The cat is an excellent hunter. In his earliest childhood, he spends a good part of his time playing, but… we must not be fooled: apart from having fun, what he does is perfect his hunting techniques, in the same way that lion cubs throw themselves on top of each other. others and chase each other in order to catch prey tomorrow.
Over time, the feline that we have at home becomes so good that it can even hunt insects. So far, so good, but What if my cat eats a fly? Then it wouldn't hurt to worry, just in case.
Why do flies eat?
Flies, as we know, are flying insects that can be terribly annoying. However, cats love to chase them, and of course, they are like an especially interesting toy for them. They force them to run and jump, which they enjoy, but they also serve to be, each time, better predators.
Once they get caught, most likely they just play with them, but sometimes, out of curiosity, they can go further and eat them. What do we have to do in these cases?
Well, the first thing is to make sure that our furry darlings are dewormed. In veterinary clinics they can give us medicines (usually syrups or pipettes) that will help the animals to be well. Later, what we will do is observe them to see if they have any strange reaction. Why? Because that fly may have been in contact with some chemical product, which is toxic to cats.
What to do if my cat eats one and it feels bad?
If they start to salivate a lot, tremble, vomit and have diarrhea, they must be taken urgently to the vet since they will have been poisoned. There, they will give you medicine to try to expel the fly and to stabilize it.
The flies themselves are not a problem, but you have to be careful and avoid, as much as possible, that the cat eat them.
My cat eats insects, is it dangerous?
There are cats that have a great time chasing all kinds of insects: flies, ants, ... It is impossible to prevent these from entering the house since they can easily slip through the door as soon as we open it, or we may even carry them over and we do not even realize it until we have entered the house.
But is it dangerous for them to be eaten? Well, depends. Insects often serve as hosts for parasites or some type of microorganism (virus, bacteria or fungus). For example, there are certain mosquitoes (those of the genus Anopheles) that can transmit malaria to people, and ticks can transmit so-called Lyme disease to many animals including cats.
Other than that, we can't forget about insecticides. Humans tend to use them, too much. When we live with cats, the ideal is to opt for natural insecticides, such as diatomaceous earth, which is one of the best products there is because they repel and eliminate many insects, such as ants or fleas for example. But of course, if a chemical insecticide is used, and the feline eats that insect later, the risk of suffering some kind of discomfort is high. I will not say that there is a risk of death, since the insect is tiny compared to the size of a cat, but it can have certain discomforts.
So just in case it does not hurt to do everything, everything possible or by repel insects, or at least to use products that are not toxic for felines.
My cats eat mosquitoes
If you have caught your cats eating mosquitoes you must watch them at least 24 hours, just in case. As mentioned above, there are some mosquitoes that can cause Lyme disease and others such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, which can cause death if the animal is not taken to the vet as soon as symptoms appear (paralysis, tremors, fever , vomiting), so all precautions are little.
So that these annoying insects do not enter the house, what you can do is put mosquito netting on the windows if you want to keep them open. Do not hesitate to also put a cat net to prevent these cats from going outside.
Do cats eat birds?
When cats go outside is when their predatory instinct awakens; However, if they are well fed it is very difficult for them to eat their prey. What they most often do is hunt them, play with them, and perhaps bring them home to their human family.
From experience, I can tell you that if they are semi-feral cats or that live in colonies, no matter how well cared for, they do tend to eat the birds they catch, because their hunter instinct is more 'alive' because of so to speak.
I hope it has been useful to you 🙂.