# Cats and Sticky Mouse Traps don't Mix



## cmw0829 (Nov 23, 2008)

Last night, we put the cats in the basement so we could have a cat-free dinner with company. It was our 6 mo old kitten's first unsupervised visit. OHMIGOSH!! We heard a noise, and found that she had stepped into a sticky mouse trap up on the sill - 8 feet up. We never expected she'd get up there, and we didn't realize that the traps were still there from our mouse problem 3 yrs ago. We're not sure if she jumped down with her rear feet stuck to the trap or if she fell. 

It wasn't just sticky, it was goopy sticky. Her rear feet and the end of her tail were stuck in it, and she'd gotten her front paws stickly, presumably trying to push the thing away.

We were able to loosen her feet and tail from the trap under warm water, then remove most of the goop with soap and water. The rest had to be cut out of the fur of all four feet and her tail. She doesn't seem too traumatized though. 

Lesson learned - expect the unexpected, and the basement needs more cat proofing. I'm just glad that everything worked out OK.


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## Leazie (Apr 14, 2007)

That is one dinner party that will never be forgotten! I'm glad that everything turned out ok in the end.


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## Phyphor (Oct 21, 2008)

One thing that you must remember is this: Cats are psychic. Even in the darkest recesses of your memory, they can pick out places you don't want them to be, and of course, they'll tend to gravitate toward those places.

After all, what do those furless monkeys know? 

:mrgreen: 

That said, when getting a new companion, you MUST go through your home and be sure any pest control devices that aren't safe for said companion are removed. I very nearly got my fuzzball Plummet caught in a mouse trap (she was batting at the trigger... not QUITE enough power to set it off, but it was a near thing... I went over the whole place and ensured that all such dangers were removed, ) 

Oh, and if you use anything like DeCon (the mouse poison pellets, ) get rid of it! If your cat eats a mouse that has decon in it, it'll affect the cat the same way. A friend of mine lost a wonderful cat to that.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

My friend almost lost her breeding female Papillon to decon! She and her little dog were spending the weekend at her boyfriend's fixer-upper home to help him tear some cupboards out of the kitchen and repaint some of the rooms. They went out to the garage to get some supplies and let little Pebbles run around and investigate, and she came out of a corner, pawing at her face, with a block of green de-con STUCK on her upper teeth!
I think my friend about died of fright. 
She removed the block and did her best to flush out Pebbles' mouth, but its a dog...they don't know how to 'rinse and spit'. Pebbles survived with no damage, but she did have to have a lot of (I think it was) Vitamin K? Potassium? Anyhow, it is some vitamin that helps keep the clotting factor viable in animals that have been poisoned with an anti-coagulant to keep them from bleeding-out internally. Very scary. My friend and her boyfriend found two other de-con boxes and threw them OUT so that wouldn't happen again.


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## gunterkat (Aug 19, 2006)

Yikes! 8O


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## cmw0829 (Nov 23, 2008)

Heidi, what a horrible story. We're lucky that sticky goop is all that we had to deal with. Phyphor, the little kitty is surprising us with her curiosity and agility.

We're OK on the regular pest maintenance since the Terminix man knows we now have pets, but we all foolishly overlooked these traps. My husband and son went through the basement yesterday and pulled the rest and looked for any other risky items (found none fortunately). 

Our older cat loves the basement windows since they're at ground level and she can see all of the little critters. They'll both enjoy it this summer since it will be the coolest spot in our house.


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