Leaving dead mice all over house help!

curly10

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We've recently moved from a semi rural to a rural area, my cat absolutely loves it here, but we have started to find 'little presents' around the house which we are not so fond of! I'm sure the local shrew and vole population aren't too happy either.....

Does anyone have any tips for stopping this behaviour?
 

aileen06

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I would rather find a dead mouse than a live one. Your cat is doing his job getting rid of the mice for you. Thats just my opinion.
 

ut0pia

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I've never had that happen even when my parents had an outside cat a long long time ago. They would always leave the dead mice by the door...never bring them inside. I'm thinking maybe they are catching them from inside the house, try to get poison or something.
 

lil maggie

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Thanks to your cat, I wondered why I haven't seen any mice in these parts
J/K of course, but hunting bugs and rodents is what comes natural to your kitty
 

strange_wings

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You cat is trying to tell you something. Either you have a serious rodent problem or your cat thinks you're not eating well enough and has decided to help.


Put out traps, clean up around the house - remove anything that's against the house that may make it easier for rodents to hide in. And consider that if you truly have a rodent problem that you may very well see snakes around as it gets warmer.

Make sure your cat is treated with a flea and tick treatment such as Revolution (takes care of mites and some worms too). Rodents carry roundworms, ticks (nymphs), and fleas. The tick nymphs and sometimes the fleas can carry disease which you do not want the cat or yourself to get.
 

kluchetta

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Originally Posted by strange_wings

You cat is trying to tell you something. Either you have a serious rodent problem or your cat thinks you're not eating well enough and has decided to help.


Put out traps, clean up around the house - remove anything that's against the house that may make it easier for rodents to hide in. And consider that if you truly have a rodent problem that you may very well see snakes around as it gets warmer.

Make sure your cat is treated with a flea and tick treatment such as Revolution (takes care of mites and some worms too). Rodents carry roundworms, ticks (nymphs), and fleas. The tick nymphs and sometimes the fleas can carry disease which you do not want the cat or yourself to get.
Also be very careful if you do find mouse nests...not sure what location you are in, but be wary of cleaning up rodent urine. Use a mask if you do.

You're probably lucky your cat isn't leaving them on your pillow!
 

kazy

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We used to have mice, rat and mole infestation around my house and yard. Ever since we got 3 cats, that's all gone!!!

Let them do their job. If you donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want them inside, then you have to lock your cat door.
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by kluchetta

Also be very careful if you do find mouse nests...not sure what location you are in, but be wary of cleaning up rodent urine. Use a mask if you do.
That's a very good suggestion!

To further clarify on my previous post mentioning tick nymphs. Most people may not know this but in their nymph stage they primarily feed on small animals like mice, and it's in this stage that they pick up and become the most risk for Lyme's disease.
 

zane's pal

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And this is a bad thing because?

The whole reason for humans taking felines into their homes in the first place was to kill mice and other vermin. Your cat is only performing his ancient and proper function.
 

mbjerkness

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Originally Posted by Kazy

We used to have mice, rat and mole infestation around my house and yard. Ever since we got 3 cats, that's all gone!!!

Let them do their job. If you donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t want them inside, then you have to lock your cat door.
good kitties
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by kluchetta

You're probably lucky your cat isn't leaving them on your pillow!
When we lived in a rural area, mice used to get inside the house in spite of the fact that we had a feral colony living outside and 13 cats inside.

And one night, one of my precious angels left a dead mouse under DH's pillow.

Over time I suspect that your cat's scent will drive most of them out of the house. We had less and less of them the longer we lived there.
 

lyrajean

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If you have an in/outdoor cat there's not much you can do to prevent this behavior since its what comes naturally. You can train them to not bring their 'presents' inside assuming that you don't have a cat door.

Our hunting cat Gracie was not allowed in with a present in her mouth and soon learned to leave it on the stoop if she wanted door service.

If they are catching rodents inside, then your cat is giving you a hint that you need to take care of your vermin problem. Do not put out rodent poison with a cat around! They can get secondary poisoning from eating the critters that have eaten the poison. Also check trap types and placement carefully as some of these can break a human finger, goodness knows what it would do to a curious cat foot.
 

tigger_2801

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We have loads of experience with this, both live and dead ones.

Jasper eats some by the back door and leaves others for us in the house. Your cat is trying to provide for you, so you're unlikely to stop it. We've had several hundred mice, a large koi carp, a frog (live, I don't think he liked the taste), a couple of birds (he's not very good at getting these though and he doesn't like the feathers) and the other day he brought in two fat baby pigeons (carrying both at the same time)! Occaisionally he brings in a live one, but obviously with every intention of killing and eating it, he's very posessive over the live ones :-)

Delilah on the other hand is a pain in the butt. She doesn't bring in as many but they're always alive and she always brings them into the bedroom to us in the middle of the night. The other night I managed to catch one under the bin and OH ran to get something to take it out in, so I'm stood there holding the bin and another one's looking at me across the bedroom! Another time I started smelling something really bad under the bedside drawers and one had taken up residence under there! And mouse pee is dreadfully smelly and hard to get rid of!

So...from great experience, one or two pieces of advice:
1) your not going to stop it so be prepared! Keep the floor as clear as possible so live ones don't have places to hide, and
2) have some sturdy gloves ready (bites hurt and can carry diseases)
3)Keep the cats flea protected and check regularly for ticks, fleas and injuries around the face (I wipe them with tea tree wipes every other day and give them a johnsons flea tablet if I see any other signs). If the dead ones are on carpets it's worth spraying with flea spray just to be sure.
4) If it turns out you do have an infestation, please DONT PUT POISON DOWN as one person suggested, they don't always die straight away after they've ingested the poison, but they do get slower and easier to catch meaning your poor baby has now eaten a poisoned mouse. I had to have words with the neighbours over this very same thing. Instead use traps. Be careful clearing out nests, mouse and rat pee carries diseases and the little sods bite as well.
5) Deworm regularly, most wild animals carry parasites that your cat will pick up (and worms are totally gross so prevention is better than cure).
6) If you have to clear up half eaten ones, again be careful about disease control and what disinfectant etc you use (not all are pet safe).

Sorry if any of this is stuff you already know, I thought it best to cover everything I could think of, hope it helps :-)
 

nance

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Originally Posted by Lyrajean

If you have an in/outdoor cat there's not much you can do to prevent this behavior since its what comes naturally. You can train them to not bring their 'presents' inside assuming that you don't have a cat door.

Our hunting cat Gracie was not allowed in with a present in her mouth and soon learned to leave it on the stoop if she wanted door service.

If they are catching rodents inside, then your cat is giving you a hint that you need to take care of your vermin problem. Do not put out rodent poison with a cat around! They can get secondary poisoning from eating the critters that have eaten the poison. Also check trap types and placement carefully as some of these can break a human finger, goodness knows what it would do to a curious cat foot.
I was going to say that as well...DO NOT TRY TO POISON the mice.....if your cat eats a poison mouse then he will get veru ill...I have one cat that eats mice all the time...I just make sure he gets his tapeworm meds...and all is fine
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by Tigger_2801

3)Keep the cats flea protected and check regularly for ticks, fleas and injuries around the face (I wipe them with tea tree wipes every other day and give them a johnsons flea tablet if I see any other signs). If the dead ones are on carpets it's worth spraying with flea spray just to be sure.
Most of your advice is good, but please don't use product with tea tree oil on your cats. It's toxic to them!
 

tigger_2801

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Goodness I've been using it for years, I was advised to by my vet since jasper is quite delicate and doesn't do well with most flea meds (he drools a lot whatever I put on)!!

Thanks for that I've binned the lot! xxx


Does anyone have any suggestions as to other natural deterants for fleas?
 
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curly10

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Wow loads of great advice here thank you! All taken on board!

As to a natural flea deterrent, a lady in the petshop who also works in a health food shop told me to put the liquid from garlic capsules in the cats food, and residual garlic smell on the cats skin would help keep fleas away! I don't know if it works though as I haven't tried it, I don't know if a cat would eat it in the first place.

Thanks everyone
 

strange_wings

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Originally Posted by Tigger_2801

Does anyone have any suggestions as to other natural deterants for fleas?
Try PM'ing our member sharky. She does use some alternatives. There's lots of suggestions here and in other threads for safely treating your home, as well.


Garlic is bad for cats, too. So it's best to never let them have more than the tiniest amounts of it (some cat foods have a little and we've all had our cats steal bites of our food).

Always look stuff up for yourself, do research if someone gives you suggestions. Vet, someone at a pet shop, family, even here - look it up.

As for tea tree oil, small animals such as cats and smaller dogs are more likely to be poisoned by any essential oil. If a cat has been fine so far it's simply due to not getting that much, yet - but that's risky to play around with.
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by curly10

Wow loads of great advice here thank you! All taken on board!

As to a natural flea deterrent, a lady in the petshop who also works in a health food shop told me to put the liquid from garlic capsules in the cats food, and residual garlic smell on the cats skin would help keep fleas away! I don't know if it works though as I haven't tried it, I don't know if a cat would eat it in the first place.

Thanks everyone
Absolutely do not give your cats garlic. Dogs can handle it. Cats cannot.

A natural ingredient that a lot of people on this site recommends is food grade diatomaceous earth (DE). You can sprinkle it in your carpets, on your cats, and is actually edible and can help with internal parasites. But you have to get food grade. A lot of stores carry it, but it has filler ingredients that can be poisonous.
 
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