What kind of cat is a "good mouser"

[WoodlandWoman]

Our worst mouser is our tabby, that was born feral. It took weeks to catch her, as a kitten. I'm pretty sure she's never caught anything.

Our best mouser, that even took out a rat once, is a purebred Ragdoll. He was adopted from a shelter. The most amazing part of this story? He is declawed in front! If you play with him using a wand toy, he has a steel grip with those toes. So, you just never know.

Also, I have had multiple cocker spaniels catch mice and moles. They have been keen diggers of chipmunk holes, too, as well as having an interest in chasing larger vermin and predators. I guess they think they are terriers!

 

[Frozen Feathers]

I think mutt cats are.
I've always kept mutt cats and my best mousers (that I have right now) are females. One Calico and one gray Maine coon mix. My male is lazy and the kitten doesn't know any better.
We had an orange tabby male that would hunt mice in our apartment

and lay them on my pillow when I was sleeping.

Rescue a shelter kitty!!! Or find someone with some barn cats that need a good home. I don't think you can go too wrong.

 

[smpezzi]

Our very best mouser was a stray that I saved, he wanted to make us happy so he caught every mouse within 10 miles LOL he also when he got bigger got the moles, rabbits that went into the garden and now and again a bluejay. I agree that for a male you will want to neuter him without a doubt any males I have ever had that weren't neutered didn't want to bother with mice. Good Luck

 

[Chirpy]

I agree that it isn't the breed that makes a good mouser. Some cats still have that instinct and some don't.

However, if you get a kitten/cat that was born and raised on a farm (outside in the barn) you will almost certainly have a good mouser. Momma cat will have already been showing babies how to find food by the time they are old enough to be weaned and sent to their new homes.

We have seven barn kitties (four of them born here, the rest gotten as kittens from local farmers), they were all raised with us and love to be petted and picked up. However, (minus the two little ones that are still kittens) all of them are fantastic mousers. We see them go by with mice in their mouths regularly. When we moved in here seven years ago we had mice running across our bedroom, kitchen and living room! A week later we got our first two kittens; within six months we had no more mice in the house and have only seen one in the basement in the last six years! They also decimated our ground squirrel population within two years.

Go get two barn kitties (they need a friend and playmate of their own kind. Actually they don't really - I just think that's best

) ... love em so they are tame, make sure you get them neutered/spayed and let em do their thing.

 

[WillsMama93]

Quote:
I have always wanted a manx. The last time I saw one, was up for adoption from the shelter, but we had just taken in the two abandoned kittens, so I couldn't get her.
:-(

 

[mudhen]

I have to agree that female cats make the best mousers.
Here's my Princess Tiger Lilly, best of the best in the house.

All the best mousers I have ever had were females.

On the other hand, my very best mouser is Obi Wan, an adopted 'border-line' collie that single-pawedly took out nine mice in less than 10 minutes in my chicken coop!!

On the other hand, the VERY best mouser to have.....

 

[Judymae]

Too bad you don't live closer. We have 6 kittens from a stray cat that are awesome at catching anything alive. They haven't had the chance to catch a mouse, only because they haven't seen one, but they will catch anything else!!! Grasshoppers, beetles, flies, you name it they will hunt it!!

 

[BeardedChick]

Ooh, that's a scary chickcathen.

Rat zappers work well for mice, too. I would like a kitty, but I think our dogs would cause trouble with it.

 

[seedcorn]

Best mouser is......mouse poison. Cats can't get in walls, behind appliances. So while they will get the occasional mouse, expect problems unless you feed the mice.

Our female cat caught 13 when son was cleaning out the shed. I had a tom once that had 3 in mouth and 1 in every paw. It was funny when he'd open mouth to catch another one, one would escape. Found condo of mice when cleaning out feed area.......he was mad cause he couldn't catch them fast enough. Growling, snapping, etc...had to be there to appreciate it.

My experience is any cat w/"blue" color are all mousers. Don't know correct name for color.

 

[chickens4jojo]

My neighbors cat, George. He is small, beautiful and dangerous to any kind of bird or rodent. We don't have a mouse problem this year since he came~~not even inside our house as I think he goes in our crawl space where mice try to "take up residence" while invading our home at night.

Even though I love watching that cat stalk things, he is someone to protect my baby chicks from!

Perhaps someone who advertises "barn cats" would have a good mouser?