Cats and rats

[Gonnagetgoingreturnsagain]

Would your cat tackle and catch a rat? We have one in the garden now but my cat either isn’t interested or is too scared of it. Previous cat was similar he had a white Ikea rattus rat toy which he liked to play with but one day he was scared of it, maybe he’d come across an actual rat somewhere.

My childhood tabby cat not very big used to catch a rat or more a day, dead and alive as we lived round the corner from a council dump and also there were issues with rubbish bins and an alleyway behind the houses/gardens. A rat only bit him once, he had to go to the vet.

Thankfully my cat hasn't caught a rat yet. He likes to deposit live prey for me so if he ever does he might be moving out.

My 2 old cats (brother and sister) would hunt together. Their brother lived next door and I’m sure they were a formidable trio of hunters. Never caught a rat afaik though.

My childhood cat would eat the rat and leave the paws and maybe tail in a neat pile. Fond memories of me watching my stepdad flush a dead rag down the toilet!

Why don’t they just kill it?

My DM’s cat brought in a mouse (tiny) to her bedroom and it was there a couple of days until it was caught and then inexplicably ended up in a pile of clothes on a chair hidden but dead.

Rat not rag!

Haribo is the first cat I've had who is a hunter. I'm more annoyed a neighbour has rats in their garden than him catching them and bringing them over to "play" with. Once dead he loses interest and I have to dispose of them. It's quite difficult as I've had pet rats in the past.

He doesn't eat them thankfully as the little sod prefers dining on sparrows.

He went through a phase of it, I suspect he was trying to teach me how to hunt. He looked so proud.

Byron would love to be given the opportunity to attack a rat but sadly is not allowed out as he attacks everything.

Rupert Bear who lives next door has caught rats but prefers hanging around our catmint getting high.

Julie, our other cat, only has a territory of our patio, so no rats. However she does defend this territory with awesome ferocity.

Toasty Boy Cat is a ratter. Conveniently for him we live next door to a school where he often hangs out by the bins waiting to pounce.

My late tabby boy who started life as a semi-feral kitten caught a large rat a couple of weeks before he died. I found him sitting on our drive with this rat corpse beside him, looking extremely pleased with himself. I have to say, I was quite impressed he managed that at 15.

I’m very impressed with older cats and smaller ones tackling rats.

A neighbour of mine and my DM have found dead rats on their patio (near house) or in the garden left as gifts but no sign of cats. Another friend of mine had lots of cats (she bred from them all) and would often find remains of rats in the kitchen and living room ready for her to walk over them. Urgh.

My cat studiously ignores the aggressive squirrel that harasses her most days, so I doubt she would attempt a rat. Spiders are more her limit.