Rat poison and dogs (and kids too!)

[spoon1]

Can anyone help please? I have two Labradors and a toddler, and I've discovered mice ( I hope it's mice and not rats) have been in our kitchen. I really need to tackle the problem but I'm very cautious about using rat poisons as my sister's cat died after eating some. I also have a 2 yr old who is into everything and I really don't feel comfortable leaving poison around my house. Has anyone any suggestions/tips that you can share with me ?

We tried poison once in desperation (we live on a farm and while I can live with mice/rats in the barns I draw the line in the house). We used a poison that was supposed to be unpallatable, put in a special container that was supposed to be impossible for other animals to get to and pushed the whole thing well under a narrow gap no other animal could get to...guess what happened? Yep the dog had eaten it within the first day. Luckily I heard him make noise and saw what he had done so I got him to the vets immediately, but it was still scary (and expensive!).

I wouldn't risk it again, especially now we have a 2 year old in the house like you. Try some humaine traps. You will still have to deal with the mice afterwards but better than risking the poison.

I found out about a mouse poison that doesn't harm animals and children. I spend a lot of time cooking in the kitchen with my children and so we are always dropping crumbs on the floor. It attracted mice (I need to find more time to clean up) and I was worried about our pup and putting poison down. A friend told me about one called Eradibait that kills the mice but doesn't have poison in it so can't harm animals and children. I bought mine online but you might be able to get it in the shops. Apparently has something to do with having powdered corn cob in it. Anyway it worked to get rid of our mouse problem and I didn't have to worry about my dog (or kids).
I'd try it if you are worried about putting poison down.

I think the only way you could use it reasonably safely would be to do what we did ( we live in the country too & keep waterfowl so sometimes have problems). We bought one of those containers that have a very small entry, supposedly only rodent sized but I wouldn't trust just that. We pulled out one of the appliances, in our case the washing machine but fridge, dishwasher, anything you can pull out would do, & put the container behind it then pushed the washer back in place. There isn't room for our animals to get up behind, only a one inch gap either side. It's a real fag having to pull out the washer to check if the bait needs topping up but at least it's inaccessible.

That's pretty much what we did Aquelven and the dog still got it! He was a gifted dog though!

We've tried Eradibait, the mice wouldn't eat it!

I'm going to look into the product you mentioned. It's worth a try. Have also been looking at old fashioned tips about how to get mice to eat the stuff. Going to try putting it out with peanut butter- apparently this is their favourite food. Will try anything rather than risk poisoning the dogs, or heaven forbid my 2 yr old ! Will report back.

What about the old fashioned way? A mousetrap?

I've lost one dog and very, very nearly lost another to other people's rat poison. I wouldn't use it.

You can buy a plug in sonic deterrent, think we got one in B&Q.

Mouse traps here. Old fashioned powerful snap ones.

Sugarbeat horse feed. It swells to several times its volume when water is added ( which is why u per soak it to use as a feed stuff) mice will eat dry stuff it will swell in their gut and kill them but unlikely that dog would eat it in any quantity to do them harm! Has worked for many years in my rack room!

We bought some mouse traps that you can hide out of reach, there's a sort of electric plate that kills the mouse. Battery operated. DP's job was getting rid of the mice but you can open the container straight into a bag if the light is flashing to indicate a mouse. Can't remember the make but I'll Google it if this is of interest. Plug in sonic things were useless - both for me and the Freecycler that used them afterwards.

Re. mousetraps, I really don't like the idea of finding a dead mouse in my kitchen. I know it may sound pathetic, but I'd rather they eat something that I've put down, and just disappear ! Thanks for all your comments-this is the first time I've used mumsnet talk !

I use rat poison constantly due to living near fields and farms. A lot of us do in our large village. If we didn't we would be overrun.

Just make sure your dog can't get at the poison.

Apperently it's not just about pets getting poisoned, there was an article I read the other day about secondary poisoning of barn owls. They can eat the mice that have eaten the poison (they don't die immediately and can still be running around) and then they themselves are poisoned. It is supposedly a serious problem, particularly in the countryside.

But if it eats the poison it could still end up dead in your kitchen/garden or whatever ... horrid thing to deal with I know :(

I thought mice went back to their holes to die? If they feel unwell? Aren't they more likely to die elsewhere if you put some kind of poison down than using a mouse trap when you will definitely have to dispose of them?

I hadn't thought about other animials being poisoned other than dogs and other pets. I suppose it makes sense really, an owl will eat the dead mouse and then it will die from the poison too. I think you're right foodie, I did some googling as to where the mice die, and they do tend to go back to their holes to die. Will not be using a mouse trap