Cat Brings Live Mouse Home, Owner Can't Cope With What They Do Next - Newsweek

Nov 06, 2024

A pet cat gave up his hunting instincts and instead invited his prey around for dinner.

Abbie Doctor, an aesthetics nurse living in Gloucester, England, caught the bizarre moment her cat, Chewie, brought a live mouse into the house, and promptly brought it for something to eat.

"My cats bring in mice nearly every day but sadly they are usually dead," Doctor told Newsweek. "This time it came in alive and we were chasing it around the house for a while.

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"We were sat watching TV and its little face just appeared under the TV unit," she explained.

"Then it ran over to the food bowls and the cat just watched it and allowed the mouse to eat!"

Doctor shared the clip to her TikTok account @abbiedoctor on November 3, which so far has over 124,000 likes and 1.2 million views.

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It shows the small mouse on a plate of wet and dry cat food, helping itself to the meal with no rush or panic—while the cat hovers nearby, watching it but not even attempting to catch it.

As the video goes on, Chewie gets closer and sniffs the mouse, who is casually nibbling on its food. But Chewie quickly loses interest, and instead goes to check out a nearby cat toy.

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"My cat brought in a mouse and sat him down for dinner," Doctor wrote over the clip, adding: "It's giving Tom and Jerry."

Cats may bring their prey home to have a safe haven in their own territory to eat or store the animal, according to cat food company Purina. It had initially been thought this was a sign of affection toward their owners, or a gift to their owner who is incapable of hunting themselves.

This is normal cat behavior, and is a part of owning a cat that has access to the outside, Purina adds.

TikTok users responded in a big way, with one commenter worrying the mouse must be "frozen in terror," but Doctor responded: "Nah he was quite chill, walking around, eating."

"The fact he has a mouse toy is killing me," another laughed, as one wrote: "Imagine the mouse going back to his family and trying to explain how a cat didn't eat him and instead gave him food."

And one demanded: "I need an update. Where is the mouse now."

Doctor revealed the next part of the adventure to Newsweek, explaining the mouse "stayed for a little while then we managed to catch him and release him into our greenhouse."

Doctor was blown away by the response to her video, calling the amount of views "crazy."

But, as she added, there are "so many cat lovers out there," it may not be all that surprising.

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