To ask for a solution to the cat and mouse problem?

[Stellaroses]

This issue comes up almost daily and is driving us mad.
We have 2 cats. The younger one (2) catches mice regularly (2-3 times a week, sometimes more) and either leaves the corpses on the kitchen floor, or worse, releases the live mouse in the kitchen to live under the units and leave droppings in our lower kitchen drawers.
DH is driven absolutely mad cleaning up after the cats/mice and suspecting one is loose under the washer etc. We have traps under the units but they only catch them occasionally.
I am sick of hearing about it and he’s annoyed because I’m not the one who clears it up/gets rid of mice. I work FT and he is retired, so it’s usually the case that this all happens when I’m in work, but if I am home I obviously help catch the mouse.
He is angry because I won’t consider locking the cats out of the house at night. They are currently locked in the kitchen because that’s where the cat flap is. I can’t bear the thought of them in the freezing cold or going off wandering further because the flap is locked.
If it makes any difference, the cats were both DH’s idea. Both our children are a bit obsessed with the cats, adore them and treat them like kings!
They have both had collars with bells in the past but hasn’t made much difference, and the younger one especially always loses hers after max 3 days.
Is there some other solution I haven’t thought of?

Get rid of cat flap. Our cat hunts but he does it outside. I don't let him in with them. When he wants to go out he stands at the door. When he wants to come back on he miaow or jumps up at the patio door.

Don't leave them out all night, that's cruel. It's freezing currently. Most cats die through road accidents at night. As cansu said, remove the flap, a cat will tell you when it wants to go out.

Rehome the cats

Collar with a bell. They’re intended to scare off birds etc. when cats are hunting. Might give the mice an advance warning?

Sack the catflap. My two hunters have to wait by the door to be let in and now they know they can't come in with mice.
Also they get themselves in by 11 if it's cold.
On the rare occasion they don't there's an outdoor cat bed on our balcony.
I live in central Europe where it regularly goes below freezing at night for weeks at a time in winter and they haven't frozen to death yet.

Keep them in at night?

Then during the day you can lock the cat flap and just let them in and out as and when.

Don't let them out at night. And get rid of the cat flap.
Bells/reflective collar.
Accepting that if you have a predator as a pet, they may well bring prey in your house.
(I have 3 cats so not anti-cat by any means)

Play with them more (get your dh to).. cats need to hunt, but they don’t necessarily know the difference between real prey and pretend. Play can satisfy their urge to hunt without corpses all over the floor!

That said, I don’t really understand the big deal about disposing of a few dead mice. It’s neither messy nor time consuming and often just part of owning a cat.

My parents have cats and they never bring anything they hunt inside because they don't have a cat flap, they just get let in and out of the back door whether or not it is convenient for the human doorman to drop everything at their knocking so any mice/small birds etc stay outside.

Usually the cats will go in and out during the day - when they want to go out they just sit at the patio door to be let out and when they want to come in they will sit on the back window ledge and/or tap on the glass to get your attention to let let in- but then in the evening they are happily curled up on the sofa.

If they do go out in the evening then when everyone goes to bed, when the dog gets let out for a last wee, we call them from the back door. If they don't come back then they stay out until about 4am when they come and knock on a bedroom window to be let in all night. There is a covered and sheltered area on the patio where there is a box with blankets that they can sleep in but they rarely ever use it. Cats are designed to be protected against the weather so the odd night locked out because they didn't come back at bedtime is not going to kill them.

Keep them in at night/hunting times. They won't like it at first but they'll get used to it.

If you do lock them out at night, buy or build a shelter. Put straw in, not fabric/blankets. All of my cats have got themselves in by the time we go to bed. You can't keep them in if they want to go out, they won't let you sleep.

Mouse traps?

Lock the cat flap at night and give them a litter tray. Let them out in the day when they are supervised on their return

We got rid of the cat flap.
They are all in a heap by the fire every evening in winter and refuse to come in during the summer.
Never had an issue

Keep cats in at night. Practice your ignoring skills as they will wail as if they are being tortured to be let out but do not give in under any circumstances.

It's better for the cats - keeps them out of fights and cuts down risk of road accidents, and is the most frequent hunting time.

If your DH is at home all day consider getting rid of the cat flap and just letting them in and out during the day. Even my killing machine boy knows he has to be in for dinner and doesn't go out afterwards. Doesn't stop him asking, but the answer is always no!

We had 2 cats for years and managed fine without a cat flap. Put a litter tray somewhere for emergencies and let them in/out as appropriate. (But have a good look at their mouths before you let them in!)

I agree you can't shut them out at night, at the moment it's too cold and even in warmer weather i wouldn't do it as if they meet a predator (cat, dog, fox) they need to know they can quickly get back indoors.

You could keep them in at night, get a four way locking cat flap and lock it once they've come in. But it won't necessarily stop the issue, my cats have no trouble catching mice/voles etc during the day.

You could get rid of the cat flap and just let them in and out but personally I wouldn't be happy with that for the reasons above - if they need to get indoors quickly to escape a predator you won't notice, and if you both go out for the day you will have to shut them out/in for a long period. Of course you'd also need a litter tray if you don't already have one, as they wouldn't be able to toilet outside on demand.

One practical thing would be to ensure mice cannot get behind the kitchen units, so where there are gaps, block them, I realise that may not be entirely possible but it could help the worst of the issue. In my kitchen the mice tend to go behind the wine racks and it's easy to get them out from there.

By the way I have found bells on collars are useless, my most prolific hunter had two bells on his collar to no effect.

Overwhelming answer is to get rid of the cat flap, then. We mainly got it because when we go away, we have someone in to feed them once a day and needed them to be able to toilet.
No way are we going back to litter tray! That also caused angst.

To answer a pp, it’s not so much the cleaning uo dead mice, it’s the live ones left to nest and leave droppings in our kitchen drawers, where pots and pans are kept.

Thanks for all your advice.

My dcats are locked in at night.
Rehome your dh seems more logical than rehome the dcats.
Imo.

During the autumn/winter our cats are not allowed out after 4. During the spring/summer we get them in around 10.00. No cat flap. Did get caught out the other day when I didn't check the cat before I let him in and he did let a mouse go in my office but it was caught and released and cat kept in to give mouse a sporting chance.

Bear in mind you've started a thread about cats but posted no pictures of them. Someone might be along to disapprove soon!

I agree that if you restrict the cats' access to outdoors their propensity to catch mice will reduce so losing the cat flap makes sense.

It had not occured to us to lock them IN! Thanks

@WildRosie

Bear in mind you've started a thread about cats but posted no pictures of them. Someone might be along to disapprove soon!

I agree that if you restrict the cats' access to outdoors their propensity to catch mice will reduce so losing the cat flap makes sense.

They are beautiful - a handsome tuxedo and a tortie.

Ours get breakfast and supper. They are keen to be under feet at 10pm awaiting food. They never cry to go out. Dcat 1 is 10.