# Eating Crickets



## cmaijer (Jul 28, 2003)

Our kitten, Ming, (5 months) has started stalking and eating crickets. We've had several come into our laundry room from outside recently. She will go downstairs around 7 p.m. every night and park herself on the carpeting facing the laundry room. If you try to bring her upstairs, she will run back downstairs the minute you let her loose. :lol: I thought at first she was just playing with them, but I've watched her eat them also. 

Do you think there is something missing in her diet? Or is she just getting the thrill of the chase with the cricket diet as a bonus> :wink:


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## Gibsonsmom (Sep 25, 2003)

I dont know much about diets and stuff. I have to say that at least your kitty eats them. Ours how now decided he will just rip off their leg and then play with them until the die. Then he will just leave them in his bowl or sometimes in the bed.


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## cmaijer (Jul 28, 2003)

Sheba, my ten year old, always just played with them too. She would bat them around, put them in her mouth and spit them out. She'd play until they died and then just walk away from them. :lol:


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

I think she's enjoying herself! MIGHTY hunter!  Cats will chase and play with almost anything that is small enough and moves. Sometimes they die accidentally, and sometimes kitty kills it outright. That's their instinct and has been for thousands of years. According to a program I saw recently, they have not evolved since the ancient Egyptians made pets of them thousands of years ago.


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## Gibsonsmom (Sep 25, 2003)

What I find funny is when Gibson and I have get to have moth nights. During the summer Gibson will spend hours getting moths, and I will join in and help him hunt them down. It seems as though he really likes it cause I will tell him to look for the moth and he will get really stiff and start to look all around then i will lift him high enough to swat at them. I dont think we have ever caught one together, but it is really fun.


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## Louse76 (Sep 27, 2003)

Jeanie said:


> According to a program I saw recently, they have not evolved since the ancient Egyptians made pets of them thousands of years ago.


Of course... they're done!


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

:lol: You're right; they're perfect! I should have clarified that. The program said that dogs have been with man much longer, and have -for the most part-lost the hunting instinct, in comparison with wolves, for instance.

The narrator said a cat is a cat-period, whether a lion or a house cat. Their instincts are the same. So don't give your kitty growth hormones; you might become dinner! :wink:


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## faile (Sep 14, 2003)

i was reading an article about how dogs evolved the ability to read human signals, like pointing. they did a study- seven dogs and seven human raised wolveds, and put food uner one of two containers. (both smelled like food, scent was not a factor). the human then pointed and tapped on the one with the food. the dogs creamed the wolves on terms of performance. they then tested dog puppies to see if it was instinct or learned, and it was leaning far toward instinct. made me think about my dog, and how when he couldn't find his ball i would point in the direction it went and he would run off that way to look for it.

sorry, that was kinda off topic.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

It was interesting!


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## faile (Sep 14, 2003)

once we had a cicada sitting on the outside of the screen door. my dog was going nuts sniffing and sniffing at it. so i let him outside to see what he would do. without one second of hesitation, he walked over and ate it.


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## juliahadley (Oct 2, 2003)

I had to laugh when I read this one
I have an 8 month old male cat, Patched and he regularly catches moths brings them in chases them around and then eats them


He has caught some nice big ones lately and has much pleasure crunching them 

He has been doing this for a while,
he also catches flies (which is good for us)

I don't think it will do them any harm, they are carnivores and our cat seems fine despite eating 2 moths a day

I always praise him as he runs in with them in his mouth looking so proud, just his natural instincts to bring his catches home to show us

J


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