Do rats pose a danger to pets?

By nature, cats catch rodents, so this is one of the roles often awarded to them. However, a rat can still harm your pet. Though cats are very clever at capturing rats, they still pose a great danger to them. Whenever a cat catches a rat, you need to anticipate that the rats do carry parasites and other pathogens that could cause various ailments in both animals and humans.

The droppings of a rat as well as their urine could also have pathogens, and these can lead to diarrhea and other kinds of symptoms that can be really bad. There are all sports of protozoan organisms that can affect your pets even when they are able to deal with the rats without getting any physical harm.

Toxoplasma

This is a great danger for pets today. The cysts are usually under muscles as they develop. In dogs, the illness can affect the nervous system and the liver. Sometimes this can be easily confused with intestinal issues, but the truth is it is actually life threatening. As an adult, the parasite produces cysts and it can be ingested by the pets and at times humans, causing a very weak immune system.

Secondary poisoning

There are cases where human beings use poison as a mode of rat extermination. In such a case, it is very easy to be faced with secondary poisoning, and this can harm pets that eat the poisoned rat. Once the poison is swallowed, there is no telling just how fast the rat will die. Once the pet eats the rat, it will get the poison into its own body, and this may really affect it negatively.

Intestinal worms

The other danger that you need to be aware of is intestinal worm. These can actually breed in your pet and reproduce. This can affect the health of your pet. You need to ensure your entire home is free from rats.

Protecting pets

When there is an outbreak of rats, you need to keep the pets safe. Don’t let the pets hunt for the rats. However, they will still do it anyway. You need to ensure that there are no rats around the home to hunt. You can use traps instead of poison as it may fall in the wrong hands.

There are also various treatments that should be used on pets so as to make sure that they are free of parasites and diseases.

Go back to the How to Get Rid of Rats page or email us if you have any other questions about Do rats pose a danger to pets?