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Old November 6th, 2005, 12:28 AM
Okami Okami is offline
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pets and mice - rodents and pets - Answered by Dr. Van Lienden

We're having a little mouse problem in our house. All the wild mice are finding ways to get into our house to escape from the cold winter. Normally we would set mouse traps and mouse poison around the house to rid the house of these pests. But we can't and don't because we have birds, dogs and cats. We've tried ultrasonic devices to try and scare the mice away but it doesn't work.
I'm afraid these mice will be carrying all sorts of nasty desieses into our house, I'm epsically concerned about them transferring to one of my pets. Are they contagious to pets?, I have a little kitten and I'm afraid he'll decide to go mouse hunting one day and end up putting a furry ball of desiese in his mouth. What can I do to prevent these desieses?
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Old November 6th, 2005, 12:37 AM
Prin Prin is offline
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You can get small humane traps to trap the mice. I wouldn't use poison ever because if the mice eat it and then your animals accidentally eat a mouse, they could get some of the poison (they could also eat it directly).
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Old November 6th, 2005, 12:49 AM
Okami Okami is offline
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where would I be able to buy some of these and would they be able to injure my pets?
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Old November 6th, 2005, 12:53 AM
Prin Prin is offline
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Usually, they're small enough so they won't injure your pets... Where to get them... I don't know exactly but I would assume that places like Canadian Tire or even Home Depot might have something...
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Old November 6th, 2005, 08:52 AM
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chico2 chico2 is offline
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Okami,we HAD a mouse-problem too,tried many different things,but had to resort to poison :sad:
First though,we found the spot where they gained entry in to the house and plugged it.We could hear them every night running around in the walls,driving the cats bananas.
Then I discovered they'd gotten in to my kitchen-cupboard eaten off my potatoes and that was it!!
My youngest cat(3yrs)caught 3 in the cupboard and spent all his time in there watching.
My cats do not even draw blood on the poor little things,they just like a live toy :sad: But we were always able to catch the terrified mice and put them outside.
We put hard block poison up in the ceiling,where the cats could not get to it.
We are now mouse-free and I regret using poison,but it was the only way,as we all know the mice will have babies by a couple of dozen and I would soon have had a housefull.
I was watching TV one night and a little mouse was running on the floor with Vinnie in persuit.I manage to get him to run outside by opening the patio-doors.
Home Depot has a good selection of pest-control...whatever you do,do not buy the sticky traps!!!
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Old November 6th, 2005, 05:18 PM
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PetFriendly PetFriendly is offline
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My parents have a mouse problem (in their barn) so they borrrowed my cat! She's been there since mid summer and has just about killed everything there is to kill.

But, in the past when mice were found in the house, they used the poison that kills the mice then 'dehydrates' them so they don't stink. We were very carefull about where we put the poison to keep the cats safe and found that removing the kickboard under your kitchen cupboards or under the drawer below your stove are decent places. You can go the trap route, but its going to take that much longer... Its not the greatest, but I'd go poison.
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Old November 6th, 2005, 11:24 PM
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pamha pamha is offline
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We use regular mouse traps but put them in places our pets can`t get to- it makes it harder to check them, but we do catch a lot. Some examples, behind the stove & blocked in corners & pantry shelves. The cat & puppy were catching a lot a couple of months ago, but mostly we`d see them playing with the mouse, not eating it & were able to get it away & outside. Without any symptoms I`m not too worried about diseases, but do plan to have them checked for worms & whatever else mice can carry at their yearly checkups.
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Old November 15th, 2005, 08:43 AM
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petdr petdr is offline
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Ideally you would make the house unavailable to rodents by finding and plugging the entrances. Not very easy I'll admit, but this would be your best advice. The various rodent ultrasonic repellent devices have never worked for my clientele. I do like the little humane traps that allow you capture the rodent safely and later release them unharmed.

There are also various "sticky" traps, in essence a sheet of gluey paper that keeps the rodent stuck. Not very pleasant to use, but you can release the little fellows unhurt with some nail polish remover (acetone evaporates quickly without any lasting harm to the unwitting). I suppose an alternative is to have a small "mouse house" near by, and outside, that allows them some refuge and disallows bigger denizens entrance. Make certain to leave food nearby to encourage them to stay outside, and in their own house.

Unfortunately, there are a number of infectious diseases that rodents carry, and yes, your pets as well as you are at risk. Avoidance is the best policy here. Some of the things that rodents can carry: tularemia, bubonic plague, hanta virus, tapeworm, rat bite fever, rabies, and the list goes on.

Dr. Van Lienden

Dr. Raymond Van Lienden DVM
The Animal Clinic of Clifton
12702 Chapel Road, Clifton
Virginia, U.S.A. 20124
703-802-0490
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