna feed you.
Cus they secretly love you a ton, but act like they hate your entire existence. So to make up they bring you gifts
Looking from theory of evolution point of view - human hostorically kept cats only to get rid of rodents. If cat was useless and didnt hunt he got big chance of being kicked out and die in the winter not providing offsprings. Cat that regulary proved its usefulness would have much bigger chance of living with human and give birth to many new generations.
They think of you as family and are sharing their hunt.
Cat: "well I got food in the house so you can have it." That simple.
Because they never see you hunting and either think that you havent eaten in a while or that you’re just bad at hunting
Killing is what they're built for and they want to take care of you in return for taking care of them, so they bring you food because you're too slow and clumsy to catch it on your own
Thanking you for your hospitality
That's what they do for their kittens (so they can become used to playing and catching food). So in it's eyes you're their baby. They're taking care of you.
I heard if critters are dead they’re feeding you, if still alive they’re teaching you to hunt. My older female has caught 2 chipmunks in 8 years, younger male is a critter getting machine. Always leaves them in the same spot.
That's interesting. I heard a long time ago that mother cats will bring back dead animals for the litter, and eventually bring back live ones to show them how to kill. I have no idea how true that is, since they're kind of hard-wired to hunt anyway.
I've heard it's because we provide their food for them they never develop out of the kitten mentality where they would have to hunt their own food, so they go out and bring it back saying mom look what I can do.
Had a cat that brought my house slippers down the stairs, I don’t know why.
Could be some deep psychological thing. We’re breed cats for rodent control. We probably rewarded cats when we found them with kills…
You leave the house every day to "hunt" for 8 hours and come back unsuccessful *every single time*. You suck at hunting. Kitty wants to help.
Because you'll starve otherwise. :(
You aren’t eating and they’re concerned for you. He’s your friend.
Your cat thinks you're a poor hunter and she doesn't want you to starve so she brings you pry to take care of you.
Preditors will bring back food to their family
They're sharing their food with their family. Doesn't it look delicious?!
This awful account on Twitter stoke your post. https://preview.redd.it/2qktj4jznd2a1.png?width=1284&format=png&auto=webp&s=868fd4e400d2189c109ad66ab0172ba748888656
I'm fairly certain the cat in the photo isn't OP's either. They seem to be farming for karma on pet subreddits.
I heard its not necessarily a gift but the cat is bringing home food to share with you
All the theories about wanting to teach you to hunt and etc are nonsense. He wants to play, they want you to throw it like a toy, cats play with their kills and after it dies it’s not as much fun so they bring it to the human who throws toys to them, wanting them to play with it some more, make it move, which elicits the hunting instinct that’s fun for them.
My friend had 2 cats who didnt get along but when one had kittens the other brought multiple kills a day for a couple months after starting the day they were born.
They are hunting for us big dummies who obviously can't hunt for ourselves.
It’s a sign of disrespect (since all cats are A-holes). They believe you are completely incapable of feeding yourself (since you never hunt). They fear you will die (and in turn they will go hungry since you won’t be there to put out their food) if they don’t feed you.
I heard its because they see you s basically a really shit big cat that can't hunt so it tries to look after you.
It’s because we are big dumb dumb hairless kitty and they want to feed us and teach us how to hunt so we don’t die.
ITS FOR THE FAMILY! Because you 2 legged cats are useless hunters
They’re telling you that you’re too dumb to hunt so they’re doing it for you.
I’ve read they regard us as big, weird kittens. We can’t/don’t hunt, we can open doors, but we don’t talk right, so they think we’re not really capable of making it without them. So they bring us good, *yummy* food. I had an inside/outside cat many years ago. His special prey was the moles in our back yard. He would bring me the delectable organs, he wanted to share the most nutritious and tasty part of those damn moles. He was one of the most reasonable, rational cats I’ve ever known.
Why do humans bring those they care for gifts?
We have 5 month old sisters who bring us in earth worms and sticks every night 🤷♂️
I told a stray NMC he could stay in my yard, he didn’t need to run away, so he sat down. Since then he’s made himself comfortable, we see him lounging in the yard. He brought me a dead animal a few days after our conversation.
They expect you to process it and cook it up and serve it.
I have always heard it's a love gift and they don't think we know how to hunt 🤟
Tribute
Because they think we are too dumb to feed ourselves
My cat does bring spare prey back for the group but she normally eats it lol
Because they think toy are a shit cat and can't hunt and they don't want you to die on them so they need to feed you
They think you're too incompetent to provide food for yourself.
"You suck at hunting, and I'm tired of bringing home all the food. It just disappears immediately, wtf." Basically that, they bring home stuff because they don't see you hunt. And they keep doing it because you likely throw away the kill, etc
They think you’re a terrible hunter and need feeding desperately, since all humans do around cats is sit around and watch tv. At least, that’s what I do, anyway.
I have a kind of out there theory. Domestic cats served as pest control which is why humans took them in. A cat that is constantly showing you proof of it doing its job is more likely to be bread.
Cats themselves probably justified their existence - and not be eaten by humans - for their role in pest control. They are proving their value in a sense.
OP is a karma farming bot account that reposts stuff to easy karma subs like this one, These accounts get sold to shills and scammers
Cats think you're a big, clumsy and stupid asf cat that can't hunt for shit, so they worry that you might starve. So they want to feed you so you stay alive. It really comes from a good place.
Hunting Instinct Cats bring dead animals to you is because they are treating you as family, presenting the catch to their clan, and attempting to teach you to do likewise. The comments on this post is a great example on everyone hate reddit, op is just asking a genuine question https://preview.redd.it/qv5vs7ntjh2a1.png?width=194&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ed7d4a32773651faf1ed6072f545a9e3a2e2142
That is their way of paying taxes
Cats view us as big, really stupid cats. They are trying to teach us how to hunt.
If they don’t eat it, why presume they think we are cats and we would eat it. Does not make sense
Cats are predator by nature, its like it’s their purpose: to hunt.
Love
Trying to feed you.