Non emergency but looking for advise.

I was wondering if anybody could advise on cats and rats? I know all about what disease rats can carry, but as our Milo has caught the odd one or two in about the last 6 months, I was wondering is it possible for him to get infected at all if the rat was to bite or scratch him?

I assume that when a cat goes to catch one it will go straight for the rats neck, reducing the chances of being bitten, and from the couple that he has caught there seems to be no sign of him drawing blood from the rat. I suppose a cat would be just as prone to be infected from a flee that has come from a rat. Any advise would be great.

Did he kill the rat??
Or eat the rat???

Rats and mice can carry infected fleas, I assume this is how there have been cases of stray cats getting bubonic plague and passing it to humans..
Not to scare you though as that's sort of uncommon and your cat isn't having to catch food for itself on a regular basis.

If he ever eats what he catches you may want to have him wormed. I think it's round worms that rodents carry? (can't remember exactly..) Using something like Frontline, Advantage, or Revolution should take care of him getting any fleas.

No he does not eat them, just brings them back as a gift for me . Both our cats are treated with frontline anyway. No I was just curious if there was any chance of them being stricken with some fatal disease, again I assume that their injections would cover most of them anyway. Thanks

I would worry more about the potential for the rats to have been poisoned.

Well maybe I should point out that I keep a few chickens and inevitably there are a few rats about, but not what I would class as an infestation, I do have 3 or four traps dotted about in places where the cats cannot get to, so I do not use poison of any kind.

They may get infected - anytime you have an animal bite, there's a risk of infection - if its a wild animal, the risk is greater. I'd be sure to check him over if you feel any swelling/lump, etc. after he's caught one.