Can another animal be poisoned, by a poisoned rat?

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Ranyhyn

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Great title huh?

If a horse/dog/cat/fox eats a poisoned rat - can they be poisoned too?

Answers on a postcard please. Cocoa pops on offer :D
 
Getting that general consensus - how the hell to people safely keep their rat population down?
They worked out our snap traps, our sticky traps, our cage trap...they just wont be caught. So OH nagged for poison. I agreed in the end and kept the dogs out of the shed but of course, foxes etc can get the rats still and just seen Roly rolling in remains in the field.
:(
and he said no to a cat. Maybe I'll just go get the EXPLETIVE cats and be done with it - so annoyed!
 
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BoolavogueDC said:
Getting that general consensus - how the hell to people safely keep their rat population down?
They worked out our snap traps, our sticky traps, our cage trap...they just wont be caught. So OH nagged for poison. I agreed in the end and kept the dogs out of the shed but of course, foxes etc can get the rats still and just seen Roly rolling in remains in the field.
:(
and he said no to a cat. Maybe I'll just go get the fecking cats and be done with it - so annoyed!
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Go get the cats :D
 
Can't you get a few semi-feral cats that can live outside?

The other thing is to have some local guys come round with terriers - they smoke the rats out and the terriers finish them off.
 
Get a cat! Weve got two on the yard who are fab at catching things, not seen a rat in months and one of them is bringing in rabbits the same size as her :)
 
As a rule,cats and dogs don't like to eat rats. They are more likely to kill and leave. Touching,playing with a dead rat should not cause any harm.
Carefully hidden poison should mean the majority of the rats will die in their holes. If you find any dead ones destroy the carcass(burning is good,but make sure its not just roasted!)
Keep your other animals well fed and supervised,especially if you have a labrador:D
I don't think you will be able to save any desperate foxes though.
 
its a problem. we wont put poison down - a friend lost 3 of her dogs as a neighbour had and the rats came under her fence and died and her dogs got them:( We've used the big traps with some success (peanut butter ;) ) and also ferret poo:cool:
 
It's a nightmare, every dog here is very well fed (terriers and retriever) however they ALL eat crap over the farm.
It's just such a nightmare!
 
I never wanted poison at all, in fact I said no for the past year but the rats are getting worse and worse and I don't know why! I'm going to get OH to take up the poison tonight and he can decide whether we just trap them or whether we get a cat. I hope that will stop any danger to the animals.
 
We have rats and they seem super smart.. We had traps down and then poison, and they haven't touched any of them, but they're still here coz we see them occasionally and their droppings are still around. We've got cats now but not let them loose in the shed yet as still trying to get them used to us so they won't run away!
 
A female rat can breed 5 times a year with a litter of up to 14, the young reach sexual maturity at 5 wks. This may give you an idea of why they are sooo hard to control. Our dogs will not eat the dead rats but we have had one take bait which cost us nearly £200 to sort out.
 
I did go to the CPL and enquire about two feral moglets. They were very helpful but as I left I spied a leaflet saying about the risk to lambs and decided against it.
They are only hanging round here for the chicken corn, which I have watched them steal from the feeder! They can't get in the bin for corn OR for the sheep cake and we have no other feed here!
 
Secondary poisoning, ie eating a poisoned rat, is very serious, and often fatal to both domestic animals, eg dogs and cats as well as wildlife, eg buzzards.

Chicken pellets contain something that counteracts the affects of poisoning so even if rats eat posion if they eat chicken pellets as well the poison may not work.

We put down a bait that kills rats by tricking their system into believing they are full, ie starve to death. Carcases will not cause secondary poisoning.

Once you have rats they are a devil to get rid of. Try to remove all food and shelter sources for them which helps but will not eridicate problem. Of course this is easier said than done on a farm
 
Lulwind said:
Secondary poisoning, ie eating a poisoned rat, is very serious, and often fatal to both domestic animals, eg dogs and cats as well as wildlife, eg buzzards.

Chicken pellets contain something that counteracts the affects of poisoning so even if rats eat posion if they eat chicken pellets as well the poison may not work.

We put down a bait that kills rats by tricking their system into believing they are full, ie starve to death. Carcases will not cause secondary poisoning.

Once you have rats they are a devil to get rid of. Try to remove all food and shelter sources for them which helps but will not eridicate problem. Of course this is easier said than done on a farm
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Chicken feed contains high rates of vitamin K, most rat baits are vit. k inhibitors so rats feeding on chicken feed will have a lower kill rate, i am speaking from experience. We managed to have a quite good infestation in our free range house (commercial flock) and could only get rid of them when the house was empty and clear of food.
 
We used to use poison but following an expensive trip to the vets for one of our sheepdogs, we decided against it. We now have a gang of feral cats who have completely eradicated the rodent population. They get a tin or so of Tecsos cheapy cat food to keep them about and they feed themselves otherwise, they seem to be giving the rabbit population a hard time now. :D We have never had problems with the cats and lambs, just ensure that all lambing pens are clean.
 
I'm not sure of the cat, lamb link. But we have a very low rodent population round us. We've got three domestic but outdoorsy cats, which keep it well under control. when we first moved in we had serious rat issues, but we've not seen one for the last four years now, which is good as they're the one thing that sends a shiver down my spine! They also control, wild rabbits, mice and moles which my father was particularly ecstatic about as his lawn was turning into a giant mole hill!
 
GinaGeo said:
I'm not sure of the cat, lamb link. But we have a very low rodent population round us. We've got three domestic but outdoorsy cats, which keep it well under control. when we first moved in we had serious rat issues, but we've not seen one for the last four years now, which is good as they're the one thing that sends a shiver down my spine! They also control, wild rabbits, mice and moles which my father was particularly ecstatic about as his lawn was turning into a giant mole hill!
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Cats can carry microplasma which causes pneumonia in sheep and toxoplasmosis which causes abortion in sheep and humans.
 
I had a terrier who was a fantastic ratter years ago, local yards & farms used to borrow her for an afternoon. One thing I did notice though was that when new neighbours moved in & put poison down she wouldn't touch the dying rats, but that could have been cos they didn't move fast enough to appeal. Now have a fantastic semi feral cat, not seen even a rat dropping & only see mice if she's eating one. Also kills magpies, which is very handy as well.
 
Stop the poison
Ask for help from local hunt terriers if possible or local shoot
Then acquire a couple of feral cats--neutered!
Try Cats Protection or whatever you have locally
As above feed to keep them around
I only ever see dead rats/mice
 
I've used Eradibait in the past and I have to say it was useless, didn't kill a thing and I'd have done just as well mixing up some Ready Brek and Polycell (does the same job.)

I do put poison down (I have four cats that won't tackle rats and still had them with ferrets!) but make sure it is safe in boxes, I find the blocks are easier to secure than wheat bait.

I do a search every day for any bodies/ill rats and in fact just despatched one this afternoon with a shovel.

Combined with traps and keeping everywhere immaculate I do think that it is the only effective way of controlling the population.

Before I used poison I opened the feedroom door once to find 18 huge rats scuttling out over he back wall. :eek:
 
Sounds gross but I found a great cure for rats when we had a crop last winter - they split a bag of sugar beet shreds, and 2 days later I found a whole load dead with very swollen bellies!!!

If I ever suspect mouse or rat activity I now leave out sugar beet shreds near any droppings and touch wood, have never had a problem since.
 
abitodd said:
As a rule,cats and dogs don't like to eat rats. They are more likely to kill and leave. Touching,playing with a dead rat should not cause any harm.
Carefully hidden poison should mean the majority of the rats will die in their holes. If you find any dead ones destroy the carcass(burning is good,but make sure its not just roasted!)
Keep your other animals well fed and supervised,especially if you have a labrador:D
I don't think you will be able to save any desperate foxes though.
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I have a bait box and yes I would say so but I know my dog will not touch them(& he will eat any bones etc of anything manky) but not a rat!! He has sniffed it and walked off. The only thing is that the rat might go looking for water once poisoned and so I suppose you could cause the leeching of poison??

I once a year have a blitz and our local farmer does and have never seen dead animals or horses etc from doing a rat blitz(restaurants often use bait boxes).

Shoot them?
 
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