cat bringing mice into house

[Gonnagetgoing]

So I have a lovely cat. Who it would appear (not using the cat flaps for obvious reasons, e.g. other cats etc, just using french windows to let her in and out) has been letting mice into the house.

It's not just been me in the house recently, various other visitors including workmen, family visiting, friends (including one staying see other post!), and I can't be sure that cat has rushed in really quickly and due to tiredness, dim lighting etc has had a mouse in her mouth and I've not seen it!

So: 1. How do I stop the cat bringing in live mice? If I give her a filthy look re the mice she looks at me like eg confused/innocent cat!

Have so far (with help of DB visiting) set some traps in my bedroom where mouse is lodging.

1. Do you feel sorry if the traps (one was humane but it's taken the cheese from the trap and not been caught) kill the mouse? Mixture of snap and humane. It's either that or cat gets mouse but don't want snap traps to injure cat.

I know it's the fecking cat bringing in mice because I did have mice downstairs and upstairs but blocked all their holes with help of pest controller and no way on earth they could get in now unless they have industrial strength tools.

@BigWoollyJumpers

Loving the childhood stories.

We had two sister cats when I was young. They excelled in distracting and rounding up pigeons. They took great delight in bringing them in and de-feathering them. The number of times poor Dad had to break necks and put them out of their misery. Feathers..... hate feathers....to this day.

@BigWoollyJumpers - my DM certainly wasn't pleased with the cat!

To add to the tumble drier story - this happened in deep snow - so stepdad out there setting fire to it in snow! Forgot that!

He wasn't impressed with the cat either!

Your poor father with the sister cats! Mine is one of a sister pair and yes they certainly honed their hunting skills together!

@BearSoFair

Our current cat thankfully doesn't appear to be much of a hunter or if she is she isn't bringing things home! But this thread has reminded me of our old girl who once brought in a mouse, proudly dropped it at DH's feet where, a few seconds later, it sprang up and shot under the bath. Cat looked at the spot where she'd dropped it, then at DH as if to say 'well I can't believe that just happened, how embarrassing' turned on her heel and stormed off to bed Took us 10 minutes to poke it out from under the bath with a broom handle!

@BearSoFair - OMG - i am dying here! Cats have the best ironic, sarcastic, pissed off, embarrassed looks!

Final call from me on this - so should I get pest control involved as not seen dead mouse at all?

and can you get poison that won't harm cats?

When I was a child, one of our cats got absolutely covered in blue tracking powder (warfarin) back in the '80s. We rushed her to the vet, who washed her thoroughly and checked her over, but said she'd probably be okay (she lived for several more years,) because cats can throw up, but rats can't.

I don't know about more modern poisons. It's usually used in bait boxes, to stop other animals getting at it, but it works by rodents eating it in the box, and then going away and dying, and if something then predates it once it's dead or dying, they then ingest the poisons, and that’s no good for them.

I would only get pest control if there are active mouse signs, like droppings, or food being nibbled.

You're not doing the filthy look right

[quote femfemlicious]@ButtonSister pheww glad to hear that...uou never know with mumsnetters😁. I hate mice sooo much. I almost had a nervous breakdown when i used to have them they would keep me up all night scratching around. They only way i was able to get rid of them with poison and by throwing away my toaster...i still dont have a toaster now😢[/quote]
Ugh, I've heard a few toaster and mice stories - not a good combination

Our cat catches mice and brings them in both dead and alive. The live ones are usually still in her mouth so I make her drop the mouse and release them. Often though she leaves dead ones in the conservatory or next to the door. It's her nature!

A couple of weeks ago my sister had just got home (after 12 hours work) and sat down when a rat jumped in through the cat flap which opens into her front room. So she screamed and jumped on the chair. what did her normally bird/mice/frog/squirrel killing 2 cats do? Left the house and sat outside waiting for Something To Be Done. Sister tried to chase the rat but it ran behind a heavy bookcase and she was already exhausted and had to get up early next day so she closed off the downstairs and her bedroom door and hoped the cats would find some courage in the night. Did they? No, so the upshot was she had to move all furniture , empty cupboards clean everything, buy a rat trap which she did not want for same reasons as others, but still found evidence of rat eating cereal in morning. By now it was her time off but she also had got a bad cold. She and my brother had to pull the kitchen apart finding in the process how badly built it was, numerous holes under the kitchen back boards, old rubbish left under floorboards etc. I live miles away but got Amazon to send those electronic repeller plug ins. She lives nxt door to woodland so absolutely did notwant a little or large rat family moving in and still the cats did nothing but sit and watch. Yet so many times she has come home to dismembered wildlife on the floor. Anyway the rat has not been seen so we are hoping the combination of the noise, smell of bleach, blocking holes with steel wool, hiding food in lockable boxes, and the repeller have worked. She was surprised at herself being so much horrified by a rat in the house rather than a mouse but I know I would be too. My cat did bring in a live mouse the other night, I could see the tail dangling from his mouth and he emits a deep growl when I try to get it away so not a present for me. I just chased him out the back door with it as I did not want to deal with a half dead creature.

The most unusual thing was in the summer when I found a headless mole outside my bedroom window (ground floor). I had to check on google as I had never seen a live mole but it had the fat body and characteristic spread 'hands' (as seen in The Wind In The Willows). I assumed it was my cat although it is a shared garden and my neighbour's cat who is my cat's neice kills more than her fair share.

Oh, I meant to say thanks for the tips about throwing a towel over a live mouse to trap it and tempting it with food in a wellington boot. that's brilliant, I will pass that on to my sister.

Yes you can't use poison with other animals around. Spring traps if you intend to kill.

Thanks for this thread as a head up never to get a cat- I could not deal with it!
Had 3 cats over the course of childhood and none were hunters thankfully

The Wellington boot tip is awesome. Thanks.

Do you think mice survive if you rehome them, to the local park for example? I worry they’ll miss their families.

@BobbieT1999

You're not doing the filthy look right

@BobbieT1999 - yeah need to get on YouTube to get my best filthy look for cats honed . She just looks at me scathingly and is very unhappy nowadays when after having been asleep all day in the house I have the temerity not to allow her out at night to hunt/fight!

@tomorrowalready

A couple of weeks ago my sister had just got home (after 12 hours work) and sat down when a rat jumped in through the cat flap which opens into her front room. So she screamed and jumped on the chair. what did her normally bird/mice/frog/squirrel killing 2 cats do? Left the house and sat outside waiting for Something To Be Done. Sister tried to chase the rat but it ran behind a heavy bookcase and she was already exhausted and had to get up early next day so she closed off the downstairs and her bedroom door and hoped the cats would find some courage in the night. Did they? No, so the upshot was she had to move all furniture , empty cupboards clean everything, buy a rat trap which she did not want for same reasons as others, but still found evidence of rat eating cereal in morning. By now it was her time off but she also had got a bad cold. She and my brother had to pull the kitchen apart finding in the process how badly built it was, numerous holes under the kitchen back boards, old rubbish left under floorboards etc. I live miles away but got Amazon to send those electronic repeller plug ins. She lives nxt door to woodland so absolutely did notwant a little or large rat family moving in and still the cats did nothing but sit and watch. Yet so many times she has come home to dismembered wildlife on the floor. Anyway the rat has not been seen so we are hoping the combination of the noise, smell of bleach, blocking holes with steel wool, hiding food in lockable boxes, and the repeller have worked. She was surprised at herself being so much horrified by a rat in the house rather than a mouse but I know I would be too. My cat did bring in a live mouse the other night, I could see the tail dangling from his mouth and he emits a deep growl when I try to get it away so not a present for me. I just chased him out the back door with it as I did not want to deal with a half dead creature.

The most unusual thing was in the summer when I found a headless mole outside my bedroom window (ground floor). I had to check on google as I had never seen a live mole but it had the fat body and characteristic spread 'hands' (as seen in The Wind In The Willows). I assumed it was my cat although it is a shared garden and my neighbour's cat who is my cat's neice kills more than her fair share.

@tomorrowalready - your poor sister and what useless cats!

I’m lucky () that most previous cats have found and killed most vermin they bring in! Unless they forget they brought them in . This cat though, hoping it’s a one off and she finds it. As at night she’ll be hanging around corridors where mouse might be but not actually doing a lot…

Am thinking of rehoming a kitten as friend for her in new year if she does get lonely. Let’s hope they don’t embark on a “let’s bring gifts into mum” phase!

Thanks,Gonnagetgoing, she was traumatised by it especially as the cats do bring in a lot of dismembered wildlife for her to find when she gets home. Actually I am now a bit worried the rat may have gnawed her elecrical wires as she told me both her kettle and toaster blew out on her last week which never happened before. She has bought new ones but this only occurred to me after we spoke so I am waiting until tomorrow to suggest she checks the wiring. It is important to find any live catches brought in especially mice as they re so small, urinate continually and may be pregnant already. My old cat brought one in and we both chased it all over the flat but could not find it for 2weeks when it ventured out from under a wardrobe. The cat got it and I had to dispose of its poor soft body. (The mouse's that is) but then found how it had peed in all my dishes in the cupboards and nibbled on the tea towels so it had travelled all through the flat. Has anyone ever seen a cat confront a badger? I realised one summer evening there is a set of them nearby. They are huge aren't they? Never had seen a live one before and I am over 60. Do they hibernate? There's a surprising amount of wildlife here less than 2 miles from the city centre.

Wellington boot lady here. I left the welllie out overnight with five wild bird peanuts in. This morning the peanuts are gone and there are mouse droppings inside.

So I’m going to find some nesting material (dried leaves, moss, shredded paper) and pop it into the toe. Then leave it out again with more peanuts I’ll check it each morning

Note to self: don’t try to look for a mouse unless I’m outside. They’re buggers for jumping and are very quick..

Why are there so many mice about at this time of year? We were fine until the Autumn.

DH has just informed me that we've a mouse stakeout going on around the Christmas tree.

I might have to try the wellie boot trick tomorrow!

I’m assuming it’s colder outside and less natural food available for them.

I’m pretty sure our indoor mice dig down into the earth of our large indoor plant. I’m not sure why they’d do that but something had been digging, tunnelling almost?

@tomorrowalready

Thanks,Gonnagetgoing, she was traumatised by it especially as the cats do bring in a lot of dismembered wildlife for her to find when she gets home. Actually I am now a bit worried the rat may have gnawed her elecrical wires as she told me both her kettle and toaster blew out on her last week which never happened before. She has bought new ones but this only occurred to me after we spoke so I am waiting until tomorrow to suggest she checks the wiring. It is important to find any live catches brought in especially mice as they re so small, urinate continually and may be pregnant already. My old cat brought one in and we both chased it all over the flat but could not find it for 2weeks when it ventured out from under a wardrobe. The cat got it and I had to dispose of its poor soft body. (The mouse's that is) but then found how it had peed in all my dishes in the cupboards and nibbled on the tea towels so it had travelled all through the flat. Has anyone ever seen a cat confront a badger? I realised one summer evening there is a set of them nearby. They are huge aren't they? Never had seen a live one before and I am over 60. Do they hibernate? There's a surprising amount of wildlife here less than 2 miles from the city centre.

@tomorrowalready - never seen a cat confront a badger (yes they’re huge) but then again they’re not local to me - or not these days!

Rats and mice are buggers for gnawing wires and peeing on stuff and rubbing against it.

I think now sadly mouse is in box room which I don’t even use as a bedroom as it’s not in my bedroom. Have got traps in both rooms and barricaded box room so bloody thing can’t get out. Cat is occasionally interested in the rooms but unless it can see/get at mouse she can’t do much!

@sleepymum50

Wellington boot lady here. I left the welllie out overnight with five wild bird peanuts in. This morning the peanuts are gone and there are mouse droppings inside.

So I’m going to find some nesting material (dried leaves, moss, shredded paper) and pop it into the toe. Then leave it out again with more peanuts I’ll check it each morning

Note to self: don’t try to look for a mouse unless I’m outside. They’re buggers for jumping and are very quick..

@sleepymum50 - well done on the mice taking bird seed, they do like that! Probably a good idea re providing them with nesting material - you’re too kind!

Mice do jump I forgot about that. Seen it once or twice.

Stepdad used to regale us with tales (I’m sure they were true!) of rats leaping at his/others throats in Abu Dhabi when he worked out there.

@Madcats and @Curtainpoleofdoom - mice come inside for shelter (and to set up home) when it’s colder.

@Curtainpoleofdoom - I know rats 🐀 make lovely tunnels (nice smooth surfaces on top) so am assuming mice dig down into earth too, presumably for safety and also to make nests.

So apparently feeding the “right” kind of food and certain types of play can reduce the hunting of wildlife.

here