My Cat Hates Mice, What To Do?

[catalinacat]

So my 2 year old cat had a major personality flip yesterday night and I traced it down to her catching scent of mice in certain parts of the house (found mice poop in the back of drawers). She absolutely goes crazy whenever she catches scent of other animals. Last time this happened it was because of compost I used while gardening. She goes into full blown anxiety mode and starts showing redirected aggressive behaviors.

I am keeping her in a room far away from where the mice are most likely lurking because she is no help and doesn't catch them and just turns into a psycho towards me. She has calmed down, although with complaints about having to be stuck in the room.

So what is the fastest way to catch these mice? I don't even know how many I'm dealing with. Maybe two? There is definitely one in my bathroom and more maybe one in the kitchen.

I got glue mice traps and an enzyme cleaner to clean out the mouse smell...but am not sure what more I can do. I can't just keep my cat in the room all day long, but I don't want to be dealing with her behaviors on top of trying to get these mice and cleaning.

Does anyone have any other good ideas to make my cat calm? I was thinking of making sure to put a lot of her toys everywhere so that her scent is more predominant.

Any other advice on catching or deterring mice and also helping a cat to feel more calm when there are other scents would be really appreciated!

 

[susanm9006]

I had a mouse invasion some years back and what works for me was first figuring out where they might be coming in. I sprinkled baking soda near the likely places and then looked for footprints. This also works to find their trail. Then I closed up the opening and used mouse traps.

Feliway is a good calming agent and for some cats catnip is as well

 

[Azazel]

Well, the fastest way to catch a mouse is to have a cat. That's why we started living with them in the first place.

 

[Kat0121]

Well, the fastest way to catch a mouse is to have a cat. That's why we started living with them in the first place.

Not if they aren't hunters. Mine sure aren't. According to them, that's MY job.

 

[Azazel]

Not if they aren't hunters. Mine sure aren't. According to them, that's MY job.

I think cats reliant on humans for food become lazy and probably never learn how to truly hunt so they see no need for it.

 

[fionasmom]

Try to close up the opening and keep them out. If you need to trap, there are a lot of options online and at places like Home Depot. You can trap and release if you want to. If you feel that killing them is the only solution, do not use any product that they eat as any other animal who finds a dead or dying mouse and thinks it has dinner will probably die as well. Snap traps are more humane than glue traps.

 

[catalinacat]

Well, the fastest way to catch a mouse is to have a cat. That's why we started living with them in the first place.

When I said that she is no help, I really mean it. She just takes her frustration of not being able to catch them out onto me, as well as her general fear of them, and just completely acts out just from the smell.

Not that it's all her fault. The cupboard/drawer designs makes it hard for her to get them even if she would've been one of those cats who likes to do so...

I kind of wish she would be a bit more calm about it, though. Her freaking out is seriously stressful. You can't catch one? The smell alone scares you? Fine. Just relax and go perch somewhere and stop making it 100 times harder for me to do so by acting up.

 

[LTS3]

I got glue mice traps and an enzyme cleaner to clean out the mouse smell...but am not sure what more I can do.

Please don't use glue traps. They are inhumane and cause a mouse to suffer a painful slow death because it is unable to get to food and water. Even if you check daily, you can't easily remove a still live mouse (and most people don't want to touch a mouse) from the super sticky glue.

Use a live catch trap instead. Bait the trap with a bit of peanut butter. Check the trap daily so you can release any mouse inside somewhere outside far from your home.

Vacuum the house top to bottom. Clean out the kitchen cabinets and wipe down the shelves. Crumbs of food attract mice.

An exterminator is an option. You and your cat would have to temporarily stay elsewhere while the exterminator works.