Cats Don't Keep Mice Away??? Seriously???

[amethyst]

One thing I'd like to point out, although the smell of cats, specifically their pee, normally does scare off mice, if the mouse (or rat) is infected by toxoplasmosis it will actually be attracted to the smell of cat pee. Also cats are much more effective at deterring mice if they are indoor/outdoor, that way the smell of the cat is not just in the house but also a lot of cats will potty outside and mark territory around the property.

As others have said hunting is part instinctual part learned. So unless your cats where taught to hunt they may not understand hunting past just playing with it like a toy. A mouse or rat will bite and scratch, so that can turn a cat off wanting to play with that kind of "toy". I know with my cats when I add a new cat to the house they will actually teach the new cat to hunt. They even taught my dogs to hunt mice when they were pups too. So maybe you need a proven mouser to teach your other cats what to do with a rodent? hehe

 

[Fish Em]

I think cats deal with rats differently than mice. And that is a baby rat! At least by the picture.

 

[Kieka]

I think cats deal with rats differently than mice. And that is a baby rat! At least by the picture.

My guys are pretty indiscriminate between rats and mice. Fury brought in a rat that was an adult not too long ago. Mice are definitely more common, but rats are not unheard of. Of course my group might just be oddballs. Link once tried to bring a hawk in and was told to drop it outside. The hawk was very indignant about the whole experience. Granted it was a younger crow sized hawk and it was likely caught off guard by my doofus.

 

[Uncled]

I do believe it is a young rat too.

 

[LTS3]

Yes, it's a small juvenile rat about 10 weeks old or so. Adult mice are about the size of a ping pong ball.

 

[Maria Bayote]

I walked into my kitchen and nearly fainted when I saw my kitty Benjamin and a mouse having a staring contest. WTH??? I knew that my husband would never believe me so I took a picture as proof. After taking the pic, I ran and got a bucket and put it over the mouse/rat. Ugh. I guess I have been wrong in assuming that cats keep mice away. Was this just a brave mouse that wandered into the wrong house? Do you he think he has friends? I am pretty traumatized by the whole thing. I managed to get the mouse into the bucket and brought him outside and let him go. My husband says he is going to come back. How do I get my kitties to step up and do their feline duties? I don't want them to kill mice but at least be scary so they wont come back.

I am sorry, but I find this photo a bit hilarious. My bad.

I think they are friends, and are both planning to take over your kitchen. LOL.

On a serious note, I myself prefer that my cats do not touch any mouse. I prefer the method of "guarding" by your kitty. Staring until one gets tired.

 

[basscat]

We have two that are hunters.
The girl takes it to a whole new level of skill/tallent.
The boy is more of a mind over matter hunter and just goes after everything he sees wide open....success really doesn't matter.
To watch the girl hunt is a treat. She will watch a lizard on a tree trunk from 30+ feet away. Only when it runs around the back side of the tree, out of sight, will she move. Like a rocket, then reach around the tree and grab the lizard with a claw....never seeing it.
We sat on the patio one evening for about 2hrs. Finished off almost a half a case watching her. Just wondering what she was doing. Crouched down in some tall grass and didn't move a muscle for 2hrs. Then she launched straight up and came down with a small bird. She had parked herself less than 12 inches from a bird in that grass, and waited 2hrs for it to move.
To watch the boy hunt is mostly entertainment.
Then there's Gibsy. To watch him hunt is sort of painful. He'll get whatever he's after, dabm the consequences. Absolutely no regard to self preservation when something gets in his sights.

And then there's our shop cat (similar to a spoiled rotten barn cat). Who's purpose was to keep the mouse population in check at my shop.
Pretty sure all mice are her buddies though. She willingly shares her food with them so they won't starve.

 

[FeebysOwner]

I agree it looks more like a rat, and if that’s the case, well it could’ve been worse

I think that is the end of that cat's mice/rat chasing days!!! OMG!

 

[marmoset]

I haven't experienced mice with the group I have. IME indoor cats are better with spiders and house centipedes than mice. I did have a mouse experience many years ago with a cat that had been a street cat (college town dumpee) and her daughter and neither one wanted to kill the mouse. They chased it and wore it out but had zero interest in killing or eating it.

Outdoors the ferals/ community cats do bring dead things to my doorstep- mice, rats and birds (no squirrels or birds oddly) but they are not "fat and happy" like my indoor cats.

But I do know that if you look at your doors or in your basement for holes you can prevent them from coming in. There's really no need to panic over one little mouse.

 

[DreamerRose]

I don't agree with you about keeping the mice out. It's impossible. Mice can get through a hole the size of a dime. I have had exterminators and a handyman try to mouse-proof my house. It has slowed them down, but not eliminate them completely, and thanks to my cats, the mice don't live long enough to raise litters in my storage areas. I live near some prairie preserves, and the grasses are full of mice.

There are just too many holes in our houses - not only the foundation, but all the electrical lines, gas lines, water pipes, etc., that come in. The holes for those are bigger than the pipes or lines, and the mice can get in. They will also chew through wood like a beaver to make access. Some chewed through a plank sitting on the basement foundation that was 2 inches thick, and it was quite a hole. I filled it up with that hardening foam.

I am very happy my kitties go after the mice, even if they don't eat them.

 

[basschick]

years ago, i went into the bathroom and there was a mouse! i ran, grabbed our cat - who was named mouse - and put her in the bathroom, and then i fled after closing the door, secure in the belief that mouse (the cat) would take care of the problem.

ten minutes later, i peeked in. mouse (the cat) was lying in the floor comfortably, watching with interest as the mouse checked things out. obviously mouse (the cat) was not from a long line of mousers. i had to deal with the mouse myself.

 

[danteshuman]

Oh it is a baby rat ....... that makes it so much better!!!!!!!

I think the best way to get rid of rats/mice is to use an exterminator ...... or at least traps. Please be aware of the saying about roaches “if you see one there are a hundred in the walls.” I have had some cats catch them, to bring them inside alive. Other cats just chased them. Finally assuming your cats catch the rats it will leave a left over dead rat (or worse rat pieces!) Also a cat might eat poison or a poisoned rat (and the thought of a decomposing rat in your walls/attics is not that comforting!) Assuming a cat knows how to hunt mice/rats is like assuming humans know how to hunt deer just by being human. Something like 80% of cat behavior is learned. Your cat is a city slicker, get an exterminator!

 

[Purr-fect]

I walked into my kitchen and nearly fainted when I saw my kitty Benjamin and a mouse having a staring contest. WTH??? I knew that my husband would never believe me so I took a picture as proof. After taking the pic, I ran and got a bucket and put it over the mouse/rat. Ugh. I guess I have been wrong in assuming that cats keep mice away. Was this just a brave mouse that wandered into the wrong house? Do you he think he has friends? I am pretty traumatized by the whole thing. I managed to get the mouse into the bucket and brought him outside and let him go. My husband says he is going to come back. How do I get my kitties to step up and do their feline duties? I don't want them to kill mice but at least be scary so they wont come back.

Im sorry.....i had tp purraise your picture.....although I feel your frustration...lol

My boys would have torn that mouse apart.

 

[Purr-fect]

Your cat is a city slicker, get an exterminator!

my boys are city slickers..but greg especially is a killer. They seem to KNOW to hunt.

When I first got them they were indoor cats. I dont think they had even seen grass, let alone walked on it. But they adapted very quickly.

The boys are large and not nimble like other cats. They soon learnt they simply cant chase animals and catch them.

So they improvise;

I have seen greg remain still for 45 minutes under hostas......waiting......and waiting..........and then some poor chipmunk, bird, squirrel will wander to close. There is a great thrashing in the foilage, shrieking and squawking. I have to run over to greg and pry his jaws open to release what ever he has caught. But I dont think he will ever bite a frog again....they secrete an unpleasant taste. He caught one a couple of years ago....i had to wash his mouth.

Chipmunks are their favorites, birds and squirrels are just too hard to catch.

I remember once, greg was watching a squirrel. The squirrel started to run. Greg also started to run, but he did NOT run towards the squirrel. Instead he ran to the base of a large nearby tree. The squirrel, not thinking, instinctively ran to the tree and did not watch greg...............greg JUST missed the squirrel. I thought to myself................greg is a lot smarter than I had given him credit for. He had been watching squirrels and had learnt their habits.

Smart hockey players skate to where the puck is going to be....not where it is.

The wildlife has also watched greg and arnold...........they simply dont come into the boys fenced yard any more. But greg and arnold still watch and wait and hope. And every now and then.................................

Ive never ever seen a mouse in our house. Even house flies dont last long. I once saw greg jump up and with one paw and bring a fly to the ground......not bad for a 20 lb cat.

 

[danteshuman]

Sounds like Greg and Arnold get some country time in your yard. Hunting is a learned skill. Our semi-feral taught my punk how to be a better hunter. My one cat that mommies the two bottle babies, taught them to hunt ...... and of the babies was impressive. She was declawed but would catch pigeons by jumping up, tackling/hugging them and giving them a kill bite! This tiny declawed cat did that!

All cat hunting amazing besides ..... I would still get traps. One poster wrote about how she put a dab of nail polish on the mice she caught and released half a mile away ..... the same little mice kept coming back!!!! It took them days to a week but the wee bastards did it!

Your rats are way to comfortable in your house and with your cat. Look up how to get rid of rats without harming your pets and do it. Another thing to look for and fix is how the rats got inside your house to begin with. We had possums coming in through the uncovered air vents in the garage ..... that is just one of many places rodents will sneak in from.

 

[inkysmom]

My Ruby was three months old and starving outside when I found him. He makes holes in the window screens and waits by the window all summer for flies to get in. He catches every fly in less than five minutes and eats them in midair or with one quick paw brought to his mouth. He's allergic to everything, including flies. I had to tell the vet to include flies in his allergy shots so he could continue to eat them happily. The vet said that was the first time he has to deal allergize a cat to flies.
I live in the city and there's rats everywhere outside and mice everywhere inside. When Lovey was alive, once he and Ruby both spent two days and a night fixated staring under the stove. They wouldn't move, not to eat or go anywhere. I was afraid there was a mouse. I find a real looking toy mouse under there, nearly gave me a heart attack lol.
Not long after an exterminator came to my whole large apartment building to check for bugs and mice. I had seen some centipedes and spiders which creeped me out but nothing else. The cats woukdwou go after the crawling bugs darn it.
The exterminator didn't believe I didn't have mice. Apparently they were everywhere else in the building including my neighbors.
Between my cats and my large dog who goes after rats in the neighborhood and trash area in the back yard, they wouldn't stand a chance.
Even Ruby alone is pretty fierce. He had to hunt to survive as a kitten. And he attacks large dogs when I dog sit if they even look at him wrong. He used to bully the other cats. That rat chasing the cat in the video wouldn't stand a chance with Ruby lol. He's scratched my dog's cornea and gave my last dog a bloody nose. He walked up to a twenty pound dog, let it sniff him than smacked him do hard across the nose I could hear the this and the fog yelped and ran. 70-80 pound dogs ha e tried to chase him and then he full on attacks with teeth and nails and they run away yelling.
He would probably kill that rat. I let him play with mouse toys and he rips them up and takes all the stuffing out of their stomachs.
Works for me!
I always heard that mice and rats smell cat urine and won't even enter a place with cats in it. I've never had rodents anywhere I've lived and I've always had at least two cats til now and lived in crowded cities with lots of rodents.

 

[ailish]

Benjamin wasn't really staring; he was watching until the mouse moved so he could pounce on it - playing cat and mouse. Sometimes mine will poke it with a paw to get it to move.

My house was Mouse Central until I got my mouse catchers. I had tried everything and had two or three mouse traps out at all times. My kitties are definitely the best pest control.

One time I saw a mouse attack Mingo. The mouse got up on its hind legs, raised its front paws and went straight for Mingo's face. Never saw such an aggressive mouse. It didn't win the battle, though.

My house was mouse central too. I got my cat and she has taken my house out of the Mouse Guidebook of Welcoming Residences. She normally doesn't kill them, I release them far from the house. She does not seem to keep them away, which I thought would eventually work once she rounded up the existing population. Either that or there are a certain number of stupid mice that don't know to stay clear. The population is way down and we have no more signs of mouse residence, so I think she catches the ones that do come in before they set up housekeeping. When she loses one and it dies under something, rarely, she usually worries it until I look and find the fairly fresh dead mouse and remove it.

I don't know her history, but her good manners in most cat ways seem to indicate that she is not a bottle baby. She has been a 9 lb mouser, snaker, ratter since I got her at a year old. She ALWAYS kills her rat, probably because she can't control it alive.

 

[DreamerRose]

It's mouse invasion season right now. My cats woke me up in the middle of the night last night with a loud thumpety-thump and high-pitched squeaking. This went on for some time before I finally went back to sleep.

I didn't see a dead mouse anywhere this morning, which worries me. My nose will tell me soon enough.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Many years ago, I lived in a farmhouse in the middle of fields. We had both rats and mice. My persnickity pussycats would go after the rats, as I said earlier, I beleive, but the mice were beneath their dignity. Finally, in desperation, I began feeding the danged mice cornmeal and birdseed by the kitchen door, in jar lids (and one for water, of course). Sounds silly, but it kept the little beggars out of my cabinets! Of course, I did have to get used to turning on the kitchen light and finding seven or eight mice standing by the empty dishes, shaking their tiny fists, and screaming (in a very high, squeaky voice) "YOU'RE LATE!"

 

[inkysmom]

OMG you're patient! I'd freak out with a bunch of mice in the place! Whenever I see bugs or creepy crawlers and I used to have more fat lazy cats, I'd just cut back on the portions for a day or two to motivate them to start hunting.
It worked. They'd be hungry and start nagging me and I'd say, earn your keep! There's bugs in here!!! Go eat them!!! No food til no more bugs. Eventually I'd hear running and pouncing.
Luckily never had mice to try it with!