Oh Holy Crap! Cat has just brought in LIVE MUTANT RAT!

[SarahLundKicksAss]

... and has cornered it behind the wardrobe in the spare bedroom. I have locked offending cat in the room, but beyond that WTF can I do?

(I'm not 100% sure whether the rat is a mutant, but it's flippin' big!)

Is the cat safe? Rats can cause damage.

I'm no use to you though, I've just lifted my feet off the floor at the mere thought of a rat in the house.

Good luck though

will the cat kill it?
if not you could run around singing "theres a rat in the bedroom what'm I gonna do, theres a rat in the bedroom what'm I gonna do"

call a pest controller? If you aren't able to deal with it then that is a sensible option (in penance for my silly reply earlier!)

They are incontinent and full of germs, you will have to scrub your spare room clean (the rats, not the pest controller)

I know cats are capable of killing rats but the rat will put up a good fight - check cat for scratch/bite marks and get to the vets for a check up if any are found.

If your cat is anything like mine, the fun is in the chase, once caught they lose interest and leave me to pick up the half dead pieces [vom]

have you got a gun?

or a small terrier type dog.

Or can you borrow one or the other from a neighbour?

I have a spaniel you could borrow
...and 3 more cats

I'm worried for OP's welfare - she hasn't come back.

(I would die if a rat came in my house. I can only just cope with maimed mice and birds that my little bastards darlings bring me)

Aww, poor rat. I'm very fond of them myself (and I do understand I'm in the minority). If you leave the doors open for a while it will probably find it's way out. Or you can buy humane traps from B&Q, he wallks in, the door shuts and then you can take him outside and let him go.

I'd call Rentokil pronto!

I'll send my cat round

Little bastard keeps waking me up in the night and I find him just sitting. Just sitting and staring blankly at walls.

Oh and umm he might kill a rat possibly

thecat I don't mind pet rats, but sewer rats

If the rat is seriously big, and unless your cat is an established and very proficient hunter, I'd guess the rat was ill. I wouldn't let the cat catch or eat it in case it's being poisoned.

All this rat hate. I don't get it. If they had fluffy tails and a cuter sounding name I'm sure they'd have better PR. Admittedly you probably don't want them living in your house, but I'm sure his intention isn't to leap out from behind the wardrobe and sink his teeth into your leg.

but I'm sure his intention isn't to leap out from behind the wardrobe and sink his teeth into your leg.

but he might......!!

I do feel sorry for the rat, don't get me wrong - it was probably minding it's own business and then a cat comes along and bam. HOwever, it is currently peeing and pooing all over her room! Germs people, germs!

What cozie says though is a good point. My friend lost her 18 month old boy last week, heart failure due to rat poison I imagine he had caught/killed/ate a rat.

Oh my goodness! the room is Ds's; he's away at uni (he may not want to come back again if he knows the shenanigans that have taken place in his room). I daren't go in..... the whole situation isn't helped as I've hurt my back, so am not very mobile (and will therefore be unable to run away if the giant rat runs towards me...)

why are rats notoriously incontinent? Isn't that a bit of a design flaw?

Thanks BrianCox, for the mention of sewers; that's made me feel a lot better

I will venture upstairs and listen outside the door....

'why are rats notoriously incontinent? Isn't that a bit of a design flaw?'

Only if you're not a rat, I don't think they're that bothered about peeing on your floor, lol.

I've got a humane mousetrap somewhere, but it'd not fit a normal rat in it nevermind a mutant one.

oh yeah, sorry OP....maybe it is more of a hedge/forest rat??

Ok, do you have a laundry basket (plastic one - not a big wicker one obv).

If so, can you go into the room (closing all other open doors in case it does make a run for it) and trap it?

Just thinking what I would try and do which is a bit useless. In all honesty, I'd be calling Rentokill or similar.

I have let bastard cat out of the room - she's now asking for food (hah - no way jose!) and has completely forgotten the whole rat incident. I have shut the door and shoved a towel up against it (there's a gap underneath and I'm worried that it will squeeze itself through in the middle of the night. I will buy a rat trap tomorrow. We quite often get mice in, and they het chased behind the furniture and die. Maybe the rat will do the same?

Guess I'm in for a great night's sleep tonight!

I thought it was mice that are incontinent? rats have toilet areas, where you find all their droppings piled up. which was under our bath in our old place

I'd get the cat out tbh, it's probably been brought back to you as a prize, not to be killed and eaten. I too have useless pets

Buy a humane trap - if you don't care about killing the rat do it for yourself. Surely it's got to be better to just be able to carry the trap outside, open the door and let it run off than to have to deal with a squashed rat. And what if it's only a bit squashed and in terrible pain, what would you do then? Really humane traps are better all round.

The pest control chap told me traps take a while to work as rats are neophobic, so take ages to go into something unfamiliar.

Also I use a humane trap because it seems somehow wrong to squash a mouse after a cat's brought it home...

I still think that leaving doors open and perhaps guiding it out with a broom would be the easiest