![]() Which is to say, a raw, prey-based or -modeled diet. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already done some research and realize how important a species-appropriate diet is for your cat I won’t have to bore you with the kibble-is-bad lecture and can move right into giving you the scoop on what is good for your furry little friends. (Note: A condensed version of this information is available here A Prey Model Raw (PMR) Feeding Primer.) Even when fed regularly by people, a cat's motivation to hunt remains strong, so it continues hunting.Written by Tracy Dion, November 2009, and updated February 2013. Unlike some predators, a cat's desire to hunt is not suppressed by adequate supplemental food. With abundant food, densities can reach over 9 per acre, and cats often form large feeding and breeding "colonies" (81 cats were recorded in one colony, and colonies of over 20 are not uncommon). In these areas, cats are several times more abundant than all mid-sized native predators (such as foxes, raccoons, skunks) combined. In some parts of rural Wisconsin, densities of free-ranging cats reach 114 cats per square mile. These three factors allow domestic cats to exist at much higher densities than native predators. Third, unlike many native predators, cat densities are either poorly limited or not limited by territoriality. Whereas populations of native predators will decline when prey becomes scarce, cats receiving food subsidies from people remain abundant and continue to hunt even rare species. Second, they often have a dependable supply of supplemental food provided by humans and are, therefore, not influenced by changes in populations of prey. However, they differ from wild predators in three important ways: First, people protect cats from disease, predation and competition, factors that can control numbers of wild predators, such as bobcats, foxes, or coyotes. Some of these kills are house mice, rats and other species considered pests, but many are native songbirds and mammals whose populations are already stressed by other factors, such as habitat destruction and pesticide pollution.Īlthough cats make affectionate pets, many domestic cats hunt as effectively as wild predators. Urban and suburban cats add to this toll. Nationwide, rural cats probably kill over a billion small mammals and hundreds of millions of birds each year. ![]() The most reasonable estimates indicate that 39 million birds are killed in the state each year. ![]() Recent research suggests that rural free-ranging domestic cats in Wisconsin may be killing between 8 and 217 million birds each year. Several studies found that up to 90% of free-ranging rural cats' diet was wild animals, and less than 10% of rural cats killed no wild animals. Rural cats kill many more wild animals than do urban, or suburban cats. Some of the data on kills suggest that free-ranging cats living in small towns kill an average of 14 wild animals each per year. Observation of free-ranging domestic cats shows that some individuals can kill over 1000 wild animals per year, although smaller numbers are more typical. The diets of free-ranging cat populations, however, reflect the food locally available. The remaining 10% is a variety of other animals. These cats' prey while birds make up about 20%.
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