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April 12, 2012 at 9:43 pm #602866
chriscomanMemberMy cat was poisoned with rat bait recently. We live on 45th near Charletown st, and was wondering if anyone else has had a problem. My cat lived, but is continuing to be in contact with the bait, after 7 weeks of treatment. Please consider using traps instead of bait if you have a rodent problem. Keeping him inside seems to be the only solution now. Any help is appreciated, thanks. Veryscarey
April 12, 2012 at 11:37 pm #754786
JanSParticipantwell, then…keep him inside :)
April 13, 2012 at 12:44 am #754787
furryfacesParticipantGlad to hear you kitty is going to be okay.
So many problems with putting bait outside.
Another solution is to adopt a couple of outdoor working cats. Provide them a lifetime place to live, with a little shelter, daily fresh water and food, and they will take care of the rodent population.
If anyone is interested in adopting backyard working cats, please contact us @ furryfaces@hotmail.com
April 13, 2012 at 12:46 am #754788
funkietooParticipantSorry to hear about your cat.
If you have room for an outdoor enclosure for your cat, it will make his transition to the indoors easier, and when outside he is protected.
I live within 2 blocks of you so if you would like to come over to see my outdoor enclosure, which is a dog kennel with a roof, please email me at funkietoo@hotmail.com
April 13, 2012 at 1:33 am #754789
mehud7ParticipantThis does not sound like a good area for outdoor/working cats if friendlies are being poisoned. This area seems to have a greater than ‘average’ number of cats go missing than other neighborhoods according to the lost pets page of the WSB. Definately best to keep your buddies in.
April 13, 2012 at 1:54 am #754790
kootchmanMemberCoyotes are being baited too.
April 13, 2012 at 2:31 am #754791
dhgParticipantHATE the very idea of putting out poison to kill anything that nibbles on it. People who do this are, in my opinion, the nasty vermin who should leave.
April 13, 2012 at 4:35 am #754792
2krazy4wordsParticipantand it’s my understanding that if the rodent eats the poison whatever eats the rodent gets it too – cat, hawk, etc. Glad kitty is ok too …
April 13, 2012 at 1:53 pm #754793
justcuzMemberI saw the signs up in the area warning about rat bait, chriscoman. I’m so sorry to hear about your cat. And maybe I’m just more aware because it’s my neighborhood, but yes, we seem to have a lot of missing cats, for whatever reason. I truly hope it isn’t because someone is up to no good. As far as using rat bait to kill rats…if for no other reason (and there are many!), I’d avoid it because there’s a darned good chance I’d have one crawl off and die in/under my house. That is not a pleasant smell.
April 13, 2012 at 2:16 pm #754794
Spring ChickenMemberAnother NO vote on the “working cats” idea! Outdoor cats find easier meals of wild birds at backyard feeders! Rats are large and fierce, not like mice at all. The best control for rats are tenacious small dog breeds such as rat terrier or dachsund. If more people would keep their cat food indoors and trash cans secured we could limit rat overpopulation.
April 13, 2012 at 3:58 pm #754795
furryfacesParticipantIt appears we weren’t clear in our post about working cats. What we were suggesting to the greater community, including those that set out bait, is that instead of using rat bait, consider more natural alternatives, such as backyard working cats. We weren’t suggesting that the person who’s cat got poisoned, adopt working cats.
Working cats do help with rats in that they eat the babies and their smell helps deter rats from establishing a settlement in your yard.
In regards to wild birds, there are simple, inexpensive ways to deter cats from the birds that feed and nest in yards.
April 13, 2012 at 4:58 pm #754796
Spring ChickenMemberDomestic cats are not a natural addition to our ecosystem. Domestic cats are not an effective predator of the local problem species “Rattus Norvegicus” or Norwegian Brown Rat. Outdoor cats provide feces that rats can feed upon.
“Working Cats” belong on farms, where they prey on MICE that eat the grain in barns. City pet cats belong indoors, period. It’s safer for them, and for our native wild birds.
Here’s a link to better rat-control advice:
http://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/ehs/rats.aspx
April 13, 2012 at 10:01 pm #754797
anonymeParticipantVery few cats will take on an adult rat, and rats don’t have babies in places that are accessible to cats. I’m all for feral cat rescue, but IMO the concept of “working cats” is a flawed one. Neither rat bait nor outdoor cats – feral or otherwise – are good ideas in an urban situtation.
April 28, 2012 at 10:09 pm #754798
kootchmanMemberGotta go with that one… cats are an eco catastrophe. Mine being no exception. They are murderous to song birds. This is my last cat. Most predators go for the easy, least likely to create injury, prey Rats are not easy prey for cats. Birds are. Haven’t seen Norway Rats yet… roof rats mostly.
April 30, 2012 at 5:39 pm #754799
B-squaredParticipantI agree with not using poison. ever. There are too many downsides to it, with the most obvious being that the collateral damage is not worth it. 2krazy4words mentioned second-hand poisoning that occurs. We should be promoting the presence of owls and hawks who do a fine job taking vermin. i once watched a cooper’s hawk snatch up a rat that was dining beneath my bird feeder. i felt like Marlin Perkins!
April 30, 2012 at 6:07 pm #754800
datamuseParticipantCoyotes, however, WILL take on rats. Jus’ sayin’.
April 30, 2012 at 9:49 pm #754801
queseraMemberBefore the coyotes showed up, our neighborhood had a lot of outdoor cats. I never saw any dead birds or remains, but the big cat across the street was an expert at rat killing. He would get a rat and leave its headless corpse in the street like a little mafia warning. He’s indoor only now, but he was a great neighbor. He left the birds alone and massacred the rodents. Large cats actually will go after rats–they’re easier than birds.
Coyotes leave the mice, it seems, but do seem to have reduced the squirrel population by quite a bit. I’ve never seen a cat take an adult squirrel. And I’d much rather have squirrels than cat-eating, disease-spreading coyotes.
May 1, 2012 at 2:39 pm #754802
velo_nutParticipantDatamuse… what were you jus’ sayin’?
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