In the last week or so, mine and my wife's cats have caught at least 4 mice between them. I have a nice tidy garden but there are several nests along one side behind concrete-panelled earth retaining 'fences'. They seem to like it there as they inhabited the same place last year, although far fewer in number.
Yesterday my cat got hold of a mouse and ate it whole. There's no way of taking it from him as he just runs off when approached.
So I let him be and forgot about it. A couple of hours later the cat came in and I heard my wife shouting that there was something wrong with my cat. I went down stairs to find the poor little sod meowing away, twitching, staggering and occasionally falling over.
I immediately associated the problem with the mouse he'd eaten and got my wife to call the emergency vet whilst I got the cat carrier out and got the car ready.
Upshot is my cat had to spend a night in the vets on a drip at a cost of £312 (luckily I have pet insurance, but still - there is a £50 excess to pay). He's fine now, just very dopey from sedation and also has a couple of bald patches.
Now knowing that there are could be a load of dying/slow (easy target) poisoned mice around my garden and neighbouring gardens, I'm not sure what to do. Why anyone would use rat poison in such a built up area with so many cats is beyond me. It's the worst method for killing vermin due to the trauma it causes. What's wrong with a proper spring trap? At least they're normally humane. Whoever left the poison out needs a good talking to. Retards.
Anyway, here's my cat on a better day:
Yesterday my cat got hold of a mouse and ate it whole. There's no way of taking it from him as he just runs off when approached.
So I let him be and forgot about it. A couple of hours later the cat came in and I heard my wife shouting that there was something wrong with my cat. I went down stairs to find the poor little sod meowing away, twitching, staggering and occasionally falling over.
I immediately associated the problem with the mouse he'd eaten and got my wife to call the emergency vet whilst I got the cat carrier out and got the car ready.
Upshot is my cat had to spend a night in the vets on a drip at a cost of £312 (luckily I have pet insurance, but still - there is a £50 excess to pay). He's fine now, just very dopey from sedation and also has a couple of bald patches.
Now knowing that there are could be a load of dying/slow (easy target) poisoned mice around my garden and neighbouring gardens, I'm not sure what to do. Why anyone would use rat poison in such a built up area with so many cats is beyond me. It's the worst method for killing vermin due to the trauma it causes. What's wrong with a proper spring trap? At least they're normally humane. Whoever left the poison out needs a good talking to. Retards.
Anyway, here's my cat on a better day:
