Anonymous Cat Gift On My Doorstep (Warning: mild carnage)

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

When I got home from work this evening I found this in front of my door:



I suppose you might call it an art installation, considering the careful arrangement of the feathers and tiny bits of flesh, but what I can't figure out is why it's there. I have three cats, all of whom are indoor cats, and none of them have house keys. So the culprit is clearly some other cat (unless I have to acknowledge another Cat Physics law relating to the ability to Apparate through locked doors).

But apart from that, I am seriously wondering why would someone else's cat would leave a "gift" of its prey remains on my doormat.

[graywarrior]

1. I found one have digested in cat poop the other day in the kitty litter box

I heaved.

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. It was a Love Gift

for one of your indoor kitties. ;)

[trof]

3. We now have a 'min pin' next door.

:eyes:
He brought me a dead baby bird yesterday, but at least he couldn't bark at me with his mouth full.

"They will be aloof around people they have never been introduced to, and are very protective of their owners. This protective instinct will manifest as barking and challenging postures. Although originally bred for ratting, they are also excellent watch dogs, barking at all things they deem a threat."

They're idiots.

The little prick barks constantly. He sits outside my window and barks at me. I like dogs in general, but not this one.

It looks like the one on the left.


"This dog truly does not see itself as small and therefore will challenge anything, including larger breeds. Miniature Pinschers were first bred to hunt vermin, especially rats."
Long legged Chihuahuas.
:-(

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. "The dog does not see itself as small and therefore will challenge anything."

Sounds like a recipe for disaster. I knew an annoying small dog once -- a Papillon -- who quickly learned to avoid cats after one of mine (who was twice his size) thoroughly pummeled him.

[DeepBlueC]

4. Someone's come a'wooing

It's springtime, almost. No one answered the door, so he thought "ah, what the hell...I AM feeling a bit 'peckish' " and chowed down. Easy. :D

[northernlights]

6. 2 years ago my doggie

tried to assemble a deer skeleton from spare parts he found in the woods. I had an assortment of bones piled up by the front door, including a couple ankles with hoofs attached, a cannon bone, 1 1/2 jawbones (complete with teeth) and various other unrecognizable bits and pieces.

He even managed to sneak one of its hoof capsules into the house, tucked inside his mouth. Imagine my surprise that night, when I turned on the light and found it on my bed, in my spot. By my pillow. :puke: :puke: :puke:

And just last week, the new rescued pup turned up with the leg of a recently killed turkey. I couldn't figure out where he found the "chicken leg," and then he found its tail, complete with tailbone attached. The 2 dogs carried around and chewed on turkey tail feathers for days. I still find a bit of tail feather here and there. I guess I could call it "pasture art."

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. That reminds me of the legendary "Dogs in Elk" story.

http://tabletalk.salon.com/webx?14@@.ee90352/1317

One of the funniest things on the Internets, ever.

[BikeWriter]

8. If cats were kept indoors millions less of our song birds would die.

[peacefreak]

9. Years ago I lived in a 6 unit complex.

One morning a neighbor knocked on my door & asked me to come outside. My cat took it upon herself to "take care" of the whole building by putting a fresh dead mousie on each doorstep. Good kitteh.

[av8rdave]

10. Your cat must really love/respect you

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. My cats do love me.

But there's apparently a neighbor cat who also has a crush on me. :)

[av8rdave]

12. You should feel very special!

[Solon]

13. At least you only seen it after it was dead, I've had one that was still alive...

after the cat caught it, and the dog got a hold of it then discarded it. A small bird, maybe a Robin, with its entire chest torn open, but it was still alive. I picked it up with a paper towel, and it was still moving, if only a little, and I frankly didn't know what to do. Well, I did, but I didn't want to do it, so I grabbed its little head and twisted it till I felt a snap and it stopped moving entirely. Ugh, I hated doing it, but it was in so much pain, I didn't know what else to do. :(

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. Ick.

Fortunately, my gift consisted only of feathers. No body.

[hyphenate]

15. Depends on your own cats

If any of them are female, perhaps it was a gift to the Lady Loves?

If they are males, perhaps some sort of marking of territory to show them who's boss?

BTW, cats can apparate. Do you really think Schroedinger's Cat stayed in that hellhole of a box, waiting to be deemed dead 1/2 of the time? No way! He was off in some tropical paradise having a Pina Colada.

[BikeWriter]

16. Mild carnage, art? Try thinking about a bird lover's reaction to that.

[riverdeep]

17. This person started a blog about, of all things, the stuff their cat killed.

This cat didn't start out as their cat, it belonged to a neighbor that lived a ways off, but would always hang around their property and eventually, they started leaving food out for this visiting cat. The cat was hunting his own food, though. Maybe because his owners didn't feed him well or that's just how he rolled, I don't know. Eventually, the actual owners moved away and left the cat, so they adopted Jeff where he now lives indoors. But while he was an outdoor cat, they documented the carnage, often with black humour.

http://www.whatjeffkilled.com/index.html
(warning: graphic (and I mean GRAPHIC) images of dead and disemboweled creatures!)

[geardaddy]

18. Sorry, I could help myself.

I was just so hungry!

[Lost in CT]

19. Your cat is clearly a Pollack fan put I sense both an impressionist feel and a

native American influence.

[meegbear]

20. My Max used to bring decapitated squirrels to me ...

either the headless body or the tail, but never the head.

I still miss him! :cry:

[Lost in CT]

22. Mine perfer the chipmunk family....

hugs to you on your loss... :hug:

[spinbaby]

21. That wasn't a gift

If it had been a gift, the cat would have left you some edible bits. I think your porch was simply a convenient place to dine.