Selfsufficientish.com

we have not long moved here - after a tense week of our cats not getting why they were trapped indoors we let them loose. That night a mouse was presented as a gift.... ew.. and they have been catching ever since. - Which, although hard on the local wildlife, I feel is natural and what cats do. although in general i prefer the times when they eat their kills rather then trying to temp me with an offering. Thankfully they eat more than they gift.

Annnnyway. I found a dead squirrel the day we arrived. thought nothing much of it. then a dead junior rat - then a second dead junior rat, then , not on our land but the church car park next door - dead adult rat.

I can't help thinking that someone is using rat poison. there are allotments boardering our garden, and then houses all around.. so could be anyone.

But I fear our cats catching and eating a poisoned one.. then copping it themselves.... but it seems too cruel to keep them locked in. how dangerous do you think it is?

Well, I dont know about the poison, although you could ask around, but my cats never eat the rats they catch.
We have hens, which are a rat-attractant, and we often have whole families of the horrid things move in under the playhouse, and my guys just go in and sort them out, leaving dead bodies all over the place. I think they must taste awful or something.

oo thqts hopeful. I know mine dont do carrion... they like fresh.... wont even eat meat I put down for them (unless it comes in sachet!)

according to the BF (ticketed for rodent control) the poison is harmful to cats but the dose needed to kill a rat wouldn't be enough to effect a cat, so if the cat catches a poisoned rat worst case it'll throw up but it probably won't even effect it.

If its an amateur baiting them the more dangerous issue may be that they're laying the bait somewhere that cats could get at it and eat a load, but since bait is normally peanut butter or specialised bait then it probably won't be a problem.