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Q.: I have a lovely female cat called Sisse. The other day there was a fly on our table. Of course she discovered it very quickly. She then leaned with her front paws against the table and studied the fly carefully and then looked at me meowing in a peculiar way as if there was a vibrator pressed against her throat. She also seemed very upset by the whole experience of the fly, which of course took off very quickly after she discovered it.
Sisse was found apparently abandoned by her humans along with her brother. Of course we advertised for their humans around the neighborhood, but without luck. Can this have anything to do with her having maybe been taken too early away from her mother so she hasn't learnt how to hunt?
A.: No, I don't think this has anything to do with her kittenhood, even though it sounds as if it may have been a bit tough.
It's not all cats, not even those who are normally good hunters, who are able to catch flies. This demands a certain technique which the cat has to "invent on its own", as opposed to the technique required for mouse hunting, which is inborn in all cats.
The funny sounds you describe, may be due to frustration over the hopeless hunt.
You may, for example, hear odd, grating sounds from a cat that has spotted a bird outside the window. The bird looks delicious, but the cat knows it can't get at it and then gives vent to its annoyance by these sounds.
P.S. It is only the final, killing bite during a mouse hunt that the kitten has to learn from its mother. The rest of the technique is inborn, even though of course it benefits from "fine-tuning" while the kitten is growing up.
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