Not sure why I'm posting, I think I just need a vent and a hand hold. I've got two cats, girl and boy litter mates who are now 2 years old. They are adorable. My girl is very much a homebody even though she's free to come and go as she pleases. My boy is a source of much worry. He's a fat furry pom pom that doesn't look like he's capable of much beyond purring and snoozing but he's actually an extremely good mouser. Never birds thank goodness, it's only been mice. Our three immediate neighbours love him as he's sorted out their mouse problem this past year. And he's cuddly.
He has just recovered from a week of diarrhoea and upset tummy from eating goodness knows what - third time this year. Very poor appetite, lethargy etc. His usual food is tins of Untamed, and we added probiotics until he recovered. Today he finally looked cheerful and tonight he went out and within an hour had a mouse hanging out of his mouth.
My worry - there's an HMO near our house (we are in London) which is the source of overflowing rubbish bins and all the mice. I suspect they may put out poison traps for the mice, and my fluffy boy might end up eating a poisoned mouse - and die. I've had these thoughts all this past week when he was poorly. The vet didn't think it was poison this time, but I'm so so worried. I've sent notes to all the neighbours to ensure no poison is used for mice, and that they have a natural mouser in this cat. But the hmo often has changes in tenancy and I don't know if this request is even making it through.
What do I do? I'm not sure I can keep this cat in, he's very much an outdoor loving boy. But I don't want him to eat a poisoned mouse! Can cats tell if a mouse has been poisoned and is behaving erratically??