Please tell me what these are

[moleymoley1]

So we’ve just found a rat underneath the kitchen cupboard 😩 we’re dealing with it and we’re aware we may have more than 1. I’ve just been going around checking for more marks and I’ve seen this on our bed. Now we have a 12 week old kitten so these marks could well be from her biting or from rats. If so this changes things cos it now means there upstairs 😩😩😩😩😭

I’ve added the picture of the wall by where her food is just for context as I think this is her too.

I think marks like that more likely made by a kitten than a rat. Good luck sorting it out.

Yeah kitten not rats those scratches. Rats will scratch for food. Clever wee bastards!

Good luck!

There’s a small chunk missing from the bottom that’s what is bothering me 😩😩😩

I think the marks are much more likely to be from the kitten.

We've had rats a few times (old house). They will bite wood but only as a means to an end eg we have a couple of holes in the floorboards because the rats decided to make a nest under the floorboards.

Rats wouldn't make the more random marks shown in the photos.

Definitely kitten. I doubt the rats will stay long with a cat in the house

How did you get rid of them? We’ve blocked up all entry points but there under the house and still somehow getting in 😩😩😩 ready to set fire to the house at this point

That’s what I thought but she’s only 12 weeks old!

We tried humane traps which have worked with mice but the rats were too smart to go in them so eventually we used poison.

We didn't like doing it because we're veggies and we like rats but unfortunately having them in the house is a health risk.

We use little wax blocks of bait which the rats carry off to wherever they have made their nest.

This is the bit I’m worried about as it looked chewed 😩😩 and the other day I heard banging upstairs and the kitten was with me and no one else was in

That bit's chewed not scratched. I doubt a kitten would scratch enough to make the other marks either

Not sure unless we see a picture of the kitten 😁

Use bait boxes, proper ones, with the more expensive red bait blocks. Be very careful to keep kitten away from them. You need to remove any source of food attractant as well, so feed the kitten then put food away, and store all your foodstuffs properly in plastic containers rather than paper/cardboard. I can’t see a three month old kitten making those marks to be honest, for a start it might still have its kitten teeth, not big adult ones.

No I onow which leads me to believe the rats are upstairs 😩😩😩

Here she is defo too small to make those marks!

Don’t take any food upstairs, the rats will find it🫣

Are you aware that’s cats teeth like babies and lose their baby teeth? She could be teething, when they teeth, they chew a lot. Has she got some good toys to chew?

Shes cute!

Can I send a picture of what was under our sink? Everyone has said it’s a rat and I’ve ran it through an id thng that says rat too but I’d much prefer it if it was just mice 🫣

Well I'm sorry but that's not your kitten gnawing away there. I hate to buck the trend but no cat I've ever had has done that - and I think you'd know if she was doing it

Sorry - my vote is that's a rat

And no, a cat would have no reason to chew and gnaw in that way.

This is what we saw under our sink 😩😩

That is rats, sorry, cats will scratch it to shit but it will look different to chewing, that wood is chewed.
I'm not sure how to get rats but if I were you I'd get a pest controller in to check.

Rats are noisy, as in wake you up noisy, mice less so. Have had both and live in the country. Have you walked round the outside of your property and checked around any pipes that come out ? that's where ours got in, they had removed the filler around the pipes and come into the kitchen that way.
Did they arrive with the kitten ? I stopped putting food down and leaving it for the dog, she ate and the remains binned and bowl washed. No fruit bowl left out, all other food put in a rat proof cupboard. You need to make it slim pickings for them. Also doused the place in peppermint oil which apparently they hate, you would need to check if this is kitten safe first.
Another possible culprit is squirrels, they are also noisy, chewers and are aggressive little buggers !

Gorgeous kitten but please, ditch all the plastic bowls and use ceramic or glass. Plastic bowls are awful for cats and dogs, and tend to cause a kind of acne under the cat’s chin. No matter how they’re washed they have a residual taste and scent that cats find unpleasant, they get tiny surface abrasions that harbour bacteria, your pet is ingesting microscopic particles of plastic as it eats, and it taints their water.

That looks mousey.

Get some traps and bait down. Secure the kitten inside for now and kill the rodents.

My vote's for a mouse! I've seen more rats up close than I'd like and that's not one