The great feline hunter does it again, what's your cat brought it for you?

February 26, 2010 8:35am CST
Moomin has excelled himself today, his hunter/gatherer instincts have led him to one of his finest trophies and it's currently in a bowl of water in the kitchen. I hvae no clue where this latest trophy has come from, and can only assume that one of my neighbours has a large fish pond which has no cover. He walked into the kitchen an hour ago with an eight inch long koi carp type fish, still flapping and gasping, and dropped it at my feet with that "Here's a present for you Mum" look on his face. I was able to get the poor thing into a bowl of water and currently it seems unaffected by it's ordeal, but what the heck do I do with it now. I can hardly go around the neighbourhood with a fish in a bowl of water asking if anyone has lot it can I. Do I put up a poster saying we have *found* a large fish? Just what can I do with the thing? What has your cat given you lately? What's the strangest or most unusual gift have they brought hom?
4 people like this
8 responses
@ElicBxn (63250)
• United States
26 Feb 10
and plain tap water isn't good for fish - so you might want to either find some pond or something to get it out of the tap water
3 people like this
26 Feb 10
We don't have a pond hun, so far the fish seems to be ok and I'm trying to call a local pet store to see if they can take the fish.
3 people like this
@Maggiepie (7816)
• United States
26 Feb 10
This is Elic on Maggie's computer - you could at least get the stuff to treat the water to make it safe for the fish Part of the reason koi do well is they are pretty tolerant of short term changes in their situation - but they do get stressed and die
3 people like this
26 Feb 10
Thank you for the help hun, I was able to take the fish up to our local pet store where they keep a lot of koi and the lovely lady there has taken the fish and put it in one of their tanks. I told her how we came by it and she has said she will look after it for a while. She knows a lot of the local koi people so she thinks one of them may well go in there.
2 people like this
@pandaeyes (2065)
26 Feb 10
Tricky cause if you ask and someone says yes that's my koi and look what your cat has done, it might be a bit awkward. However if you were to say you found the fish on your property,without mentioning your cat, it might not be quite so damning to poor Moomin. I think word of mouth is probably the easiest course. Someone must know someone with a koi pond. Whoever owns the fish pond needs to get a cover for it. My neighbour had her ponds covered because of a heron who would only be seen a couple of times a year but always remembered to visit her garden.
2 people like this
26 Feb 10
I'm definitely not going to go around the streets asking if anyone has lost a fish :-D
1 person likes this
@pandaeyes (2065)
26 Feb 10
oh I forgot about saying what our cat has brought in. Once a headless bird which he hid under the chair . A couple of times, tiny little mice and he is very put out when he is relieved of them and will go and try to find them again when they are let go. Once or twice,slow worms or bits of slow worm (they can detach their tails and grow a new one).
2 people like this
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
27 Feb 10
PMSL I had to laugh at Moomin's trophy, bless his cotton socks. But you must be honoured, deeply honoured! I am sure there a wanted poster of him in every shop front window now, a Koi Carp fish eh? He has taste! When I lived with my ex we had four cats and they were forever bringing back animals, there was never any discrimination as anything that moved was fair game. What upset me the most of all the animals they brought in was frogs, I have a deep fascination and love for frogs and I would rescue them, I wanted to keep them as pets but it's against the law to keep frogs sadly, but I wasn't going to release them because the cats would only bring them back and next time they wouldn't be so lucky, so I made many trips to the pond to release them, it was about a 10 mile drive but it was worth it. Trouble is most of the animals were half alive and the amount of times we had to pull out furniture to get to them and rescue them, from voles to birds, frogs you name it, although having said that none of them have brought a fish back! WTG Moomin. Just hide if the neighbours come looking for it.
@wolfie34 (26771)
• United Kingdom
3 Mar 10
WTG Moomin. Frogs are OFF the Menu! Thanks for best response much appreciated ;0)
1 person likes this
3 Mar 10
LOL - I guess I am honoured hun. Fortunately Moomin has never found a frog, although I have had to rescue an assortment of redents and birds
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
3 Mar 10
Banjo brought home a highly venomous, brown snake a while back. It was just a baby and so harmless I thought but I was advised that this is not so...if it can bite me it can kill me. I just hope he never brings home a bigger one. Lately, he comes into my room with his offerings while I'm asleep and leaves things on my bed. He can be so awful but he has such a loving, giving nature.
1 person likes this
3 Mar 10
OMG !!! Thank goodness Moomin has never brought in anything like that. Banjo has to take the accolade for great hunter on that one hun
@glambank (217)
• United States
26 Feb 10
My cat has brought birds, field mice and large bugs to my doorstep. But one time I came in the house and heard a sound that wasn't familiar to me. I looked around and saw a small duckling trembling in the corner of my bedroom. The only way that duckling could have gotten in is through my cat. Oh, and yes my cat was right there trying to figure out what to do with this unusual animal. I took the ducking out side and released him near the lake. Hoping he'd catch up with his crew.
26 Feb 10
Crikey, a duckling !! I thought Moomin was excelling himself.
1 person likes this
@kaylachan (58015)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
4 Mar 10
I'm suprised the animal survived the ordeal and wasn't eaten by your cat. good thing you were able to get it in some water and rescue it. If you haven't already you can always take a picture of the animal and see if you can find out where it came from. The cat must have got it from somewhere. with the picture, you can show that to neighbors and hopfully return the animal. In the meantime go to a pet store and get some fish flakes for it to eat. And, if you are able to return it make its owner aware so that your cat, and others can't get at it. Also.... my cat Gaberal braught us a living rat once. that was quite funny.
1 person likes this
4 Mar 10
I think the neighbour with the pond must be pretty close by, but for now the fish is at the pet store and safe. I've posted up a notice in the street saying that the fish is safe at the pet store so I'm hoping someone will take note and retrieve the fish
• Canada
27 Feb 10
We used to have a cat that would go out and catch things alive, and release them in the house. We lived in Arizona, at the time, so she'd bring us all kinds of little lizzards, and other native creatures. She released a chipmunk in there once that chewed through our internet cable, and another time she released a bird in the house. LOL
1 person likes this
27 Feb 10
Our last cat (now sadly gone to that great hunting ground in the sky) was a manic hunter. I must have spent hours rescuing mice, birds, grass snakes and insects that he had brought in but not killed. My husband and I were indoors one day when we heard this high-pitched screaming. We both dashed outside to find Stanley clutching a rabbit in his mouth. He let go when he saw us and the rabbit ran off. I think that was the biggest thing he ever caught. One day I heard a scuffling beside the cat flap. When I looked he was outside trying to push through a slipper. He had it in his mouth sideways so it didn't fit! Goodness only knows whose slipper it was. I was too much of a coward to knock on doors in the neighbourhood as the slipper was by then rather chewed up! I really miss him. He was a real character.