Do Cats Actually Get Rid of Mice?

[SoDesuKa]

If you have a mouse problem in your house, is getting a cat the solution? Mice are prolific breeders, so do they reproduce faster than a young, aggressive cat can kill them?

I know that the smell of cat urine suppresses mouse reproduction. Do rodent populations decline to zero?

[bridgit]

1. yup, that's been my experience & in short order as well...

:-)

[wildhorses]

2. females are usually better hunters...

yes, it helps

[liontamer]

3. depends on the cat

not all will bother to hunt mice. Of course depending on where you live, a few garden snakes will help minimize the mouse problem

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. Lucy can catch 'em quicker than they can make new ones

I haven't kept tabs, but I'd guess her quarry is at 40 or 50. And she caught all of 'em outside, where I'd imagine it's tougher.

So, yeah.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. I live in an old house, and once in awhile a mouse gets in

and is promptly eaten.

[Flaxbee]

6. abso-frickin-lutely

But don't just get a cat for mice problems unless you want to have a long-term companion, too. All of our cats, who are well-fed on 'normal' cat food, also just instinctively go after mice. We've had some very good female hunters - one cleared out our basement and garage in less than a month. No more mousies. We'd find several caracasses every morning until there were literally none -- NeenerPea was the BEST huntress, now gone on to kitty nirvana. One of our current males (was stray until he was about 2 so he had to be a good hunter) occasionally brings home bunnies, too. :cry:

[reyd reid reed]

7. yup

Thing is, eventually they don't have to. They can't kill what's not there and, you get a cat or two (especially girl kitties) the mice will pack up their little mouse house and relocate.

[HuskerDU]

8. We had mice. Then we got Daisy. No more mice!

And Daisy was so nice we adopted two other cats.

[liberaltrucker]

9. Does Jade look like a killer?

A mouse could tap dance on her head,
and she'd just swat it away:rofl:

[SoCalDem]

11. The ONE time we hade a mousie, it ran out from under the fridge

RAN RIGHT INTO AMBER (our only cat at the time).. She Jumped and watched it scurry under a corner cabinet..

She sauntered over to the corner, sniffed a few times, stretched, and headed for the pillows on the couch..

I finally caught mousie with my bare hands and deposited him-her outside..

[liberaltrucker]

13. Yep, sounds about right

:rofl:

[SoDesuKa]

15. You Interrupted My Nap!

Cats can't possibly understand photography but they seem to understand there's something of a permanent nature going on and they don't like it. I've seen that expression over and over on cat's faces. People get the animal's attention by calling out, "Look here, Minou!" And she looks up with that same irritated expression we see on Jade's face.

I would not want to be a criminal defendant facing Judge Jade. I'd be guilty as hell.

[azmouse]

22. I had a kitty that looked just like that!

She was the best cat I ever had!

[LisaL]

10. Not my cat. I am pretty sure he would get scared and run way.

[azmouse]

23. Mice can be pretty scary!

[EstimatedProphet]

12. They keep them under control

It is unlikely they will ever completely remove them. Mice reproduce, as you say.

[necso]

14. My landlady has a cat

(a female cat) that is a killing machine.

Of course, this she-cat much prefers tasty, tasty birds -- of which there is now a considerable scarcity in her (and my) territory.

But she is at heart a most egalitarian killer (and torturer), and birds, mice, gophers and other small creatures of all sorts are on the menu.

One time I saw her almost get a (grey) squirrel. She stalked it carefully and was crafty enough to throw herself on the up-tree side of the squirrel as it tried to scamper to safety (when she made her move). But she managed to get only one or two claws in (on the down-tree side of her body), and the squirrel was smart enough to drop down (and run around to the other side of the tree, confounding the cat's expectations, as was apparent from her reaction) as opposed to trying to continue (climb) in the superficially-apparent (and previously) safe (up-tree) direction (where the cat's other paw could have acted -- they were just above the ground).

Of course, I've known a number of other cats that were completely useless as regards killing vermin.

And in my limited observations, a female cat would be the better bet... But never watch what they do with their prey, it often isn't pretty.

[warrens]

16. One of my cats killed off a colony of rats

If they're into hunting, and most are, they get totally lethal with practice. After they lose enough, the remaining rodents decide to find a new home. Cats can be incredibly single-minded; mine used to sit out back, completely still, for hours, waiting for a rat to get stupid. She was killing one a night for two weeks, then the rest got up and moved to the suburbs.

[Orsino]

17. The smell of a cat might do the most.

Mice are reluctant to move in, I understand, where they sense the presence of a predator.

[NV Whino]

18. This may not look like a killing machine, but

he is hell on four paws when it comes to gophers and voles. Don't have any mice... for obvious reasons. And yes, he's a he. His success as a hunter probably has to do with the fact that he was a street kitty up until about age two when he was captured and offered for adoption by my local rescue place.

[cedahlia]

19. Two of mine are big time mouse hunters

The third, older cat, however, is not. But the younger two...uh, look out if you are a little critter who dares enter this house. Because they are definitely expert hunters. Our youngest girl just killed a rather large mouse the other night. And that's actually the first one we have seen in quite a while. I do think the scent of their urine keeps the mice at bay.

Our one little mouse murderer is actually a snake slayer as well. We came down to the basement one day and found a foot-and-a-half long garter snake sliced open and dead on the floor. There were actually some nasty splotches of blood near by, too. And there was our sweet little baby of cat rubbing against our legs, chirping and purring...all proud of herself!

So yeah, if you can find one driven by a strong hunting instinct, they can be pretty effective in controlling a mice problem. I must say though, I am a true animal lover, so I am always torn about the critter killing that my fur babies are so good at! I felt especially bad about the snake, who was completely harmless, and would have just been gently moved outside had we been able to save him first! :-( But, kitty was just doing her "job", I guess!

[SethInUpstateNY]

20. Yes, with my limited experience with mice.

3 years ago, I made the mistake of leaving sunflower seeds for the birds on our back porch. I started noticing little holes in the bag and eating sunflower seeds on the floor. I would occasionally see one scurrying by. This was during January and it was bitterly cold outside, so I didn't want to throw the mice out into the cold. So, around when spring comes around, one day I'm putting on my shoes to go out and I notice mouse trying to come out of the cold-duct heating vent in our living room. I walk toward it and it goes back into the vent. From that point on, I notice our cat named Ted, would stare intently at the cold-duct vent in the living room and would also stare at the walls in the kitchen and occasionally lunge at the walls. Anyway, our cat, named Ted, one day (late April) catches a mouse and has it mouth and I grab Ted by the scruff of his neck and take him outside and let the mouse go. The only time I found a dead mouse, was when Ted was digging at one of the floor rugs in the kitchen and the mouse was under it.

Now, I put all the sunflower seed in a metal container and haven't had any mouse problems since.

[ScreamingMeemie]

21. Mice never even enter our house, even though I have seen them

running around outside, and once caught our Sheltie "playing with one" out back.

I would say yes.

[kwassa]

24. My cat lined up dead mice side by side

just to show how proud he was. He was a great outdoor hunter, too. The late, great Bunster.

Our new young cats Daphne and Chloe hunt anything that moves. Mice, crickets, spiders. They are very, very fast.

[pitohui]

25. no sorry to say it don't work

sad experience here

the worst infestation of rodents i ever had was simultaneous with the worst infestation of cats i ever had

more prey supports more predators but predators do not reduce the prey population to zero, that would be counter-productive my friend

i had to use poison and traps like everybody else

[Rob H.]

26. My parents' cat is a mighty hunter

She killed a mouse in their house when they were living in Idaho. She could actually hear the thing down in the heating duct in the floor and she would sit, statue-like, for hours waiting for it to make its appearance. When it finally did, that was that. No more mice, but she sat by the duct periodically for a couple more days just to be sure. :)

She also killed a small non-venomous snake (I think it was a gopher snake) that got in the house, too--decapitated it!

[DS1]

27. This guy says yes

[Radical Activist]

28. Mine killed mice, rats, moles

and other assorted small woodland creatures. She's a real killer.

[cassandra uprising]

29. I effing hope so.

Picked up two hunters in training two weeks ago. SO and sister wanted kittens for a long time, when our apartment got infested with mice, I caved. Regards if they kill the mice or not, I'm glad we got them. I'm crossing my fingers.

[arwalden]

30. Try These...

[last_texas_dem]

31. Mine will clear out the roach population

She'll spend a half-hour torturing each one in the process, but any roach that comes into her view will eventually be dead. She's the same way with lizards. I'm not sure how she'd be with mice because I've never seen one in the house.

[sakabatou]

32. My cat was a lazy SOB

My family had to use out dog to get rid of a field mouse.

[MissB]

33. My cat did.

In the spring, he'd start bringing in 3 or 4 dead mice bodies for me. Then he started bringing them in live to play with them. One crawled up in my vacuum cleaner and died.