It has been decided that our cat, who literally dropped out of the ceiling on us some years ago, is psychotic.
We live in the country on a 180 acre farm in an agricultural county. We are surrounded by corn & cotton fields, pecan orchards, and the like. Mice are simply a part of life out here in the boonies - especially when the neighbors turn the fields. Barn cats are a staple. When we first moved in and I saw a mouse in the house, naturally, I called our pest control guy. (Isn't that what most people do when they have pests?) When I asked him what to do about the mice, he looked at the cat and said "she's your best bet."
As it turns out, Oreo is a darn good mouser. When we see a mouse in the house, you can place bets with darn good odds that she'll get it within a couple of days. And naturally, like all cats, she leaves her "presents" for us in the hall or kitchen floor, to show us she's doing her job. Gross...but I'd rather have to scoop up dead mice with a broom and dustpan than have the little critters running around in my house. I wish she'd kill them and keep them outside, but at least we know she's doing her job.
Lately, however, she's been getting a little twisted. She's getting on in years and while she's much more affectionate with people than she used to be, she shows her grumpy old lady side to the dogs. (It's actually kind of comical...she rubs against the dogs, waits for them to turn their nose toward her, then proceeds to swat the snot out of them - literally. I swear you can almost hear her snickering at the big dumb furballs 'cause they NEVER learn.)
But what concerns me is her new mousing habits. We don't find whole mice any more. We find pieces. Heads. Tails. Chunks of I'm not sure what parts. It's gross. It's nasty. The boys have taken to calling her Cat the Ripper. We know it's not the dogs because they get closed up in my room with me at night. I walk out to the kitchen in the morning to find mouse parts on my floor. YIKES!
I no sooner get the human gfgness in my house to a semi-normal level, and now the cat's going difficult child on me? What gives?
Why would a mature cat suddenly start going all psychotic mouse killer? She's up to date on all her shots and stuff...another necessity of farm life...so I know she's not rabid or sick or anything. She has plenty of food and water available. She hasn't been stressed by anything that we know of.
Is she that bored? Going the kitty equivalent of senile?
It's quite disturbing to find mouse parts in my kitchen before I even get a cup of coffee in the morning.
:difficult child:
When I called the pest guy, he kind of giggled, but did offer to come set traps and repellents around the perimeter of the house to minimize how many "targets" Oreo has to go after.
We live in the country on a 180 acre farm in an agricultural county. We are surrounded by corn & cotton fields, pecan orchards, and the like. Mice are simply a part of life out here in the boonies - especially when the neighbors turn the fields. Barn cats are a staple. When we first moved in and I saw a mouse in the house, naturally, I called our pest control guy. (Isn't that what most people do when they have pests?) When I asked him what to do about the mice, he looked at the cat and said "she's your best bet."
As it turns out, Oreo is a darn good mouser. When we see a mouse in the house, you can place bets with darn good odds that she'll get it within a couple of days. And naturally, like all cats, she leaves her "presents" for us in the hall or kitchen floor, to show us she's doing her job. Gross...but I'd rather have to scoop up dead mice with a broom and dustpan than have the little critters running around in my house. I wish she'd kill them and keep them outside, but at least we know she's doing her job.
Lately, however, she's been getting a little twisted. She's getting on in years and while she's much more affectionate with people than she used to be, she shows her grumpy old lady side to the dogs. (It's actually kind of comical...she rubs against the dogs, waits for them to turn their nose toward her, then proceeds to swat the snot out of them - literally. I swear you can almost hear her snickering at the big dumb furballs 'cause they NEVER learn.)
But what concerns me is her new mousing habits. We don't find whole mice any more. We find pieces. Heads. Tails. Chunks of I'm not sure what parts. It's gross. It's nasty. The boys have taken to calling her Cat the Ripper. We know it's not the dogs because they get closed up in my room with me at night. I walk out to the kitchen in the morning to find mouse parts on my floor. YIKES!
I no sooner get the human gfgness in my house to a semi-normal level, and now the cat's going difficult child on me? What gives?
Why would a mature cat suddenly start going all psychotic mouse killer? She's up to date on all her shots and stuff...another necessity of farm life...so I know she's not rabid or sick or anything. She has plenty of food and water available. She hasn't been stressed by anything that we know of.
Is she that bored? Going the kitty equivalent of senile?
It's quite disturbing to find mouse parts in my kitchen before I even get a cup of coffee in the morning.
:difficult child:When I called the pest guy, he kind of giggled, but did offer to come set traps and repellents around the perimeter of the house to minimize how many "targets" Oreo has to go after.
