You may be wondering, why do cats like to eat mice, including always hunting them, even though cat it is a domestic cat or pet whose food intake is clearly met. This question is very reasonable, especially for cats who are kept and have been provided with special food.
The act of a cat likes to eat mice is actually a very normal thing even if you see it as something disgusting and worrying about his health due to eating mice.
Some domesticated cats even make mice they hunt to show you, to prove their obedience to their master.
The factors that influence the cause of cats liking to eat mice are more based on the following things, namely:
Cats Like to Eat Mice because of Biological Factors
Cats like to eat mice because they need taurine in the form of an essential amino acid that cannot be produced in the cat’s body. One source of taurine is in meat, including rat meat. Taurine itself is an important intake for cats to help the digestive process, support the heart muscle and maintain the cat’s immune system.
Each kitten, especially in the wild, is also taught indirectly by its mother how to survive, especially in fulfilling the intake for the growth and development of kittens by hunting.
Instinct Factor
Cats like to eat mice because instinctively, cats are real hunting animals, even when they are kept since childhood. In fact, some people who keep cats at first are for controlling rat pests in their homes, even though it’s just to scare mice, but cats like to hunt mice.
Moreover, cats have a very sharp sense of smell so they are able to sniff out the presence of mice or other animals to be preyed upon. In fact, based on research, domestic cats have access and a greater tendency to hunt mice that nest in settlements than feral cats.
This instinct has even existed since cats are only a few weeks old from birth, which can be seen from the way they pounce or claw at their food.
Carnivorous Animal Factor
Yes, cats are known as carnivores. Therefore, cats need meat, for consumption even though cats have been cared for by humans since birth, but cats still need a kind of ‘game’ and that is what causes cats to like to eat mice is part of the craze or characteristic of carnivorous animals.
What’s more, most processed cat foods are not entirely meat-based so cats will naturally seek out additional food for their cat’s needs and endurance.
Pay attention to cat health if you like to eat mice
If you are worried about the activities of your pet cat, who likes to eat mice, it’s good to notice as well as his health condition, considering that rats are animals that carry various types of dangerous diseases to cats such as parasites that are very likely to have a health impact on cats.
Carry out regular checks on the condition of cats that have been found consuming mice, you can also take them to the vet to give the vaccine so that the cat’s body is much stronger against possible viral and bacterial attacks due to cats liking to eat mice.
That way, you can’t stop your cat from eating mice. Because, it is a natural instinct of a cat that has been there since they were born. What you have to do is to continue to monitor his health condition while continuing to meet the nutritional needs of your pet cat.