Cats, rats and stinky poohs!

I hope someone can help us!

We recently moved from the suburban areas of Dublin City to the outskirts of the county, to a seaside town called Skerries, we have 4 cats, Kitt (Mum), Spike (Dad), Parker and MJ (babies). They love the move, theres plenty of grass and fresh air for them to run around in, a field out back for them and one more thing they weren't used to before.... RAST AND MICE!!! Kitt taught the kids how to hunt (Spike and Kitt are both just over 1 while the kids are both 5 motnhs) and now they won't stop....

I am forever coming across headless mice and rats in the kitchen and the garden, its horrible, I wouldn't mind so much if they just left them there as a present to us but no, they eat half of them, I found a pair of rat legs in the kitchen the other day, this can't be sanitary! Also, I've noticed since they have been eating (its mainly Parker but Molly does do it too), the rats they have a very distinct smell to them, sickly sweet and not very nice, its in their litter tray and because we can't get them to use the litter tray all the time (we leave the back door open all the timebut they still pooh in the living room in secret places) its stinking up the house....

I'm raching the end of my tether with the rat eating, what can we do? Feed them more? Theyre getting portky as it is lol!

Please help us!!!!!!!!!

Rat legs in the kitchen, sorry but that's funny

How about collars with bells on so that the beasties can hear them coming?

Originally Posted by Purity

How about collars with bells on so that the beasties can hear them coming?

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I don't think bells are a good idea, because the cat most likely either A) gets stressed about the constant *jingle jingle jingle* next to his ears (wouldn't you? ) or B) learns to keep his head still to quiet the sound, which kind of ruins the purpose.

Can't present anything better myself, though.

Rodents actually aren't any good for the cats to be eating anyway, they can carry many deadly diseases and all carry worms.

A breakaway collar with a bell might work, I had one on my cats when he was younger because he always beat the snot out of the other cats, so at least that way they could hear him sneaking up on them. It didn't cause him any problems.

The only other way I can think of is to keep them indoors.

All my cats wear collars with bells, no problem. I can even tell who is coming into the room by how their bell sounds when they walk.

Bells are definately a good idea, lets wildlife know your cat is coming and lets you know where your cat is should you hear a yowl.

Yep get one of those Safety Collars which snap open fairly easily so that if your cat should get stuck in something while roaming outside and struggles hard enough, she can get away. The bell shouldn't cause any trouble to them, but it should reduce the number of rat legs in your house unless the rats in your area are stone-deaf!

Hmmm, they all have bells now and theres 4 little tinkle sounds whenever either of them are close and running around - there has been a decrease in rat legs I have to say, there was a mouse head in the kitchen the other morning but thats about it, I think they may be working you know, they don't smell quite as bad either.... hooray!

Oh my goodness. I'm sorry for the trouble you are going through but this is quite a funny story, I have to say!

The collar is not going to work- and feeding them more will only make them hunt more. Only well-fed cats have the energy to hunt. I would build an enclosure for them and keep them inside the enclosure. Rats do carry tapeworms and fleas and flea born diseases are a real problem (at least here in the United States). There is no way you can stop your cats from being hunters, it is instinctive what they are doing-

cats also contract toxoplasmosis from rats....rodents in general

toxoplasmosis is a disease cause by parasites, it can be transmitted to humans, and can cause birth defects when transmitted to pregnant humans