Rusty 2 - Mice 0

Well, score another field mouse for my Rusty. I swear, I would never have believed that my Rusty cat could move fast enough to catch a mouse. But he has... not once, but twice now since he's been spending most of his time out on our backyard deck.

I put him out there a few months ago, when the weather got really warm and stayed warm. When Rusty is in the house, he overeats.... he steals food from the other cats' dishes, and also eats from Gracie's dish. He has no mercy.... if it's food, he'll eat it. As a result, he's overweight. We took him to the vet to check his health a few months ago, and he's just fine... he simply loves to eat and he seems to have a bottomless cat-belly.

Keeping him outside in the backyard (covered deck, comfy chairs, fresh water) seemed to be the smart thing to do. I thought I could control his food portions that way and he'd lose a little weight. Silly me. Never underestimate the appetite and determination of a hungry cat.

Now that I've seen him catch his second mouse (and he was starting to chew on the poor thing till I got out there) heaven only knows how many other mice he has caught. (And ate? Yuck!) He certainly hasn't lost weight since he's been out in the yard. And he wouldn't be gaining weight if he's been munching on grass inbetween his meals. So now I'm wondering if he has caught more mice than I know of... and would he really have eaten them? I have no idea. I do know that I've never seen tiny mice-feet and/or tails in the backyard. Then again, I haven't exactly been looking. (And could he have been hungry enough to eat everything on the mouse?)

I'm glad my husband was home when I saw Rusty catch the mouse this morning. I usually don't have a problem scooping up a mouse from the yard, as long as it's already dead when I see it. But this morning, I saw Rusty run after the mouse and I saw him shaking its little body, so the thought of picking up a warm mouse-body was just a little too much for me. Especially since I had to get Rusty away from the mouse quickly before he could sink his teeth into it and turn the poor little thing into a mid-morning snack.

Oh well.... Rusty was just being a cat. I praised him and told him what a great hunter he is, all the while cringing inside to think the poor little mouse had just taken his last breath just seconds ago.

I guess the only way that Rusty will ever lose some weight is if I put a muzzle on him. But he's a smart cat... he'd find himself a straw and make himself a mouse milkshake or something.