Calvin and mouse :( Need suggestion

[feralvr]

Originally Posted by Winchester

That happened here, too, and we almost lost BooBoo. When he was younger, he was playing with a spider in the foyer and I didn't think too much of it. Well, he swallowed it and, on the way down his throat, the spider must have bitten him. He was almost trance-like for a few minutes and then he just started screaming. We had to rush him to the vet (on a Sunday morning, too, Feralvr) and he was placed in an oxygen tent overnight. Thankfully the next morning, the vet called and asked that I come down and bring the boy home as he was yelling and carrying on for his breakfast and, evidently the other cats in the room were not amused.

I don't allow our cats to play with any kinds of bugs, insects, or anything like that. As soon as they see one, I remove it with a paper towel. It's just too dangerous.

I know, it was a terrible experience with Squeak too. He hid under a bed and I had to drag him out to take him in. He too was on oxygen and some kind of antidote. To this day, I freak out when I see a big spider down there. It is natural for the cats to play, kill and eat them. I am glad your Boo Boo was alright.

Calvin - We use a spray called "Home Defense" approved by my vet. I take cats out of the house for two hours. The spray dries within minutes and is perfectly safe for pets once dry. But we air out the basement for a couple of hours after we spray. We only spray baseboards, windows, and into the fall ceiling we have. I haven't had a problem since. I understand about some being cautious and worried about the Spray, but I don't ever want one of my cats to go through that again.

 

[carolpetunia]

Every now and then, tiny lizards appear in our house. My mom is terrified of them, but my terror is spiders, and the lizards eat spiders... so the enemy of my enemy is my friend!

Anyway, I've had to rescue several lizards from various cats, and on one occasion (that I know of), I failed. We all watched in horror as Dylan devoured the little green fella. Scared me silly, but the vet just said to watch Dylan for any changes... and the only change we saw was that, now that he had proven his hunting prowess, he walked with a bit of a swagger.

 

[minka]

If he actually looked like he was going to eat it, then I would have taken it away, otherwise I would have praised him for his fine kill. (You want the mice out of the house, don't you? )
I also doubt he would stick his nose up at his regular food in favor of mice because they are not readily available.

 

[calvin&i]

Thanks everyone for sharing and generating so much valuable information. We did check the basement (though not too well due to lack of time) and nothing really stood out. We have all the new furniture in and so Calvin and Hobbes are not spending a lot of time in the basement media room and so we do not know if there's more mice to be caught. However, the good thing is my landlady called and they are getting in a pest control service to check and take decisions. I will be extremely careful about any chemical use and will talk to the person who is supposed to visit. I have also kept the cobwebs intact to show him and take advice to see what we should do about that.

Update: While I was typing the pest control gentleman arrived. He has set some traps in the basement, though he could not find any droppings. But he did find some spiders and ants. He looks at the spiders and said that these were not the dangerous kind. I raised my concerns as to spraying since I have cats and he spoke to my landlady and then sprayed the outside of the house. I offered to keep an eye on the traps (will make DH do that). Let's see what happen. Right now I have to deal with Calvin and Hobbes being unhappy since I locked them up while the pest control person was here.