Try this: Buy Boric Acid at a hardware store. Put it in the mouses path. (You cannot have house pets to do this) It’s poison to mice and roaches and I’ve been using it all my adult life.
I’ve got a cat in this hypothetical, you say? Well, then, I’d think the cat would take care of the mice problem *for *me, and be pleased to do so.
I use mouse and rat poison, first. Since I live out in the country,there is a block under the sink everyday of the year. So far that has handled any problem.
Trap. A professional will only enter the picture when I have failed to kill said rodents and the signs/damage continue for more than a week. Or maybe more if the damage seems slight and not serious. So far, over the course of my life, no mouse has lasted past the third day.
You would think so…but he appears to be completely useless in that regard.
He has a *cat. *I assume he doesn’t want a dead cat.
The Op stated he had a cat.
You’re not the only one. My two are hopeless. We’ve had the occasional mouse and we use traps out of kitty paw reach baited with peanut butter. We don’t use poison anywhere, even place to which the cats don’t have access because even though my cats are hopeless, I don’t want to risk them ingesting a poisoned mouse. Plus, traps are fast. Internal hemorrhaging from poison is an awful, slow way to go. I don’t like the little jerks, but I don’t want to cause suffering, either.
Stalking and chasing and pouncing are instinctual to cats, but the actual killing part has to be learned from mama cat, I think.
Depends. Warfarin based poison probably won’t harm cats unless they’re regularly chowing down on the poison straight. But other chemicals may be worse.
I don’t think boric acid is harmful for cats OR mice, and doesn’t work on the latter, only invertebrates, no?
Well, I dont think boric acid is all that dangerous, but "Originally Posted by drad dog View Post
Try this: Buy Boric Acid at a hardware store. Put it in the mouses path. (You cannot have house pets to do this) "
Sorry, should have quoted him, not you.
Ok, NP. And you are mostly correct:
Toxicity
Compared to many other household chemicals, insecticides and flea control products, boric acid is not very toxic. A healthy adult cat is not likely to become seriously ill unless a very large amount is ingested. Symptoms usually subside as the boric acid leaves the body, and normally there are no long-term effects. Young kittens, elderly cats or cats with chronic illness may suffer more serious effects.
An update: we emptied out the cupboard under the sink, and the evidence is undeniable: chewed paper, mouse turds. Bought mouse traps last night (although my wife may want to also bring in an exterminator to find out how it got in, which I suspect will be fruitless…but marriages are built on compromise.)
The trap is set. Now we wait.
Cats are the best option. But having a cat and glue traps around is not, albeit very funny, a good idea.
Update:
Got 'im.
The cat did his bit, by dragging the trap + corpse out into the middle of the kitchen floor.
Good kitty … word got to her over the caternet that I was going to suggest a better cat …