I am cat sitting in Wales and have had several gifts–a large dead bird and 3 dead mice in 14 days. Today it was one dead baby bird and a live one chirping under a hutch. I finally got the live one into the garden. I am not sure if it is wounded or okay. Legs seemed to be askew but maybe because it is young. Will Mom bird find it? Should I do something particular to help the baby? The cat is just going to find it and kill it.
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You can put the baby bird into something like an empty flour bag @Shella_in_the_Forum and let it dry, rest and fluff up its wings. It can’t see you and can relax that way, it feels protected. If you have an Aga or a wood burner or somewhere warm but not too close that will help too. High up away from the cat. If it recovers a bit then you can try and return it to the garden and hope Mum finds it but TBH it’s down to chance and luck with nature and fledglings. #goodtotry
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oh that’s tough! apparently, the best thing to do is leave it for their parents to find, maybe in an “unreachable” location to the cat? or can you trap the cat in, for a little bit? not sure what that location could look like, as cats tend to be able to go everywhere.
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Mum will be looking and calling for it . So if it’s in a sheltered place in garden she might find it . Like under a hedge and away from cat and other predators- which includes other garden birds like crows, magpies and jays.
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I’m not sure if the cat is bringing the gifts to you, but if he/she is, if you can find a tiny bell to attach to the cats collar, that will warn the birds so they can fly away before being captured, and not build their nests nearby in the future.
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@Cuttlefish @Silversitters @Nadia111
Thanks for the help. The bird didn’t make it. We tried.
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@anon10466095
Thanks for the advice. I don’t feel right putting collars and bells on cats that are not mine. If I was staying longer I would ask permission, but it seems to me that the pet parents see this as a natural part of country life. They allow 24 hour access to the outdoors through the pet door (do not even have an indoor litter box). Thanks!
This is very sad, well done for doing all you could to help. A friend who runs a wildlife rescue centre told me that fledglings brought in by cats rarely recover because even the tiniest puncture wound will get infected due to the amount of bacteria in cat bites. As much as I love cats I’m not sure I’d ever have one as a pet again for this reason, they are super destructive to wildlife.
My own cats are indoor only. I live in a city. Some folks let their cats out but I do not. I think putting bells on collars is a good practice too.
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I always assume that as petsitters, we check with the owners first before doing anything.
Everyone is different. We lived in the country for many years and we wanted to give the birds a chance against our cats. The bell seemed to work in most cases.
we tried to save a baby mouse (same situation as you) and it was the saddest thing ever. It’s really really sad, but you did all you could.
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When I was in grad school I sat a dog and cat and took along my own 15 yo cat and Irish Wolfhound in Crestline at 5000 feet in the San Bernardino mountains. The resident cat used the cat flap and every few weeks would leave a dead Calif blue jay in the bath tub for me. The cat had to go through the flap and then climb 2 flights of stairs to get to the bath tub to leave me these gifts!
tom
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