Silly city girl question -- cats

[swd12422]

So we're in the suburbs, so not in the country nor off the grid, but I thought you all would know the answer to this....

This morning, we woke up to find a cat in our yard, eating something it had found. I went out to investigate after it had left, and there was no trace of anything there to indicate what it had been. If it were a squirrel, or bird, or some other living thing that it had hunted and killed, would it really have eaten the ENTIRE thing? I thought cats just batted stuff around for awhile, killed it and maybe maimed it a bit, but not EAT it. Or is that just the indoor pets who are following their instincts but don't need to eat b/c they are well-fed? We don't know this cat, who it belongs to, or whether it is fed by humans at all.

[Ellien C]

My suburban cats are killers I tell you.

It's possible that it was small bug and was completely eaten.

It's possible it was only "mostly" dead (read that in Billy Crystal's voice from the Princess Bride) and the critter ran/limped off when it could.

It's possible the cat took it as a gift (I get thos a few times a month. Apparently we have mice).

I don't think they eat EVERYTHING - but you might not find parts/bones.

I'm betting it was a small field mouse or bird.

(also very suburban, so maybe the barn cat owners can tell you more).

[Perdita_in_Ontario]

Our "inherited" barn cats tended to leave us a present of the entrails of whatever they caught, but I never found anything else, although I doubt they ate the bones (we fed them but they liked to hunt).

In your case, I would agree with Ellien. Probably the cat took its treasure with it.

My indoor cats have found a mouse occasionally in the basement and do exactly as you say if I'm not there to intervene - bat it around until the poor thing escapes or dies of fright. The one time a bird got into the house, they just looked at it and then me, clearly saying "what the hell do you expect me to do with THIS??" (nothing, as a matter of fact; I rescued it...)