Can you keep her indoors? My city has a leash law for cats as well as dogs.

Get a hose and squirt her every time you see her doing this. or keep her indoors.

Why can't you keep her inside? Safer for her, safer for the baby birds.

All my indoor only cats were once outdoors.

There's nothing else you can do.

Pretty simple solution. Put a piece of sheet metal or stiff plastic around the trunk of the tree. It'll need to be above jumping distance. Doubt she'll be able to climb that.

Of course she hunted to survive. It's an instinct for survival. The reality though is that those birds sound pretty dumb and probably won't survive too long anyway. There's more predators out there than your one cat.

Have feral cats, that I would love to shoot.
There is one that sees me and runs for cover. lol

Cats are natural predators. This is what they do. They hunt, kill, and usually eat birds, rodents (mice, rats, squirrels, rabbits), large bugs, snakes, lizards...anything that's smaller than them. In some cases they'll hunt animals that are bigger than they are, too!

She's just listening to her inner panther!

You could put a bell on her collar, but that wouldn't help the birds in the nests. Can you keep her inside until after the nesting season?

Cats running loose are a real nuisance to wildlife. Our town has a very strict leash law for cats and dogs. They cannot be outside without being "controlled." Fences or leashes for dogs; inside or leashes for cats...since they can climb over any fence.

I trap any that get in my yard. I make an honest effort to find the owners (I know all the "local" cats and just escort them home) and if that fails I take them to the pound.

All cats should be kept indoors. It's not fair to the wildlife out there. My five cats never see the outside and are healthy and happy to look out windows. I pity your poor birds.

The cat should be kept indoors to protect the baby birds. After the babies learn to fly, they'll still be vulnerable. The robin parents will teach them how to forage for worms and other food on the ground and the babies won't have enough street smarts to get away from a determined cat. Last spring, my husband pointed out to two robins in our yard -- it was a mama robin hopping along followed by a fat baby, a few hops behind, learning how to forage. Looked just like me at the grocery store with my son wandering a few paces behind me!

This cat is a tamed feral cat...has always live outdoors...

I won't have a cat living in my house. So that is not an option.

Besides there are three very large dogs in here (against my wishes) that would have that cat for lunch.

So I guess there is no answer.

thanks anyway

patti

Patti, if I recall this cat adopted you...you didn't adopt her. :) Sounds like you're doing the best you can!

Cynic's suggestion of putting sheet metal or hard plastic around the tree trunk sounds like a good idea. Good luck, Patti.

I like the sheet metal idea (HD sells it). You could also try a sprinkler on a motion detector. Double sided tape on the tree trunk?

I don't think leash laws pertain to Patti.I think she is in the country,right?
Hopefully you can find a way to deter it from the nests until the birds fly away. The cat is just doing what it was born to do! Cynic and Sue36's suggestions would be worth a try.
Good luck!

the same idea but easier to find? heavy duty alum foil...

Good Ideas intermixed with opinions...LOL

I have some neighborhood cats (again no leash laws for cats, I live in the county)...that like to come over the fence at my bird feeders...and when I see them I run out like a banshee..screetching and clapping real loud. LOL

Then the dog goes like a bolt of lightening and jumps at the fence barking...Until I make a move..she pays them no mind..LOL

Cynic's idea will work for the birds in the nest, but once they fledge they will be in low bushes and on the ground for a day or so which will leave them at the mercy of your cat. A cat pen could work just for the few days when the babies are ready to fledge. The one in this picture is super elaborate (I'd like to make one for my indoor cat!)... but you could make something much, much simpler and smaller.

One of my indoor kitties, who was a stray before she got rescued by the shelter, jumped out a window today while my handyman was installing my window A/Cs. I found her outside meowing loudly under the window she jumped out of. She was scared and wanted back in the house. Silly cat.

Was this suggested already--wrap the tree in aluminum foil?

DH started to feed the birds. Doves were eating the seeds that fell on the ground. A cat got one of the ground birds, so we're not feeding them any more. Obviously we have plenty of doves, but it doesn't seem right to lure them in only to have a cat kill one.

I love that cat pen...I'd like to have something like that for her...I know neighbor cats steal her food if I don't sit there and watch her until she is done eating. Jeff caught one out there yesterday eating.

When she is eating and one of them come up she just moves off, away from them. I think she must be afraid of them.

But I make sure she gets more if they do.

If I had a pen like that...I'd feel like there would have to be another cat. Not sure if she would put up with one, she's not very friendly. But I hate to see any animal be alone.

Patti, for what it's worth - I have 3 tamed cats that were truly feral and not socialized cats that were just dumped and left to fend for themselves. Zeke, Scamper and Finnigan - who had to be "boxed" with anesthetic gas in his carrier before the vets could work on him. And it was a year before I could touch Scamp.

If you've tamed her enough to make a pet of her, then trust me, you can bring her indoors.

I think you'd be surprised at how dogs and cats can live together if they are introduced with the proper techniques. Actually it's almost always the cats who eventually rule the dogs - not the other way around. But it all depends on how you introduce them.

If you're serious about protecting both the cat and the wildlife, you should consider trying to keep her indoors. I think you might surprise yourself. Assuming the worst defeats you before you even start.