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Wounded warrior

Fat cat went lame a few days ago. Very lame in his left rear leg. One of our cats was very similarly afflicted a few years ago and the vet said it was just a sprain and sent us home with some kitty ibuprofen.

So I ignored it, hoping he would get better on his own. But no. By this afternoon, he was looking into Uncle B’s eyes and making a high-pitched keening noise.

This time, the vet poked around and decided he’d been bitten on the ankle, probably by a rat. I mean, it was still just antibiotics and pain meds and wait, but I’m glad we took him.

We is having a rat problem. Oh yes we is. I’ve actually seen the buggers – always a bad sign. I’m like the johnny appleseed of rat poison right now. Stoaty Poisonseed.

Comes next the stinking dead rats.

Comments


Comment from OldFert
Time: May 12, 2022, 6:29 pm

Do you have a BB gun? Strong slingshot with marbles?

I hope Fat cat gets well quickly.

Also, I thought cats were supposed to bite rodents, not the other way around.


Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: May 12, 2022, 7:28 pm

WOW !!!!

How do you protect your other animals from ingesting the poison or eating poisoned animals?


Comment from Gromulin
Time: May 12, 2022, 7:39 pm

I work with fiber optic cable. Underground and aerial We run into rats chewing through cables underground when they are stressed, or just bored. It’s a real pain in the ass when circuits just start dropping for no reason…we even use armored cable. Yesterday, one of the little bastards chewed through a goddamn aerial cable 30′ off the ground that I just installed a couple months ago, taking out a whole section of service. It was a short segment that passed through some trees. I REALLY hate rats.


Comment from ExpressoBold
Time: May 12, 2022, 8:08 pm

Ya know, American Gray Squirrels (a variant of rat) have begun chewing up automotive electrical wiring in vehicles parked outside.

I wonder if there is some chemical in the cable that attracts the rodent population.


Comment from durnedyankee
Time: May 12, 2022, 8:09 pm

We had one here that I spied with a game camera who had chewed a hole through our screens and was scurrying around inside the walls. Took me a week to finally figure out how he did it – I have a video of him climbing BRICK FACE and metal conduit to get to the hole in the woodwork on the eves of the screen porch.

Then the little (big) bugger chewed it’s way through a bunch of “Great Stuff” that I used to plug the hole it was living in. So I finally used hardware cloth. Xhe found another way in and took up residence in my garage though damned if I could figure out where, or how it came and went to get water outside.

Kill traps and kind traps baited with suet, peanut butter, grain, cheese – bastard ignored all of them and chowed down on the bag of grass seed I had sitting in the garage.

Bought a “live trap” and baited it with peanut butter cracker and cheese – all I caught was ants.

Sign me up as a “don’t like Rats” club member.


Comment from S. Weasel
Time: May 12, 2022, 8:41 pm

We were very concerned about the cat eating poison rodents, ExpressoBold. In fact, that’s what we first thought had happened when Fat Boy stopped moving and sat on the chair all day.

I’ve consulted the Internet and I asked our vet today, and it appears eating poisoned rodents is not a problem. The council rat man told us the same many years ago. I guess the dose they get from a rat isn’t enough to poison them…?

Now, dogs eating rat poison directly because they are dogs and they eat things…that’s apparently a big problem.


Comment from QuasiModo
Time: May 12, 2022, 9:13 pm

Also, cats don’t really like to eat dead things so I don’t think eating poisoned rat would be a problem.

Hope your kitteh feels better soon.


Comment from Anonymous
Time: May 12, 2022, 10:12 pm

I’ve never had rat problems, but I fought the deer mice and won the battle. I use Raw Bacon. The more aromatic, the better. None of them can resist raw bacon. I slide the trap all the way into a paper sack (the skinny sack you get when you buy a bottle of wine is perfect) or a cardboard cereal box its narrow side. The confined space intensifies the odor and I suspect the small space is compelling in some way, though I don’t know why.

I never had to worry about cats getting to the traps, so I don’t know how to address that problem, but the bacon method has never failed me. And the mouse (or rat) splatter is contained, and they can’t run with the trap if it isn’t a good catch.

I love Fat Boy’s poochy little muzzle.


Comment from Armybrat
Time: May 13, 2022, 1:10 am

We had to replace our pool heater and pump shortly after we moved in because of rat damage. We now routinely search our small lot for rat holes and shove a big chunk of dry ice down them. Rat holes typically have only one way in/out. A chunk of dry ice down the hole and cover with a heavy block. The dry ice degrades to carbon dioxide gas. The rats go to sleep with the fishes.


Comment from Teej
Time: May 13, 2022, 2:38 am

That’s a lovely pic of Fat Cat. How do you get him to look into camera? Mine always put up a paw and screech No paparazzi!
Hope he’s better soon.


Comment from durnedyankee
Time: May 13, 2022, 2:59 am

He is quite handsome, isn’t he?


Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: May 13, 2022, 12:19 pm

Hmmm Badger Manor is a very old English home. Perhaps a very old English solution is the answer?

Enter the Rat Terrier!

“Henry VIII’s ship Mary Rose sank in the mid-1500s with a special passenger on board. Hatch, the first recorded rat terrier, had been entrusted to keep the ship rodent-free. Hatch, as well as the other original rat terriers, were bred to move quickly. Their breeders intended for them to hunt small game on their own.”

https://www.critterriddertx.com/at-home-rodent-control-the-rat-terrier/

I am confident that it wouldn’t take long to teach him:

“Rats, yes! Chickens NO, dammit!

Verring only slightly off tangent, if you get a pup young enough I am confident that the cats will teach him that they are superior beings and that bothering them is a bad idea, without any need for intervention on your part

Further he can follow Uncle Badger around the garden and help him by digging holes !


Comment from durnedyankee
Time: May 13, 2022, 2:03 pm

Hear hear! Better Badger House should go to the dogs than the rats eh?


Comment from Uncle Al
Time: May 13, 2022, 2:07 pm

It’s FRIDAY THE 13TH! May bad luck fall upon nasty rodents everywhere.


Comment from dissent555
Time: May 13, 2022, 3:08 pm

Had a vole problem for the last couple years. They were tearing up the yard quite a bit. Initially tried repellent sprays (e.g. castor oil) and pellets to no effect. Standard snapping mousetraps would occasionally get lucky but voles breed at a massive rate. Also, fast little buggers so catching them was the main problem. So last year I got some of these “humane traps” (a cheap plastic version) that you bait one end and then a flippy door closes them in when they enter. Once I had them contained, the rest was easy.


Comment from lauraw
Time: May 17, 2022, 1:25 am

Demonstration of a dunk-type rat trap. https://is.gd/IKL3Ic

I’ve done something similar by just simply throwing a chocolate in the bottom of a trash barrel and putting a ramp of cardboard boxes stacked next to it so critters could get up there, sniff around the edge, and jump in. Then they can’t get out. Only caught mice, though.

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