I love my dogs and just gave 5 of my puppies to my nieces and nephews for Christmas. Every puppy wants a child and every child wants a puppy. The problem is, it’s winter, I live near a field, and my old roommate left a bunch of stuff behind when she moved out last summer. She was kinda messy, so I think if she saw something, she’d just toss it into my shed. Now I have mice. I don’t want to use poison because I kept one of the puppies, and I worry it could get into the poison. The same with traps – I’m not taking that risk. My question is: can I borrow a cat? I know it sounds strange because I’m a dog person, and I can’t see myself becoming a cat person, but I would take care of it. I wouldn’t want to adopt and return it to a shelter in a month. I can clean a litter box, put out food and water daily, and maybe even show it some affection. I just can’t keep it long term. Does anyone have advice on this?
Clean your shed. If your dog had puppies, get her spayed so it doesn’t keep happening.
Nah, just get a humane trap. It’s a cage that closes when they go in. Put some nuts or cheese in there, and the mouse will get trapped. Then you can release it far away in the woods.
Are you serious? I really don’t like your attitude here. Get some live traps to relocate the mice. You love your dogs? Great, get them fixed. Puppies aren’t ‘Christmas gifts’ to just give away and later end up in shelters. Shelters are not for borrowing pets like ‘rent-a-cat’ programs.
Not all cats are good at catching mice. I found a kitten on a tire, and it can’t even catch spiders. And it grew up outside. He just screams at them.
Is this a joke?
There are traps that don’t hurt the mice or rats, so you don’t need to get a cat. Plus, you might end up with a cat that doesn’t even care about catching mice. Returning it to the shelter is just cruel. Also, please stop breeding your dogs. I really hope the families of your nieces and nephews were on board with getting the puppies as Christmas gifts.
You can rescue feral or barn cats. They need shelter, food, and a bit of care, and they’ll keep the mice away. They generally do their business outside too.
Clean your shed and remove the food source. Get rid of any hiding spots. And, spay your dogs. I really hope those Christmas puppies were okayed with the parents beforehand. You can also make pet-safe poison for mice with flour, icing sugar, and baking soda. It’s safe for dogs and puppies.
There’s a bucket trick that a lot of people recommend. You can Google how to set it up. They also sell similar products for cheap now. But it sounds like cleaning the shed is probably the best option for the puppy’s safety.