Help! - Robin visiting a garden with cats

Hello Nic and welcome to the community forum. Although we like to be a nation who loves all animals including cats and birds it is a fact that cats do kill a massive number of birds each year and are one of their main predators. To quote something I read recently in the main tabloids .....
" Sir David Attenborough has warned that cats are killing huge numbers of birds in British gardens ,,,,,,,,,the TV naturalist said cat owners should buy bell collars for their pets to help stop the deaths ".
I think some breeds of cats are more predatory in their natural instinct than others but if your cats are targeting this friendly robin then you may have to stop putting out food for the bird as the consequences could be very upsetting for you; a bell on their collar would at least give garden birds a fair chance of knowing the cats were in the vicinity.

Thanks Hazel. Because my cats are confined to my garden they've never had collars so unfortunately, they wouldn't wear one now.

This determined little Robin is the only bird who's ever come near my garden so it's never been an issue.

I have stopped letting the cats out 1st thing in the morning and at dusk as that's when the Robin seems to be most active. He comes every evening and sings from my fence.

The Robin was coming for a few weeks before I started putting food out, I did remove the feeders for a few days but he still came.

I'd hoped the hanging feeders would stop him feeding from my grass and pots which would be much safer.

Unfortunately, I think my garden is particularly attractive because most of my neighbours have either paved gardens or artificial grass and none of them really have plants. Mine is full of insects with lots of cover.

He seems to have adopted our garden as his territory but I'll stop putting out food and see if he moves elsewhere.
I'd be incredibly upset if anything happened.

Hi Picnic, delighted about the fact you have a trusting Robin visit your garden but that you also have the dilema regarding your cats. A combination of things maybe that the Robin has come to your garden, as you say he came before you started to feed so was probably investigating and the fact that the neighbour's have no food available to him, he came to visit you, to see if you had a nice place for him to visit. Now that you have started feeding him he certainly knows that he is onto a good thing and will keep coming back. They will get very tame and will be aware of the cats about and I would have thought not got too close to them, but as Hazel has said, cats are quick and he could be caught out, wrong place wrong time. We have always had cats and I have to confess that over the many years, they have on an odd occasion brought back a bird but I think we have had as many involved in a window strike, some not so lucky and others that I have been able to release after a short time kept quiet until they recovered. Although the cats have never worn collars, you could try them with one, they will get used to them and the bell will be effective to help alert the Robin. You are doing good by keeping the cats in when you mostly see him but he will, be about most of the time, so if you can, the collar and bell will help. You could stop feeding him altogether and that will stop him coming more frequently. You can only do your best to try and avoid the situation. Good luck.

Edit. Apologies, welcome to the community from up in the very far north of Scotland, in Caithness.

A well composed reply Dave, thanks. I was trying (as a fellow cat owner) how to word my reply. You have summed it up perfectly.

Thanks so much for your replies, Dave & Catlady, it's all excellent advice. I'm a fellow Scot Catlady. I'm in Lanarkshire.

So far, one of my cats hunting skills are very poor which is good news! He just blunders in noisily and is black & white so easily spotted.

However, my other cat is definitely "lying in wait" and as a tabby is well camouflaged, so the idea of removing anywhere they can hide & stalk is a good one.

I have quite a few plants i usually don't cut back until spring but I will get out and get them pruned. He was hiding in the flower bed but a few strategically placed canes have stopped that.

A bit of re-organising in the garden would help I think.

My cats can definitely jump a good height, but I've placed the feeders above spiky plants that the cats can't get past. The Robin hops straight onto the feeders from the fence & the cats just watch as they know they can't reach it.

The cats are fascinated as because they aren't free roaming, they never see wildlife. I'm hoping the novelty wears off & they get bored! They're also getting extra playtime to tire them out a bit in the hope it'll reduce the urge to hunt.

If Mr Robin would just stop strolling around my grass and flower beds it would be safe, but he's very bold.

I did laugh at "get used to being a nervous wreck" Dave. I'm basically a highly strung, personal body guard for a bird now!

It's helpful that this Robin likes to chatter from the moment it arrives, as I leave the door open while the cats are out so I can hear it & keep an eye on them.

Thanks again, I'll persevere with all the advice as this little Robin has most definitely decided it loves my garden!

Totally agree a bell would obviously be one more thing to help but in reality, getting my two 5 year old cats to wear a collar now is an impossibility. They've never worn them and just wouldn't tolerate it.
I would if I could but as an experienced cat owner, I know their limits :-)

They've been a bit less interested today when the robins been here and I've cut back any plants that provided hiding places. The Robin seems to be checking the garden more for the cats now, he's started to only feed early in the day while they're kept in.

In other news, this is one feisty wee bird. He was swooping at a magpie that was trying to use one of the feeders today! Such an amazingly brave little creature. As someone new to having birds around, I'm utterly fascinated by his behaviour!

PiciNic said:

Does anyone have any advice on anything I can do to try & protect this little Robin from my cats?

This is the main question I was trying to address with my suggestion of attaching a collar with bell as Nic was obviously very concerned for the robin's safety .............. whether advice is taken or not is up to the person themselves, which is fair enough,   all we can do on here is try answer a question or offer and opinion as Rob and I have done the best way we can whether it is ultimately accepted or rejected.