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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Earning their keep

21 replies

Caitlin17 · 15/12/2013 17:03

Would I be unreasonable if I were to rouse the 4 cats with whom we share the house from their afternoon naps and suggest that unless they get their act together and deal with the mouse I have just seen disappearing into the back of the central heating boiler cupboard there will be no Christmas Day roast pheasant for any of them?

OP posts:

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 15/12/2013 17:05

I thought this was going to be about lazy teenagers... I suppose the answer's the same though, rouse them and set them to work! Just expect dismembered mouse parts in the kitchen...

NoComet · 15/12/2013 17:20

YANBU, but, if DMILs cats are anything to go on.

One will knock all the Christmas cards off the mantle piece.

One will climb on the kitchen table and scoff what you are cooking for tea

One will fall asleep in the clean washing and the last one will go outside.

This last one will bring in a dismembered mole and fall a sleep, wet and muddy on your freshly hovered rug.

The mouse will watch these goings on and giggle.

WooWooOwl · 15/12/2013 17:25

Hell no, YANBU,

If you are going to have four cats in ine home! then you very definitely shouldn't have to worry about mice!

cuttingpicassostoenails · 15/12/2013 17:32

Every cat we have ever had has brought in live mice, played with them for a while and then let them go. The cats then seem to see them as slightly inferior members of the extended family and ignore them.

Houses with cats in have a much bigger problem with mice than those without!

NoComet · 15/12/2013 17:48

I know despite having two young female cats DMIL ended up getting the man from the council.

The mice took to hiding in the old rubble filled wall.

The cats could hear them and, did indeed, knock things off the mantle piece and bookcases.

They did not go outside, find the overgrown air brick and catch the little blighters going in and out.

Original poster

Caitlin17 · 15/12/2013 18:23

Starball .For the avoidance of doubt I'm not your mother in law but I fear your summary is accurate They've all just had their tea and have gone back to sleep.

OP posts:

AnyFuckersfrogslegs35 · 15/12/2013 18:27

YANBU :)

If they won't I'll lend you mine. He'd have caught the bugger before you even seen it.
I'm sure he'd like to be paid in pheasant, although you'll have to leave it raw :)

Binkyridesagain · 15/12/2013 18:28

I think you're getting ideas above your station. The cats are not there to earn their keep.

You have been chosen by them to serve them for the rest of their lives, if you want the mouse sorting, sort it yourself, then, when still fresh serve it to them on a golden platter.

If you are living in a cats house why do you not understand the basics of a life of servitude?

PresidentServalan · 15/12/2013 18:32

YABvvvvvU! I agree with Binky - just be grateful that they deign to live with you, and spend your time making their lives as easy as possible.

NynaevesSister · 15/12/2013 18:33

No don't do it! If I know my Tom and Jerry, and I think I do, this can only end one way. Your house a smouldering pile of rubble with just the front door intact but whistling upwards towards 30K feet.

Just not worth it. IMO.

cuttingpicassostoenails · 15/12/2013 19:33

Binky speaks great wisdom...and is also very well trained!

Binkyridesagain · 15/12/2013 19:37

Once in a blue moon the servant is allowed to rebel. Unknown to the cat, I and DS have made a shark outfit for the little treasure to wear on Christmas day.

The consequences of this act of rebellion, I know, will be harsh. But they are going to be SO worth it.

hiddenhome · 15/12/2013 19:40

I once saw our eldest cat sitting on the hearth at one end and a mouse sitting at the other

FortyDoorsToNowhere · 15/12/2013 19:42

I'm more of a dog person they are easy to please, cats on the other hand you have to work for thier attention.

Op yabu a mouse is a living animal and I feel sorry for them, they are only trying to live but people dislike them for some reason.

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 15/12/2013 20:16

People dislike mice because they don't have bladders, so pee pretty much all the time. They also poo, a lot, and so are not hygenic foraging through your dried goods.

My dog caught a mouse, the cats never have.

PresidentServalan · 15/12/2013 20:53

Binky You do know that DCat will probably shit in your shoes, don't you?

PresidentServalan · 15/12/2013 20:54

OldLady The cats don't have to if the dog does it!' They have him trained!

OldLadyKnowsNothing · 15/12/2013 20:59

Sadly the current mouse is mostly wandering around my kitchen worktops (or was, we trapped one the other day, no further evidence so far ) and the dog is very well trained to stay away from those surfaces. The mouse she caught was in the living room, clean kill. The cats aren't allowed in the kitchen, or to be around the dog... Gah!

Bettercallsaul1 · 15/12/2013 22:39

I'd be amazed if you even managed to wake them up, Caitlin17 - snoozing whenever they feel like it is a major part of the privileged feline lifestyle. I once had four cats too, and I used to stare at them enviously, as they slumbered the afternoon away - purring loudly at the same time - especially in the sleep-deprived baby days. It's no coincidence that an unscheduled snooze is called a catnap.

Original poster

Caitlin17 · 15/12/2013 23:51

Bettercaulsaul and they are so good at making sleeping look like the best thing ever. No sign of the mouse.

OP posts:

Bettercallsaul1 · 15/12/2013 23:58

Hopefully, it took one terrified look at the cat colony and decided to flee the premises before wake-up time. (In which case the cats have served their purpose admirably!)

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