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This is our second fall in this house. Last year about this time, I noticed Elvira acting strange. I told Hubby that she was acting like she was on to something-sure enough, there was a mouse. I think in total, we found 2 or 3-Hubby killed one, I caught one after both Elvira & Josette had taunted it so much that it didn't have much energy and I put it outside. Electra could care less. She figures that there are two other mousers in the house so why should she bother?
I read that peppermint oil works to discourage mice. So, I put some down and Elvira started acting like she was on catnip. I later found out that peppermint oil could be toxic to cats. But, after that, I didn't see any more mice.
This year, just the way the cats were acting I KNEW!!! Again, it was Elvira & Josette. They kept looking under the stove-when I looked I couldn't see anything (except dust bunnies ). Hubby thought they were acting strange in the bedroom (where they were last year). One day last week, there was a dead mouse on the floor in front of our bed. I was grateful for a few things: 1.) the mouse was still intact. 2.) the mouse was on the floor and not on the bed. 3.) the mouse wasn't not intact and on the bed!
Last night, Hubby saw that the 3 of them were gathered around a mouse in the hallway between the living room & kitchen. He was almost dead. We were in a dilemma. I didn't want them to torture that poor mouse anymore but we didn't want to discourage them from earning their keep (well, figure of speech-lol). At this point, I got a plastic bag to put it in and put it outside.
And of course we praise the cats.
I am sure that the mouse downstairs came in through the basement. But, we wonder how the ones in the bedroom upstairs got in. If they climbed the stairs, I'm sure the cats would have stopped them. I am hoping that these two are the only ones but you never know. I know I have to put some peppermint oil in the basement (the cats don't go down there).
Does anyone else have mice or other critters that their guard cats keep at bay?
Because of my property location and the fact that my house is pushing 100 years old, mice are a fact of life. My cats have always kept them under control, and usually catch a half dozen or so on average every year. The winter of '13 & '14 was particularly bad rodent-wise, and I lost count after 15. The year before that some mice found there way upstairs to my hobby (probably through the walls as the upstairs is closed off with a door). It was a bad choice for the mice, as that hobby room is also my cat Sheba's sanctuary, and she happens to be my ace huntress. She racked up around 20 or so that winter. Fortunately, she rarely eats them so there's no mess to clean up.
My downstairs mighty hunter would be my oldest girl Misty (14). She's caught 3 so far this fall, and she usually eats what she kills... at least most of it. But I'd rather clean up the leftovers than have them running around the house.
Thanks to my cats, I've never had to use any prevention/poisons, etc.
Because of my property location and the fact that my house is pushing 100 years old, mice are a fact of life. My cats have always kept them under control, and usually catch a half dozen or so on average every year. The winter of '13 & '14 was particularly bad rodent-wise, and I lost count after 15. The year before that some mice found there way upstairs to my hobby (probably through the walls as the upstairs is closed off with a door). It was a bad choice for the mice, as that hobby room is also my cat Sheba's sanctuary, and she happens to be my ace huntress. She racked up around 20 or so that winter. Fortunately, she rarely eats them so there's no mess to clean up.
My downstairs mighty hunter would be my oldest girl Misty (14). She's caught 3 so far this fall, and she usually eats what she kills... at least most of it. But I'd rather clean up the leftovers than have them running around the house.
Thanks to my cats, I've never had to use any prevention/poisons, etc.
My house is 150 years old so I figured I will have to get used to having mice around. Where we used to live we had ONE mouse the entire time I lived there (15 years)-Elvira took care of it.
A long time ago, I lived in a cabin on a mountain with 4 cats. I woke up one morning to Swatcha eating a mouse without a head on it-EWWWWW! I'm glad my girls don't eat them.
My house is 150 years old so I figured I will have to get used to having mice around. Where we used to live we had ONE mouse the entire time I lived there (15 years)-Elvira took care of it.
A long time ago, I lived in a cabin on a mountain with 4 cats. I woke up one morning to Swatcha eating a mouse without a head on it-EWWWWW! I'm glad my girls don't eat them.
BTW, I hope your praise your huntresses.
Cat
Oh of course... without fail. I'm not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth.
But I can recall one time that I wasn't quite so grateful. One of my girls (don't know which one) caught a mouse sometime during the night, and proceeded to enjoying her feast in the bathroom doorway. You guessed it.... it was one of those nights I had to get up in the wee hours of the morning to relieve myself. I don't normally turn the light on, but wished I had that time, when I stepped on something wet & furry.
I remember standing there using the toilet, while randomly thinking how strange it must have looked to be doing that with such an unappealing mess inches from my foot.... and the fact that it didn't bother me all that much. As I usually do, I told myself "Well you live with cats & it goes with the territory"... then cleaned it all up and went back to bed.
But I did get in the habit of putting on my slippers after that... just in case.
Oh of course... without fail. I'm not one to look a gift-horse in the mouth.
But I can recall one time that I wasn't quite so grateful. One of my girls (don't know which one) caught a mouse sometime during the night, and proceeded to enjoying her feast in the bathroom doorway. You guessed it.... it was one of those nights I had to get up in the wee hours of the morning to relieve myself. I don't normally turn the light on, but wished I had that time, when I stepped on something wet & furry.
I remember standing there using the toilet, while randomly thinking how strange it must have looked to be doing that with such an unappealing mess inches from my foot.... and the fact that it didn't bother me all that much. As I usually do, I told myself "Well you live with cats & it goes with the territory"... then cleaned it all up and went back to bed.
But I did get in the habit of putting on my slippers after that... just in case.
Too funny. But with your cats eating the mice, aren't you worried about them picking up parasites and such that the mice have?
Too funny. But with your cats eating the mice, aren't you worried about them picking up parasites and such that the mice have?
Cat
Not really. I've always thought that mice and other small creatures are actually a natural diet for them, and they are probably equipped to handle whatever their pray may have. Perhaps that may be faulty thinking on my part, but there's never been any problem with them eating mice in all these years. In all honesty my cats only eat probably 1/4 of what they catch, leaving the rest of them for me as intact 'gifts'. Other than initial de-worming when young, the only parasites I've had to treat was tapeworms probably from fleas.
My only real concern would be if they caught a live mouse that recently ate poison & hadn't died yet, but I think the chance of that would be slim to none. Years ago when my wife started taking in cats, she stopped putting out D-conn or any type of poison, and I've continued that practice. So any poisoned rodents would have come from somewhere else, and I doubt they would live long enough to make the trip.
Mice are very adept at traveling through walls using cut-outs for pipes and wiring, and then find ways to get out of the walls and into the living areas of the house. Last year my parents in New England had them in their kitchen cabinets and drawers. The clever mice somehow found a way to get into the basement, probably some obscure spot where the bottom sill didn't quite meet the foundation, and then followed the plumbing to come out under the kitchen sink. From there it was a snap to find the cabinet crevices to wander around.
When we lived up north we found the peanuts we had put outside for the squirrels had been carried by mice, intact, all the way up into the attic of our two-story house and deposited inside storage boxes where the mice had made their nests. We had baseboard steam heat and the clever mice easily traveled throughout our house using the "highway" of pipe cut-outs.
If peppermint oil is toxic, then my cats were immune because we sprayed it everywhere (3/4 water, 1/4 oil) inside cabinets where pipes came in and where the heating pipes came up through the floor, etc. We also stuffed aluminum foil around every pipe hole and cabinet crevice. We tossed mothballs under the eaves of the attic and they fell onto the fire-break out of access (cats didn't go in the attic anyway). We never did discover how they were getting into the house, but where we suspected they might we shoved foil up under the bottom clapboards outside.
That ended our mouse problem, but we don't actually know if our work did it or whether the mice found that our shed was easier to inhabit. Didn't matter. No more mice in the house.
Mice are very adept at traveling through walls using cut-outs for pipes and wiring, and then find ways to get out of the walls and into the living areas of the house. Last year my parents in New England had them in their kitchen cabinets and drawers. The clever mice somehow found a way to get into the basement, probably some obscure spot where the bottom sill didn't quite meet the foundation, and then followed the plumbing to come out under the kitchen sink. From there it was a snap to find the cabinet crevices to wander around.
When we lived up north we found the peanuts we had put outside for the squirrels had been carried by mice, intact, all the way up into the attic of our two-story house and deposited inside storage boxes where the mice had made their nests. We had baseboard steam heat and the clever mice easily traveled throughout our house using the "highway" of pipe cut-outs.
If peppermint oil is toxic, then my cats were immune because we sprayed it everywhere (3/4 water, 1/4 oil) inside cabinets where pipes came in and where the heating pipes came up through the floor, etc. We also stuffed aluminum foil around every pipe hole and cabinet crevice. We tossed mothballs under the eaves of the attic and they fell onto the fire-break out of access (cats didn't go in the attic anyway). We never did discover how they were getting into the house, but where we suspected they might we shoved foil up under the bottom clapboards outside.
That ended our mouse problem, but we don't actually know if our work did it or whether the mice found that our shed was easier to inhabit. Didn't matter. No more mice in the house.
Maybe because you diluted the oil. I used it full strength.
The other night, the cats were going crazy. That should have been a clue. I thought they were just playing with each other. The next day, I noticed Josette had something in her mouth. Yup! A mouse. I thought it would be a bit early for mice season. They usually come in when the weather starts to get cold. But, what I find interesting is that the mouse was UPSTAIRS-just like they were last year and the year before. Hubby saw a mouse downstairs but I didn't see it.
Then it became quiet. I guess they got it or the mouse left. But today I noticed something very strange. I keep a Pyrex water bowl for them in the upstairs bathroom. I had just replaced the water a couple of days ago but the water looked gray and mucky. I looked in and saw what looked like mouse droppings. I showed it to Hubby and he thought the same thing. How would mouse droppings get into the water? My guess is that one of them (my guess is Josette), thought the mousy needed a bath. Maybe the mousy didn't like baths and left.
There is nothing to keep mice from entering a house and moving around in it. Especially given the draw of cat food and fresh water. The only potential exception is a good mouser. Praise your hunters, get a good dust pan and broom.
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). Hubby thought they were acting strange in the bedroom (where they were last year). One day last week, there was a dead mouse on the floor in front of our bed. I was grateful for a few things: 1.) the mouse was still intact. 2.) the mouse was on the floor and not on the bed. 3.) the mouse wasn't not intact and on the bed! 
