@junep Funny you should mention that, I too own 5 cats (are we both crazy cat ladies, or what?) For years, like you I avoided putting out bird feeders for fear that they would simply become cat feeders, once removed but then I began to notice that, even without the feeders, there were a lot of birds hanging around my backyard because of the berries and seed heads left on the plants. During one particularly cold and nasty period in the winter I decided that, since the birds were hanging around anyway, I might as well try to supplement their diet and started hanging out some suet blocks and it just grew from there. I don't want to jinx things but I haven't noticed an increase in the bird kills since then, although one of my cats is a terror to small mammals in the area.
On the other hand, the one cat who really seemed to like hunting birds has been getting old and so is not as agile or as interested in hunting as she used to be.
On the other hand, the one cat who really seemed to like hunting birds has been getting old and so is not as agile or as interested in hunting as she used to be.