It is a cat's instinct to catch mice, but as more and more cats are kept as pets, this function is slowly being forgotten, because now cats are mostly used as companions, and owners do not require cats to have The ability to catch mice. But as a wild cat, this is indeed a life skill that must be mastered. So how old does a cat have to be before he can start catching mice?

​Russian Blue Cat

1. The cat’s ability to catch mice comes from his mother’s teachings

Cats that catch mice and eat them as food are usually taught by their mothers. When the cat is one month old, the mother cat will bring the caught mouse and eat it in front of the kitten. This is to let the kitten understand that the mouse is a delicious food. When the kittens are two months old, the mother cat will bring the mice she caught for the kittens to eat. After tasting the delicious food, in order to exercise the kittens' ability to catch mice, the mother cat will catch live mice for the kittens to play with. Slowly, the mother cat will stop catching mice for the kittens. It will naturally catch mice when it is hungry.

However, today’s cats leave their mothers very early and cannot learn the skills of catching mice from their mothers. In addition, there are very few mice in cities now. Cats who do not know that mice are delicacies will naturally not be able to catch mice. Even if you meet a mouse in daily life, you may regard it as a friend to play with for a while.

2. How old does a cat have to be to learn to catch mice?

Once a kitten's legs and feet are fully developed, it can begin to chase moving objects. At the same time, I exercised my physical strength and practiced how to grasp the timing of flying jumps. When they get a little older, the difficulty of "playing" escalates, and they can skillfully complete a series of actions such as ambush, sneak approach, and finally jump up to capture the prey. If it is a wild cat, at this stage, it can start real hunting, and after experiencing many failures, it can acquire perfect hunting techniques. Generally, this level can be reached 4 to 5 months after birth.

3. Can domestic pet cats learn to catch mice?

Even for cats raised by humans, if they are raised outdoors, through some outdoor practice, they will catch some small bugs at first, and slowly they will be able to catch mice and birds. However, if it is raised indoors, it will stagnate before the "try real hunting" stage due to lack of opportunities for practice. When they are older, if they are suddenly attacked by a mouse, they may even startle and ask, "What is this?!" Some cats will be so frightened that they run away. Recently, more and more cats have never seen a mouse in their lives. Cats like this continue to play a game of hunting, so they will never catch mice in their lives.

4. Cats whose nature is hard to change

Nowadays, the number of stray cats is increasing. Many people, out of a kind heart to rescue, catch cats and raise them themselves. In many cases, this method will give the cats a good life, but most stray cats after they reach adulthood , and cannot adapt to life with humans. They want to escape from such an environment. Rather than saying that stray cats like freedom, it is better to say that they have adapted to the wild environment and are more cautious, lively and accustomed to hunting. This is a kind of relationship with Innate habits, so if you adopt a stray cat, try to raise it from an early age to change its habits, so that such a cat can better adapt to life with humans. www.xiupet.com

In fact, whether a cat can really catch mice has nothing to do with age. It does not mean that when a cat grows up, it will definitely be able to catch mice. The skill of catching mice is learned in childhood and continued to improve as an adult. Many owners believe that cats can only catch mice. It is instinct, so if a cat is released into nature, he will definitely survive well. In fact, many kittens that leave their mothers when they are young have not learned hunting skills. In the natural environment, they may not learn to catch mice before they are born. Just starved to death.