Exploring why do cats "play" with the animals that they hunt?

Are cats actually just fluffy balls of harmless fluff, or are they actually lethal machines?

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Cat focusing on its hunting job, and playing at the same time.

You’ve probably witnessed your cat’s predatory instincts in action. Your cat is casually exploring the backyard when, all of a sudden, it leaps forward and lunges at something. It could be a bird, a mouse, or even a lizard. This creature is played with by the cat for several minutes, even after it has stopped moving, as she continues to knock it back and forth. After that, they pick up their prize, run to the front door, and place a minuscule carcass on the floor in front of it.

This behaviour is evidence, in the eyes of cat owners, that their feline furballs are lovable dolts, albeit ones that are misguided. However, in the eyes of many environmentalists, this represents the invasive behaviour of a killing machine equipped with four feet’ worth of knives. This disparity in viewpoint has stoked a heated discussion between animal rights activists and people who are passionate about them about whether or not cats should be permitted outside.

Why, though, do house cats persist in chasing down and playing with their dead prey? Are they cuddly himbas or furry psychopaths waiting to pounce? The truth is probably to be found somewhere in the middle.

Examining the process of domesticating them is necessary for answering this question. A study that was conducted in 2017 and published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution found that the first wild cats to make a tentative step toward domestication probably did so approximately 8,000 years ago in Egypt and the regions that surrounded Egypt. These felines belonged to the species Felis silvestris lybica, also known as African wildcats, and they hunted rats for a source of food.

They were drawn to cities because of the abundance of rats there. These cats were kept around by humans because of their ability to keep rodent populations under control, thereby preventing the spread of disease and protecting grain supplies. These feline companions eventually came to be regarded as lucky or even revered in some societies, such as ancient Egypt and China.

According to Martina Cecchetti, a conservation scientist who studies their behaviour at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, “true” cat domestication can be traced back to only around 200 years ago. This is despite the fact that humans have lived alongside their feline companions for thousands of years. In the context of this discussion, “true” domestication, as defined by Cecchetti, refers to the process by which humans intentionally and selectively breed domesticated animals, as opposed to simply coexisting with our species.

According to a study that was published in 2006 in The Journal of Nutrition, cats have retained many of the instincts that were passed down from their wild ancestors, who hunted small prey throughout the day. This is because they were only domesticated relatively recently. According to Cecchetti, a cat is motivated by this evolutionary holdover “to catch prey even if it is not hungry.” In addition, the instincts that a cat uses to play, such as batting, pouncing, and raking with its claws, are derived from its behaviour when it is hunting.

Cat playing with its prey before killing it.

It is common for wild cats to engage in playful behaviour with their prey in order to wear it out before they consume it.

This helps to lower the risk of injury to the cats. According to WBUR, the National Public Radio station in Boston, even modern domestic cat breeds are able to survive relatively easily in the wild thanks to these instincts. In fact, some Polish populations have been so successful that they are now considered invasive pests.

Extensive research shows that domestic cats can have a negative impact on the environment if they are allowed to roam free outside. The majority of the killings were carried out by the country’s 30 million to 80 million unowned cats, which include farm cats, feral cats, and strays that are fed by humans, the researchers wrote in the study. They kill upwards of 1.3 billion birds and 6.3 billion small mammals each year in the United States alone, according to an estimate published in 2013 in the journal Nature Communications. Cats are responsible for the deaths of approximately 1.3 billion birds and 6.3 billion small mammals

Therefore, what can people do to prevent their furry companions from causing so much harm to the environment? According to the findings of Cecchetti’s research the desire to hunt in domesticated cats can be reduced in part by ensuring that they have sufficient opportunities for play at home and by feeding them high-quality, meat-rich diets that offer the appropriate micronutrient balance.

Cats eyeing its prey and having fun while hunting.

According to Cecchetti, “domestic cats are obligate carnivores,” which means that if at home they aren’t getting enough meat, they may look for it somewhere else.

If you do decide to feed stray cats, the Humane Society suggests that you get in touch with a trap-neuter-return (also known as TNR) programme as soon as possible. These programmes will temporarily capture feral cats, spay or neuter them, vaccinate them against rabies, identify them with an ear tip (which involves removing the top quarter of an inch of the left ear while the cat is under anaesthesia), and return them to the area where they were found if local shelters are unable to accommodate them. This process helps to keep the population of feral cats under control, which in turn can lead to a reduction in the number of wild animals that are killed by them.

Keep your feline companion indoors (with plenty of toys and at least 20 square feet, or 1.8 square metres, of space at the bare minimum) or take it outside on a leash to ensure that it does not cause any harm to the ecosystem in your area. However, this may not be the best way to ensure that your feline companion does not cause any harm. In this manner, it will be able to indulge all of its natural hunting instincts to its fullest without causing any harm to the wildlife in the area.

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