Cats can consume bats.
If one of your cats happens to encounter a bat somewhere in the home, it’s your duty to determine whether the bat has indeed ingested a pill.
Bats are prey for cats, so it’s likely that you’ll meet them at some point in your life.
However, it’s your responsibility to make sure that you’ve safely disposed of any bats that are somehow your cat’s.
So, do cats eat bats?
Many people believe that cats eat bats. However, this is not true.
While bats are delicious to eat, cats are too dainty to eat bats. Also, cats rarely eat bats in the wild because they are afraid of bats and prefer rodents and birds instead.
While some cats may eat bats accidentally, it is quite rare.
Do Cats Eat Bats?
Cats do, in fact, hunt and eat mice and other small mammals such as rats and moles in the wild.
In general, cats shouldn’t hunt and eat raccoons or opossums because they are too big.
Do Cats Attack Bats?
Cats may attack bats because, although bats are big, they are not much bigger than a mouse. Also, bats are very fast fliers and can easily escape or outmaneuver a cat if the latter should attack them.
A bat may bite a cat if they do happen to meet. However, because the bat is flying, it is unlikely the cat will get much more than a nip.
The bigger worry is that the cat will scare the bat so badly that it drops its food and flies away, leaving the food behind for the cat to scavenge later.
Can Cats Get Sick From Catching A Bat?
Yes, cats may get very sick if they catch and eat a diseased or injured bat, especially if they are young kittens who have not built up their immunity yet.
Bats are known carriers of rabies and may infect your cat if they catch it by mistake.
When a cat captures a diseased or injured animal, the chances of getting infected increase greatly if the animal bites the cat or scratches it with its claws.
This may expose the fluids from the skin of the animal to your cat’s skin—thus increasing the chances of contracting the disease from the animal’s blood.
Your cat does not have to consume much blood to be infected – just a drop or two is all that is needed.
What Happens When A Cat Consumes A Bat?
If a cat eats a poisoned mouse or a poisonous insect like a wasp or a bee, it might feel sick for a few days and have a very upset stomach.
Choking, stomach discomfort, swelling of the tongue, vomiting, and diarrhea are some of the common symptoms that may result when a cat swallows something poisonous.
Also, keep in mind that when a poison is swallowed by an animal, it may experience digestive distress for a day or two before showing any symptoms of poisoning.
It is meat, but the meat has been preserved by chemicals, which makes it difficult to digest for your cat.
How Does a Cat Hunt a Bat?
The cat will start its hunt by stalking the flying bat from a distance until it gets close enough for it to attack it.
While many house cats never learn to stalk their prey before attacking them, wild cats are experts at this.
Domestic or house cats, too, come to learn that a good ambush spot is a high place that allows them to observe their victim from a safe distance before they pounce on it.
As a result, they like to sleep in high places like shelves or window sills where they can easily observe potential prey from a comfortable position.
A bat napping in a tree may also attract the attention of a house cat hunting below, and this could turn out to be a good ambush spot for the cat.
They can leap high enough to surprise their prey and can land silently on their victims’ backs to dispatch them.
What Do I Do If My Cat Catches A Bat?
Be alert if your cat captures a bat. Do not lose it out of sight. Remember, it could hurt your cat and try to escape from its grasp or attack it.
If your cat is not aggressive towards it, you can allow it to catch the prey and let it run off with it if it is capable of flying.
Remember, a bat can fly over several feet in one jump and may end up in the attic or on the roof of your home where you can’t get to it.
Bats are well-known carriers of the rabies virus – a deadly disease for humans as well as pets.
While the odds of this bat having rabies are remote, it is better to be safe than sorry — keep your cats indoors until the trapped bat is safely outside your home.
If the bat is examined by a wildlife expert after it is caught and tests negative for rabies, you may keep it as a pet, but be sure to vaccinate it for rabies so that it does not get exposed to the virus again in the wild.
If the test results in a positive result, the captured animal should be released unharmed as soon as possible.
How Often Do Cats Consume Bats?
Cats do eat bats, although it’s quite rare. Most cats would much rather prefer to eat mice, which are much smaller and easier prey.
However, if your cat does decide to catch a bat, it probably won’t eat the bat, but let it get away instead.
Remember, bats are natural predators of cats, and if they catch your cat, they know they are in territory that is too risky for them.
It only happens if you, as a homeowner, make it easy for bats to get into your house, where your cat can get hurt.
If your cat is captured by a bat, consider it lucky that your pet was fast enough to run away rather than become a victim.
Similarly, bats often fly or dwell near homes with attics, and attics are the preferred sleeping places for house cats. However, they seldom hurt the household pets.
That is not to suggest it won’t happen, because in some cases, even housecats do get attacked by bats, but the chances of that are extremely low.
How Do Bats Protect Themselves From Predators?
They only have their heightened hearing to help them survive when under attack by other animals.
Because bats don’t have many natural enemies, they are usually quite careless when foraging for food and feeding their babies.
As a result, cats that happen to pounce on them accidentally may get a chance to bite or scratch them.
So, be careful when removing baby bats from their mother’s pouch for feeding.
Bats are wild animals, and they aren’t looking for a fight with a harmless pet cat when hungry and nursing their young.
They protect themselves from attacks by using their sharp teeth and claws.
Male bats make ultrasonic noises to attract females during the mating season.
They will also doze off during the day while sleeping on twigs or leaves hanging in trees.
Bats will sometimes gather in large groups to sleep or roost together. These clusters are called roosts.
They sleep with their eyes open during the day while they are on guard for predators.
They are most active during dawn and dusk and prefer to fly at dusk and not during the daytime.
Also Read: Can Cats Eat Green Peppers?
Final Words
Cats, in the end, are not predators of adult bats and rarely attack newborn ones, so don’t worry if your indoor cat does kill a bat in the house.
They are carnivores and won’t pass up any opportunity to catch a mouse or a shrew that might be scurrying around your house.
Just because your cat can capture a bat doesn’t mean it will eat the bat, because that’s simply not what cats are wired to do in the wild.
Use caution while monitoring the sleeping habits of your pets to prevent accidents with flying mammals such as birds and small rodents, but don’t be overly concerned if your indoor cat kills a bat in your house from time to time.
Bat proofing the house is the best way to protect your pets from attacking them in the first place.
There’s no need to let your cat get into the habit of killing these harmless creatures.
Don’t be alarmed if your indoor cat kills a bat in the house every now and then since it’s not a threat to your pet in any way, but don’t forget to take precautions to protect your pets from the creatures by bat proofing your home for them.
Follow the important steps for securing your home’s entrances to keep bats from coming in the first place, so that your cat doesn’t end up catching them.
