Let’s be honest, one reason people love cats is because of their warm and soft fur. While cats shed their hair year-round, the main shedding seasons occur in spring and fall, per Hill’s Pet Nutrition. Instead of discarding the fur right away, CatDad got creative with it and decided to donate it to the birds. In a viral video with nearly 900,000 likes, CatDad demonstrated how he repurposes the cat fur. The pet owner carried the shed fur in a suet feeder outside while showing his cat, Teddie, where his fur was going. The man hung up the suet feeder filled with his cats’ fur on a wooden structure near other bird feeders in his garden.
“I see them Dickie birds they make their nests with. You have nice, warm fur,” CatDad tells his cat. Moments later, the man filmed a songbird pecking on and pulling out bits of the fur and then flying away. It can be safely presumed that the bird was putting it to good use and building its nest with it. CatDad captioned the post shared in 2023, “We’ve kindly donated our fur so the birdies can make their nests warm and cozy for their babies.” Similarly, the pet owner shared his annual fur offering to birds in another video last year, where he began by combing his cat’s hair. He then collected the fur and once again placed it inside a suet feeder for the birds to help make nests.
Seeing CatDad’s grand efforts, people were impressed and hoped to do the same for birds in their respective areas. One viewer (@krisplus3) said, “This is such a good idea! I’m shaving Gogo kitty today and donating.” While another (@fancyshoedfraggie) mused, “The bird was like, ‘This is high quality stuff!” “My golden retriever used to lie in the sun, and the birds used to take her fur while she slept, from her body,” shared @dolt57. Likewise, another pet owner (@rainbowryder4) said, “Aww, my long-haired cat left some fur outside after cleaning and saw birds picking it up to make a nest.”
While the effort is understandably well-intentioned, experts at Perky Pet disclosed that chemically treated pet fur could be a potential hazard for birds and their offspring. Pet furs add that soft, warm touch to bird nests, also providing the necessary cushioning for egg protection. However, most pet furs are nowadays treated with chemicals to keep it off of ticks and lice. The toxins from these treatments remain in the fur and are poisonous to birds. Fur is safe to donate only when it is untreated by chemicals.
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