American Robin Attacked by Outdoor Cat: Patient 23-89

WARNING: Graphic Image Ahead

This American Robin, patient 23-89, is just one of the many patients we've admitted this year due to an interaction with a domestic cat.

Despite the best efforts of our rehabilitators and the quick actions of the finder, patient 23-89 passed away shortly after his admission. The image at the bottom of this page shows just one of the multiple puncture wounds a cat inflicted on this poor bird.

Outdoor Cats

Thanks to humans, cats are now the most abundant predator in North America, reaching numbers upwards of 100 million cats in the U.S. alone. Any cat outdoors will instinctively hunt and kill wildlife, even if they are well-fed. Outdoor and feral cats alone are responsible for over 2 billion bird deaths and over 10 billion mammal deaths annually in the United States, and are directly linked to the extinction of many mammal, bird, and reptile species. Both cats and dogs are invasive predators that humans have introduced into our local ecosystems.

Keep Cats Indoors

In order to protect Pennsylvania's native wildlife, we MUST keep cats indoors. The safest place for your cat is inside a home or outdoors in a protected enclosure. As mentioned above, outdoor and feral cats are responsible for killing millions of wild animals each year. Because cats are not a natural threat to wildlife, the lack of adaptation to this invasive species causes damage to our ecosystems.

Outdoor cats also have significantly shorter lifespans compared to indoor cats because of illnesses and injuries. Cats outside face threats from cars, traps, parasites, poisons, relocation and diseases. Even cats that occasionally go outdoors are susceptible to these threats. To keep your furry friends active indoors, consider stimulating them with different forms of play.

Read more about pet and wildlife interactions here.