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Authors: Desmond Morris
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case. As females, they will have to bring live prey back to the nest to demonstrate killing to their kittens at a certain stage in the litter's development. This maternal teaching process will account for an eagerness on the part of females to play with prey even though they are not starved of the hunting process.
There is one other explanation for this seemingly cruel behaviour.
When cats attack rats they are quite nervous of their prey's ability to defend themselves. A large rat can give a nasty bite to a cat and has to be subdued before any attempt is made to perform the killing-bite.
This is done by the cat swinging a lightning blow with its claws extended. In quick succession it may beat a rat this way and that until it is dazed and dizzy. Only then does the cat risk going in close with its face for the killing-bite. Sometimes a hunting cat will treat a small mouse as if it were a threatening rat, and start beating it with its paws instead of biting it. In the case of a mouse this quickly leads to a disproportionately savage pounding, with the diminutive rodent being flung to and fro. Feline behaviour of this type may appear like playing with the prey, but it is distinct from the trap-and-release play and should not be confused with it. In trap-and-release play the cat is inhibiting its bite each time. It is genuinely holding back to prolong the hunt. In hit-and-chase attacks on mice the cat is simply overreacting to the possible danger from the prey's teeth. It may look like cruel play, but in reality it is the behaviour of a cat that is not too sure of itself. Even after the prey is nearly or completely dead, such a cat may continue to bat the victim's body around, watching it intently to see if there is any sign of retaliation. Only after a long bout of this treatment will the cat decide that it is safe to deliver the killing-bite and eat the prey.
An experienced, full-time hunter would not react in this way, but a pampered pet cat, being a little rusty on the techniques of a quick kill, may well prefer this safer option.
How does a cat prepare its food?
Immediately after the kill, a cat goes through the strange little routine of 'taking a walk'. Unless it is starving, it paces up and down for a while, as if feeling the need to release the tension of the huntand-kill sequence. Only then does it settle down to eating the prey.
This pause may be important for the cat's digestion, giving its system a chance to calm down after the adrenalin-excitement of the moments that have just passed. During this pause a prey that has been feigning death may try to escape and, on very rare occasions, succeeds in doing so before the cat can return to the hunting mood again.
When the cat finally approaches its prey to eat it, there is the problem of how to prepare it for easy swallowing. Small rodents cause no difficulties. They are simply eaten head first and the skins, if swallowed, are regurgitated later. Some cats separate out the gallbladder and intestines and avoid eating them, but others are too hungry to care and gobble down the entire animal without any fuss.
Birds are another matter because of their feathers, but even here the smaller species are eaten in their entirety, with the exception of tail and wing feathers. Birds the size of thrushes and blackbirds are plucked a little before eating, but then the cat impatiently starts its meal.
After a while it breaks off to remove a few more feathers, before eating further. It repeats this a number of times as the feeding proceeds.
Bigger birds, however, demand more systematic plucking, and if a cat is successful at killing a pigeon or something larger, it must strip away the feathers before it begins to eat.
To pluck a pigeon, a cat must first hold down the body of the bird with its front feet, seize a clump of feathers between its teeth, pull its jaw-clamped head upwards with some force, and then finally open its mouth and shake its head vigorously from side to
There is one other explanation for this seemingly cruel behaviour.
When cats attack rats they are quite nervous of their prey's ability to defend themselves. A large rat can give a nasty bite to a cat and has to be subdued before any attempt is made to perform the killing-bite.
This is done by the cat swinging a lightning blow with its claws extended. In quick succession it may beat a rat this way and that until it is dazed and dizzy. Only then does the cat risk going in close with its face for the killing-bite. Sometimes a hunting cat will treat a small mouse as if it were a threatening rat, and start beating it with its paws instead of biting it. In the case of a mouse this quickly leads to a disproportionately savage pounding, with the diminutive rodent being flung to and fro. Feline behaviour of this type may appear like playing with the prey, but it is distinct from the trap-and-release play and should not be confused with it. In trap-and-release play the cat is inhibiting its bite each time. It is genuinely holding back to prolong the hunt. In hit-and-chase attacks on mice the cat is simply overreacting to the possible danger from the prey's teeth. It may look like cruel play, but in reality it is the behaviour of a cat that is not too sure of itself. Even after the prey is nearly or completely dead, such a cat may continue to bat the victim's body around, watching it intently to see if there is any sign of retaliation. Only after a long bout of this treatment will the cat decide that it is safe to deliver the killing-bite and eat the prey.
An experienced, full-time hunter would not react in this way, but a pampered pet cat, being a little rusty on the techniques of a quick kill, may well prefer this safer option.
How does a cat prepare its food?
Immediately after the kill, a cat goes through the strange little routine of 'taking a walk'. Unless it is starving, it paces up and down for a while, as if feeling the need to release the tension of the huntand-kill sequence. Only then does it settle down to eating the prey.
This pause may be important for the cat's digestion, giving its system a chance to calm down after the adrenalin-excitement of the moments that have just passed. During this pause a prey that has been feigning death may try to escape and, on very rare occasions, succeeds in doing so before the cat can return to the hunting mood again.
When the cat finally approaches its prey to eat it, there is the problem of how to prepare it for easy swallowing. Small rodents cause no difficulties. They are simply eaten head first and the skins, if swallowed, are regurgitated later. Some cats separate out the gallbladder and intestines and avoid eating them, but others are too hungry to care and gobble down the entire animal without any fuss.
Birds are another matter because of their feathers, but even here the smaller species are eaten in their entirety, with the exception of tail and wing feathers. Birds the size of thrushes and blackbirds are plucked a little before eating, but then the cat impatiently starts its meal.
After a while it breaks off to remove a few more feathers, before eating further. It repeats this a number of times as the feeding proceeds.
Bigger birds, however, demand more systematic plucking, and if a cat is successful at killing a pigeon or something larger, it must strip away the feathers before it begins to eat.
To pluck a pigeon, a cat must first hold down the body of the bird with its front feet, seize a clump of feathers between its teeth, pull its jaw-clamped head upwards with some force, and then finally open its mouth and shake its head vigorously from side to
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