###Human: A cat spends its time hunting birds.  The cat catches 8 birds during the day and twice this many at night. In total, how many birds did the cat catch?, ### Assistant: At night, the cat catches 8 birds * 2 = 16 birds.
Combined with the birds caught during the day, the cat caught a total of 8 birds + 16 birds = 24 birds. 
 So the answer is :  24