Life's nice for mice - and there's more of them - now the cats are too fat and lazy to catch them

 

By David Derbyshire

Last updated at 10:57 PM on 14th November 2008

 

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You'd think the only place where mice run rings around cats is on children’s TV.

But these days, it seems the Tom And Jerry story is closer to fact than fiction.

For pampering is making our cats fatter and more unfit. And just like Jerry, the rodent in the popular cartoons, the mice are taking advantage.

 

Lacking in energy: Pampering is making our cats fatter and more unfit, which is great news for mice

 

Rodent infestations are soaring in the UK. Last year, Rentokil noted a 36 per cent rise in callouts – and a 26 per cent increase the previous year.

Wet summers are said to be driving mice indoors – and middle-class householders make the situation worse because they are too embarrassed to report infestations.

But cats should also take some of the blame, experts say.

In the last 20 years, the number of obese cats has doubled. Out of the nine million we keep as pets, a third are overweight.

Apart from the health problems this causes, the extra pounds also make the animals listless and lacking in energy – leaving them too unfit to hunt.

Savvas Othon, technical director for Rentokil, explained the problem. ‘Mice are satellite feeders – they feed from a lot of points during the night. They will happily live in a house with a cat.

‘If cats are too well fed they have no impetus to catch a mouse.’

But good mousers appear to be more in need than ever.

 

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He added: ‘We are getting more calls about rodents in general which usually spend the summer outdoors but were driven indoors by the wet summers of the last two years.

‘They have also benefited from the increase in food waste on the streets, and poor standards of hygiene in the home.’

However, it’s a myth that mice like dirty homes. They are happy to live in clean houses, as long as there are a few crumbs around. They need just 3g of food a day to survive.

Keeping quiet about an infestation instead of tackling it could lead to real problems.

A pair of mice can produce up to 120 young a year. Each one can breed by the age of 12 weeks. Within a few months, a home can have hundreds or even thousands of rodents scampering around.

‘In a row of terraced houses, usually the floors run all the way through the terrace as do the attics and that’s a great place for them to travel.

‘If you have mice, the chances are your neighbour has them too,’ he added.

 

‘When I was a pest control technician I had a van and I went to my mum’s for lunch, she asked me to park the van round the corner. That stigma still persists today.’

The office worker’s culture of eating at their desks has helped the spread of mice too.

Pest controllers are getting a growing number of calls to deal with infestations in the workplace.

Most householders know if they have mice. Aside from the telltale scampering noises, they leave tiny black droppings on floors and work surfaces.

I have issues with fat cats

1) They're too fat too properly pick up and be able to cuddle

2) They're ugly

3) CATS AREN'T MEANT TO BE FAT NO MATTER WHAT DOCTOR SEUSS SAYS

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That's scary! Especially the bit about the toxin that can cause birth defects.

True, which is why owners of fat cats in the UK might be sent to prison in future!!

True, which is why owners of fat cats in the UK might be sent to prison in future!!

 

I'm okay with excessively fat cats being counted as animal cruelty... just not slightly round cats. Slightly round cats are okay.

I'm okay with excessively fat cats being counted as animal cruelty... just not slightly round cats. Slightly round cats are okay.

It's not cruelty always though. I have a cat who I have always had exercising with games and attacking string and whatnot, and we feed her little and give her OM (overweight management) food and she's still unbelievably fat. She's just lazy and old, and there's nothing we can do about it. Should we be sent to prison?

It's not cruelty always though. I have a cat who I have always had exercising with games and attacking string and whatnot, and we feed her little and give her OM (overweight management) food and she's still unbelievably fat. She's just lazy and old, and there's nothing we can do about it. Should we be sent to prison?

 

That's why you take your cat for a walk :P

That's why you take your cat for a walk :P

 

I took my rabbit for a walk down the street once, because my mom told me it was getting fat. It had a little leash and everything. :lol:

That's why you take your cat for a walk :P

I can't walk her outside (coyotes are a big problem in my neighborhood), but I take out the catnip and have her chase me around the house trying to get some. Believe me, we work her out enough, and she's still obese.

^ :blank:

 

What are you feeding her, anyway? :thinking:

 

I took my rabbit for a walk down the street once, because my mom told me it was getting fat. It had a little leash and everything. :lol:

 

Awww, how cute! :lol::heart:

I took my rabbit for a walk down the street once, because my mom told me it was getting fat. It had a little leash and everything. :lol:

 

I reckon she told you that just to get you out of her hare for half an hour!!:P

^ :blank:

 

What are you feeding her, anyway? :thinking:

 

 

 

Like I said, we feed her Overweight Management food, it's made especially to help cats lose weight. And again, still obese.

oki doki then, might just take time

oki doki then, might just take time

been going at this for almost 4 years;)

 

Exercise + healthy food = fat cat anyway

k then, she might have lost some weight but hit a plateau but alrigh

k then, she might have lost some weight but hit a plateau but alrigh

so there, it proves my point. not all cat owners who have fat cats are cruel or abusive. try blaming the cats for being lazy.

 

you don't always blame some person's parents if they're fat, even though technically their parents feed them.

so there, it proves my point. not all cat owners who have fat cats are cruel or abusive. try blaming the cats for being lazy.

 

you don't always blame some person's parents if they're fat, even though technically their parents feed them.

 

It's an incentive still to improve pet obesity - it causes a lot of health problems

k then, she might have lost some weight but hit a plateau but alrigh

 

Or maybe a cateau??:rolleyes:

Or maybe a cateau??:rolleyes:

 

shup mark

shup mark

 

Shup shup song??:confused:

Shup shup song??:confused:

 

No.