OT-Mousers

tomturkey · Feb 6, 2012

I know Tom cats aren't real agressive mousers. Neutered Toms seem even less agressive. What about neutered females? What are your observations. Cat herd gettting too large. Need cats to control mice. Will neutered females continue to be good mousers. Ours have always been very agressive, especially when they have kittens. thanks for responding to a off topic idiotic question gobble

JDseller · Feb 6, 2012

They will still hunt mice but not as aggressive as before. Another key is not to feed them too much other food. If they have to hunt to fill up then they will do a better job. My wife over feeds the cats around here and a mouse can just about walk over the cats before they will kill them.

I do have an old tom cat that lives in the shop he will not go to the house to eat he is a real good mouse/rat killer. He appears to have been fixed but he was a stray and I am not going to catch him to look. YOU can come here and try it the girls gave up after a few scratches. LMAO.

oldtanker · Feb 6, 2012

Last nuetered tom we had was one heck of a mouser. He wouldn't eat them but he's leave em a presents on the steps.

Rick

rustyfarmall · Feb 6, 2012

A cat herd will thin itself when the food supply runs low, and is quite often thinned out with the help of coyotes. I'd leave well enough alone.

TomA in CA · Feb 6, 2012

A city near here was advertizing "barn cats" a while back. They are urban ferel females that may have had a litter or two of kittens and been trapped and fixed. I want to get one. We have 3 adopted fixed cats that used to keep us rodent free but they are getting older and not doing the job anymore. I think only one has been the hunter anyway.

James Howell · Feb 6, 2012

Spade female cats will continue to catch mice.

At one time we had two females in the shop and tractor shed.

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Unfortunately the coyotes got "Belle" the grey/white.

"Alberta" our other trained female attack cat now stays in the house as a lap warmer.

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Saw a wild black cat of unknown gender running from our hay barn last Thursday.

BrianJasper co. Ia · Feb 6, 2012

If you feed them too much, they get lazy. Just feed them enough so they don't get too skinny. I can't say for sure about getting them fixed. None of the barn cats around my place are fixed. They seem to kind of average between 6 and 8. Wild animals seem to be keeping the population under control.

MSS3020 · Feb 6, 2012

I have two fixed/females.. both do a great job around the place.. One seems to stay around the barn and house..while the other is barn and outer areas, pasture, trees etc. I dont know the last time I have even seen a rabbit around the house barn area. I just keep the cheapest hard kibble available in a bowl for them and thats it..

NY 986 · Feb 6, 2012

The best mousers we have are an un-fixed male (he's a drop off and will not let a person handle him) and a fixed female. The male lives outside and sometimes is not around for food for a few days even in the colder weather so he has to be getting something from the outdoors. The female lives in the house and gets food but has a taste for "fresh." We see her bring her trophies to the back door to let us know she is earning her keep.
When the skunks got high in population over a year ago the rodent population fell off very sharply here. The neighbor had obvious signs of rat infestation then it was though they disappeared. Snakes are not of a factor here due to far proximity from water, too cool several months a year, and well trimmed lawns makes it easy for hawks and such to get them.

ohiojim · Feb 6, 2012

here's the 2 best mousers i've ever owned. but they tear up a lot gettin them....

Mike (WA) · Feb 6, 2012

We've got a spayed female, close to 10 years old, we've always fed her free choice, and she never gets fat. Great mouser- she used to lay them by the back door, but has dispensed with that now, and just eats 'em on the spot.

She's got kind of a foul disposition, and I've always been glad that she's not very big. . .

Anonymous-0 · Feb 6, 2012

them cats would get more mice if they were alive.

Jon Hagen · Feb 6, 2012

Have had "fixed" male and female cats that were great hunters.

David G · Feb 6, 2012

We have a neutered male that is a great mouser, I think they either have it or they dont.

samn40 · Feb 6, 2012

Never feed a cat at night-time, leave it to the morning and it will sleep all day and hunt at night.
Sam

Rick Kr · Feb 6, 2012

Jim,
Those are the same mousers I have. One is a rat terrier/Mt Fiest mix, other is full Mountain Fiest. Besides great mousers, the make great "rabbiters" and "woodchuckers". Sometimes the woodchucks are a good match for them, but since its two on one, they win. They will get bit once or twice, I think it makes them madder.

Rick

KIP in MX · Feb 6, 2012

I've got two neutered female twins about 18 months old and both hunt rodents, but one is obsessed with it. She has wiped out nearly all the mice and voles around the property and is now digging up moles and climbing high in trees after squirrels. Both are house cats that get fed alot, but still go out and hunt most of the day. Now if I could just train them to catch and kill crows....

Kestrel in CT · Feb 6, 2012

She's fixed but you don't want to be mouse in my barn !

Anonymous-0 · Feb 6, 2012

I just put down bait and let the mice do the work.

omahagreg · Feb 6, 2012

Grandpa always said a Calico is the best mouser. We used to share a lot line with a Pizza Hut. They closed it and we developed a mouse problem. Humane Society had a Calico, so I let it come home. Worst mouser ever! She was fixed, though, and I am sure Grandpa's were not.

Straw Boss · Feb 6, 2012

Our spayed female hunts constantly and remains very healthy. When the weather is nice she may not come to the house for weeks at a time. Our neutered male is a house cat when he wants to be but when hes out hes gone hunting also.
On the other hand, our Tom cat and Ma cat and her whole grown litter WILL NOT leave the porch and are the most worthless cats we've ever had.

Geo-TH,In · Feb 7, 2012

I've found the best mouser is a small bucket with about 3 inches of antifreeze in it. Make steps with blocks of wood next to the bucket, so mice can go up them. Cover steps with peanut butter. Lock up in a shed to keep animals away. Just removed 5 mice from bucket.
George

kyplowboy · Feb 7, 2012

I have a fixxed female cat that's right around 10 years old. She stays around the barn and is always hunting something. I feed her every day and many days she will bring a dead mouse with her and put it in her feed bowl to play with when she is done eat'n.

Dave

kyplowboy · Feb 7, 2012

Yep, I had a fiest one time. She loved hay feeding time. She would squat down next to a bale of hay before I'd pick it up with the tractor. She'd dive in and kill as many as she could and then just leave them lay'n. Best I ever seen her do was I counted 8 dead she got out from under one round bale.

Dave

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