Cats are also born hunters. They start getting that hunting instinct when they are merely six to seven weeks old. Kittens usually learn how to hunt from their mothers who bring back live prey for them to practice on. Kittens who weren't trained by their mothers often fail to make a clean kill.
But do cats kill rats? Not so much. In a unique research paper published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolutions, four researchers found that cats are not the rat killers that many think they are.
Although cats aren't a great hunter of rats they can act as a deterrent and influence rat behavior. If you see a rat it's extremely important to act as soon as possible.
Rats dislike the smell of their predators, even if they aren't found anywhere near the area. If a rat finds a place that smells like a cat, ferret, or raccoon, there's a huge chance that the rodent will stay away from that site.
Time to hunt
They are more active in summer than winter and contrary to popular belief, many will prefer to hunt on a wet night because they know that the sound of the rain will mask their footsteps and the success rate will be higher. If your cat is damp in the morning you know what they have been up to overnight.
Not all cats are hunters
Although there is a stereotype that all cats are professional hunters, some are afraid of mice, while others see them simply as toys. It all depends on the personality and breed of the feline.
For example, if mice smell cat urine, mice are likely to leave the area to avoid the predator. Stowers discovered that pheromones travel through the mouse nose to the brain, where the pheromones will interact with neurons which stimulate emotions. In this case, it's the smell of cats that sparks fear in mice.
Mice and rats are born with an innate, hardwired fear of their feline predators, and the very scent of a cat is terrifying to them. So it was quite a surprise when in 2000, parasitologist Joanne Webster found rats that had not only lost their fear of cat urine, they were attracted to it.
Cats may eat rats, but they also deter rats from coming near by, as cats mark their territory, not with urine, but by simply rubbing up against things. Even this scent of a cat can make rats scatter. Neighbors say they haven't seen rats since the cats got to work.
Some people have found that they can deter rats from coming onto their property by using certain smells and aromas. The most effective smells are essential oils, specifically; peppermint, castor, and citronella.
Cats may avoid hunting rats
Because rats are pretty sizeable, cats can actually be fearful of them and reluctant to prey on them.
Poisoning after eating rodents killed by the rodenticide is called secondary or relay poisoning. This can occur but is rare because a cat would need to eat many rodents that died from the poison.
You can still use rodent baits without harming your cat or dog. If you're trying to avoid harming your animal, then make sure you use one of two types of rodent baits. First, you can use a bait with a warfarin base. And second, you can use chemicals like brodifacoum, difethialone and bromadialone.
Even though the cats were around the rats daily, the cats stalked them 20 times and tried to kill them just 3 times. They only managed to kill them twice! The researchers did say that for every cat sighting, rats were 1.19x more likely to seek shelter and hide.
rats, the rats are winning. The first study to document interactions between feral cats and a wild rat colony finds that contrary to popular opinion, cats are not good predators of rats.
Protect your rats from other pets and animals
Mask the sounds, sights and smells of animals your rats may be afraid of, such as cats, dogs, ferrets and birds of prey. Rats are a prey species and these animals can cause them stress.
Failing to report a rat infestation is not wise – they do not disappear of their own accord and they will likely spread.
Both rats and mice are good climbers and can climb vertical walls and "shimmy" up between walls and drain pipes. Rats are also excellent swimmers and have been known to enter premises through the water traps of the toilet bowl when infestations occur in the main sewerage system.
Whilst catching a mouse or a rat may be a natural activity for cats and in some cases, dogs, eating rodents can have undesirable consequences on our pets. Dangers include infection from intestinal worms and/or toxoplasmosis as well as the possibility of suffering from secondary rat bait poisoning.
Rats are actually scared of humans. They will do anything in their power to avoid being around a living being larger than them. However, if a rat feels cornered, it may attack in an attempt to protect itself.
When a rat bites your dog or cat, it can transmit a number of diseases through the rat saliva into the wound of the bite. If your dog or cat is not up to date with all of its current shots, it may fall ill, infect others, or worse.
Rats can gnaw through insulation, chew through sheet rock and ceiling panels and wall paper, soak carpets and upholstery with their urine, and become so numerous that they even terrify the family cat and you yourself inside of your home.
Cats can hear a mouse squeaking underground or a cockroach scurrying inside the wall. Their amazing ears enable them to locate their prey by sound—something most people forget when they're playing with their cat and offer no auditory stimulation.
Mice carry many diseases, and you do not want to risk your cat getting sick. You also want to clean the area with a feline-friendly concentrated bleach and water solution. Ensure you brush or clean your cat's teeth after a dead mouse is in their mouth.
it has been observed that cats don't actually deter mice, but instead attract them, and without being professionally prevented from entering a home, they'll always be present.