Best Rat Killer

[gumboil]

I have discovered a couple of young rats behind my concrete shed The shed has a gap of only around three inches between it and a perimeter wall. I've seen both the little blighters together this afternoon and they looked at me cheekily for a couple of seconds before scampering off behind the shed. The other side of the shed is covered with undergrowth, so I can't really flush them out with a hose or pressure washer as they may return.

I'm now looking for an effective rat killer bait of some sort. Does any AB user have a recommendation for a good, effective one? I'd try them on the warfarin tablets I take but I understand that rats are immune to the stuff nowadays.

I also have a couple of elderly cats that are too torpid to catch the rats but at the same time, I don't want them harmed if they come across the poison.

Thank you.

[SpikeyBush]

Try a younger cat, but not too young. Mine isn't a year old yet and all he chases is flies and spiders. I had to get traps like you see on Tom & Jerry to eradicate the vermin from my house.

[VHG]

Ring the local council, let them do it.

[Answerprancer]

Are they actually doing any harm ?

[SpikeyBush]

It's not nice, my old cat who was a good mouser passed on aged 14. Within six weeks the b*stards had moved in. Pooing on my worktops in the kitchen, penetrating my packets of rice and tealeaves, and nibbling through the cables for my TV and PC. One of them nibbled the kettle flex. Smoke came off him.

[slinkycat]

Do you know anyone with a Jack Russell you could borrow? Excellent ratters apparently. Though I haven't seen one in action apart from on TV, mine helped sort out our mouse problem a while back.
A lot smaller I know, but he had to start somewhere! And he was a lot more effective than our young cat!

[gumboil]

The cats wouldn't tolerate a younger cat in the household. I've tried encouraging a neighbour's young cat to the shed area and my cats go berserk when they see him.

VHG, in these austere times, I'm afraid my local council has suspended the rodent extermination service indefinitely. I understand that even council tenants in my area now have to pay private companies out of their own pockets to get rid of rats as councils are no longer obliged to carry out this service.

As far as harm is concerned, apart from the natural revulsion to rats that most people have and their scavenging around in my bins, probably not. However, I am concerned that a young rat could bite one of the elderly cats if cornered with the risk of Weil's disease etc. Besides, given that they can apparently have half a dozen litters per year, I don't fancy being overrun with rats in a very short space of time. One of the cats a few years ago brought a rat into the house through the cat flap early one morning and the lounge looked like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre had occurred there when I got up - I'd really not like to see that again.

[Brinjal]

Just get some bait from the supermarket or hardware. Put it under where the cats can't get it. Depending on the bait you must keep topping up till the rats stop feeding. It is actually very difficult to poison a cat. They are very fussy eaters and don't eat just anything like dogs do.

[RATTER15]

About the best poison is called Neosorexa, get from your garden centre or farm supply shop. Rats are easy to kill, you. may need to monitor it for a few weeks to be sure though. Just follow the instructions or the container. Forget about cats and jack Russell's etc, it justwont work!

[chas2008]

neosorexa gold is what i use, i get it from a local farm/feed merchants, works everytime, i keep it down permanantly.
You need to keep on top of the sitautation rats breed at an alarming rate and can do serious damage.
BTW , we have 3 cats !! and not one of them has ever caught a rat..

[tamborine]

As ratter says. Dont waste warfarin, return to chemist to help NHS costs

[Graham-W]

I've used "Rentokil Rat Killer" in the past with good results. About £10 for a kilo and it includes bait trays and gloves. It contains an agent to make it very bitter to most things except rats and mice. Put it out and keep topping it up until the bait stops disappearing.

[Graham-W]

Should have said, I get it from the local farmers merchants. Don't know if garden centres will have it.

[RATTER15]

Rats are so easy to kill that any rat poison will kill them as long as you put down enough.

Tambo, >>Dont waste warfarin, return to chemist to help NHS costs<<

are you under the impression that the chemist will re-use the Warfarin if returned?

[theprof]

Pharmacists are forbidden from re-dispensing all medication returned to them due to the fact that the medication may have been tampered with prior to return. Even items showing an original manufacturer seal cannot be dispensed a second time. This even includes wound-care products such as dressings.

Almost all returned medicines are incinerated.

Leaving aside the ethics of this policy, you may have noticed that a prescription includes a section for the pharmacist to insert exact details of the item dispensed. One of the reasons for this is that there is often a price difference between a branded product and a generic product and sometimes, even between two or more generic versions of the drug. The Local Health Authority reimburses the cost to the pharmacy along with a dispensing fee to cover the cost of packaging etc.. Allowing a pharmacy to re-dispense medication would mean that the pharmacy would be paid at least twice for the same medication, which is illegal.

[BRIGHT SPARK]

Will I do

[Needs2Cash]

Stop attracting the rats instead of feeding them, killing them, disposing of their bodies and asking here for more powerful poisons.

[RATTER15]

Needs2Cash, well that was an excellent first appearance on AnswerBank!

How intelligent of you!