Fucking rats in the kitchen

[GovernmentFundedSteak]

As the title says really. We've had the same issue in the past, hence I had things in to try and help.
Realised when I got home that there was a rat in the kitchen. Opened the back door and made a lot of noise, then left the door open for a while so it could get out. Couldn't hear it anymore, so shut the door, found a hole where it must have come in. Tipped peppermint pellets into the gap and stuffed it with wire wool. Went and did some other stuff and then went back to the kitchen. The bloody thing has pulled the wire wool out and is back in the kitchen.
Ugggh. I don't know what to do. Landlord refuses to do anything about it, can't afford to move.
Does anyone have any tried and tested methods? Or do I need to call in pest control? Is that expensive? I am unbelievably skint right now.

The landlord is liable if there is a structural issue with the property. Rather than a problem if your own naming.

so you should phone the rat man. Get them to review the issue and confirm how big an issue it is and what is causing it.
then the landlord will have to address structural issues - like holes in the fabric of the building. And reimburse you for the costs of the rat man.

I know this because I was you in our previous home where we were tenants. And a family member is a lawyer so explained the law to us based on our tenancy agreement.

We offset our costs against the rent due, albeit with Landlord consent. He had to pay for the building to be made whole. Luckily for us the rats had not made a nest in the building. Ours were opportunistic passing rats who had not yet got established.

good luck

Outdoor cats definitely help to keep rats snd mice down here on the farm. I've currently got 9 who are descended from 2 feral cats who set up camp here some years ago. I feed the one family in the farmyard and the other by the house to spread out the protection. Cats rescues are often looking for homes for semi feral cats so it might be worth you seeing if you could adopt a pair.

Omg we have them under our floor at the moment. I swear it’s them. Bloody ridiculous.

And we have a cat who is a serious hunter. Doesn’t help. He has plenty of mice to eat and prefers them. Rats are fighters.

You need to call professional pest control. They have access to stuff you can’t buy over the counter. You do also need to work out how they are getting in and block that. I spent ages messing about but 75 quid well spent with the rat man. Never had a problem since. We were sat on the sofa the evening after he visited gleefully listening to it eating the bait. Shame it died and stunk the house out for two weeks.

so many of these solutions are cruel and don’t solve the problem. You need to use steel wool and some cement or player patch to close the hole. Figure out how to close holes and make your yard less appealing. otherwise, just cruel and no solution.

There are rats in my city. My cat catches them and kills them. It’s utterly disgusting.

My cat is a breed that is meant to be utterly useless but she is a little fluffy predator.

I’ve never seen a rat in my house. My cat escapes outside and chases them and murders them there.

I would fill the hole with builders bog. It will set and the rat won’t be able to tear it out. The landlord should have to pay for this but it will be quicker if you do that yourself and put some poison down.

I had a similar problem but I’m petrified of rats so told the agency I rent from I’d sleep in my car and not pay rent till it was sorted. I live rurally and only have one close neighbour who was putting loads of
food out for birds.

When they realised I was serious they got pest control out, I live next to a river which attracts rats so I also got a cat.

The cat was the best deterrent and I saw him a few times running around with a ratty in his mouth, I watched him suck the tail up like spaghetti with gusto on one occasion 🥴.
I technically wasn’t allowed the cat but they let me keep him as unofficial pest control!

Amazon do traps which my friend had good success with, they are reasonably priced so worth a shot? Either that or as a pp suggested you could ask UB40? 😆.

We occasionally get a small rat in our house, there must be a small hole somewhere that they can fit through, but I’ve no idea where. Please don’t poison as not only does the rat have a very horrible death, it will also wonder off to die somewhere, which could be in your walls, bringing flies or elsewhere where another animal will eat it and also get poisoned. I use humane traps with peanut butter, then release far away from home. Fill all your gaps in too to stop them getting back in. Good luck

What are you gonna do?

(Someone had to, sorry).

Just checked my local council pest control site as I’m sure rats used to be dealt with free of charge but now they are chargeable.
We had the council bloke out a few times for mice. Absolute weirdo but sorted the mouse problem 😄. We got 3 visits for about £120 (now about £160). We chose to have an extra visit but they never charged us. Would have cost a lot more with a private company.

he looked all round the exterior pointing out areas where they could have got in and then went round every room in the house before baiting.

we have a cat and she’d not even noticed any mice 🤦🏻‍♀️

It really depends on a cat's temperament. I've had two adorably fluffy, affectionate cats who, contrary to appearances, were absolutely pitiless killing machines. My big, fierce tom was hopeless. He confronted marauders with his scariest display, hissed and yowled, then sauntered back to a comfy spot while they scurried past him!

It would be handy if your landlord let you have a cat for future pest control 🐈 Great advice here. I hope you get it sorted with minimal cost and disruption.

We had a rat (or more) in our garage which then got into the wall cavity and loft. DH used a trap but didn’t check it in the loft and we had loads of horrible bluebottles for a few days. It was Summer and so opening the windows got them away.
We now have a plug in sonic deterrent which seems to work as in no rats or mice in the house or garage despite knowing the neighbours have mice and seeing a rat in our garden.

Thanks so much for the advice. I have been speaking to a lovely rescue that re homes inner city London ferals etc to country locations and are happy to home 2 ferals to us….i was just wondering whether to bite the bullet and do it as I’m already up the wall with life but at least I might not have to be paranoid everytime I get in the car that there might be a rat in it! Little shits created a nest under my back seats last year, I was probably driving around with them 🤮

That’s what I was going to say. A terrier.

Do you have decking?We had rats in our cavity walls which lived under the decking and had gnawed a hole through the house (deep down ) and got into the .Poison was the only way as it was a deep hole going through the foundations. We then had to rip up the decking and fill with concrete and lay patio slabs or they would return. Also put a one way rat flap on the drains.Cost a fortune.Could have been cheaper by buying poison ourselves and shoving it under the decking every few months but worried about killing other wildlife and pets.You have my sympathy.

I don't know anyone with a terrier, definitely can't have a cat. I don't really want to harm them, but can't do the humane release as I don't drive and they have to be released a few miles from home apparently. So the drowning thing might be my best bet, even though it will kill them.

The only hole I found is where its chewed through the edge of a wooden door frame so no idea how to fill that! Expanding foam might work temporarily.

Ugh

We had this a couple of years ago theconly thing that worked was poison which we got off amazon its very bitter apparently so pets don't touch it ( apparently rats will eat anything )
I'll come back when I have Googledthe name.

It was Formula B advanced rat poison it takes a few days but it was very effective.

Peanut butter with a couple of spoons of bicarb stirred in. Put it on paper plates near where the rat gets in. Once you have seen it's eaten some throw paper plates away, it will kill the rat and if other animals eat the rat they won't be harmed either so much better than poison.

It’s outrageous the landlord won’t sort it, is the rent via an agency or direct?

Oh, sounds like a good compromise.

He probably would, in a years time when he gets around to it. Its a tricky situation, no agency involved. Rent hasn't been put up in the 10 years ive lived here. Moving would almost double the rent, which I can't afford.

Swimming around and around in circles while panicking the eventually drowning due to exhaustion doesn't sound in the least bit peaceful!

Snap traps are much more quicker

We had this, we plugged the hole with cement and baited up the fence line in bait boxes, etc. Any DIY shop will have tubs of cement you just add water to. The best thing to do is to stop them getting in, because realistically there are probably lots of them living nearby; as they fill up a space they expand to other nests and then they forage from those. The only way to deal with that really is to go hard on poison to knock them out and then keep on top of it, but if they're not living in your garden, say if you keep poultry, then it won't help a whole lot.