Shop cat advice needed.

[Joe Tonich]

As I'm cleaning out the shop, I'm finding little mouse presents all over and saw 1 scurrying away. I'm looking into getting 2 "shop cats" for rodent duty in and around the shop since they're also in the firewood pile and under the deck & shed. Would 2 males (brothers) get along or should I get a male/female team? Whichever ones I get will be "fixed" and have all their shots. The kittens will be able to leave their momma in about 2wks. Any advice will be appreciated.

Joe

[Dick Howard]

As I'm cleaning out the shop, I'm finding little mouse presents all over and saw 1 scurrying away. I'm looking into getting 2 "shop cats" for rodent duty in and around the shop since they're also in the firewood pile and under the deck & shed. Would 2 males (brothers) get along or should I get a male/female team? Whichever ones I get will be "fixed" and have all their shots. The kittens will be able to leave their momma in about 2wks. Any advice will be appreciated.

Joe

Hello Joe, My wife has two male (brother) cats that were fixed,(didn't even know they were broke) and they get along great. She keeps them in a pen in the back yard with a storage shed for shelter so they arent allowed to run loose. If she let them tho they would be great hunters i'm sure.

Dick in Emmett, Idaho

[Bob Lasley]

Joe,

I've never been much of a cat man and because of that, I much prefer snakes to do my mousing. When we lived out in the country east of Oklahoma City I had a big ol' black snake that lived in the shop. Never saw a sign of a mouse as long as that snake lived there. Never saw the snake for that matter, but LOML did. I would find his/her shed skin once in awhile. That rascal was about 5-1/2 feet long.

Bob

[Scott Greaves]

I think the two males would get along just fine! But I have heard that female cats are better mousers. With our cats (we have six) the males will catch a mouse and play with it until they get bored, and then let it go. The females will catch a mouse, tear it to pieces, and then play with the pieces!!! Good Luck!

Scott.

[Lee Schierer]

We have a cat and we still get mice. It's part of the price you pay for living in the country. A good old wooden mouse trap baited with a bit of rag tied to the trigger with peanut butter mashed into it works better than a cat and is a whole lot cheaper than one visit to the Vet.

Don't get me wrong, We like our cat and he is a terrific mouser. Its just he prefers to mouse outside more than in the house. For inside mice, I use the traps.

Getting pets spayed or neutered is a good idea. We got our cat at the local humane society. He was fixed when he was quite young. He is mild mannered and doesn't spray.

Lee

[Don Henthorn Smithville, TX]

As I'm cleaning out the shop, I'm finding little mouse presents all over and saw 1 scurrying away. I'm looking into getting 2 "shop cats" for rodent duty in and around the shop since they're also in the firewood pile and under the deck & shed. Would 2 males (brothers) get along or should I get a male/female team? Whichever ones I get will be "fixed" and have all their shots. The kittens will be able to leave their momma in about 2wks. Any advice will be appreciated.

Joe

Just be alert when turning on your machines. Cats like to sleep in the darndest places. Mine likes the sawdust inside the base of my cabinet saw. I always check since I am afraid that if I startled him by turning on the saw while he is asleep, he might come straight up and into the blade.

[Bobby Hatfield]

Joe,

I've never been much of a cat man and because of that, I much prefer snakes to do my mousing. When we lived out in the country east of Oklahoma City I had a big ol' black snake that lived in the shop. Never saw a sign of a mouse as long as that snake lived there. Never saw the snake for that matter, but LOML did. I would find his/her shed skin once in awhile. That rascal was about 5-1/2 feet long.

Bob

Hey Bob, they are ok until they chase the lizards between your feet when you are working, disturbs a persons concentration when the help yells snake. The last skin I found in the old shop when we moved lumber out was 7 1/2 feet, only saw her once, part of her anyway, big as my arm. New shop (and old shop had not been used in 20 years or so and area had almost been reclaimed by nature) had evidence (skins) of smaller inhabitants.

[Ken Salisbury]

Joe,

I much prefer snakes to do my mousing. When we lived out in the country east of Oklahoma City I had a big ol' black snake that lived in the shop. That rascal was about 5-1/2 feet long.

Bob

I always knew there was something wrong with you Bob. You are nuttier than last Christmas' fruit cake.

The only kind of snakes I am afraid of are live ones and dead ones.

[John Miliunas]

Just be alert when turning on your machines. Cats like to sleep in the darndest places. Mine likes the sawdust inside the base of my cabinet saw. I always check since I am afraid that if I startled him by turning on the saw while he is asleep, he might come straight up and into the blade.

Besides what Don offered about them felines sleeping in real "cozy" places, be aware that animals have much, MUCH more sensitive hearing than we do. So much so that, their hearing could be permanently hurt when running some of the louder pieces of equipment. As long as you make sure the cat(s) is out of the shop when working, you should be OK. That or make sure they have proper hearing protection on!

[Roger Myers]

Article on finishing and dying by Jewitt and there is a picture of him brushing shellac on a table top, while his cat is sitting on the bench right next to him working....
One of my cats loves to come down in the shop (although if he saw a mouse he would run the other way) and I just know I'd have cat tracks across the table top if he were in the shop while I was applying a finish....

[Rob Russell]

We've had cats for years. Both of them have occasionally decided that the sawdust on the workshop floor was move convenient then their litterbox. Just be aware that you may find some "additional deposits" in the piles that you leave!

[Perry Schmidt]

So if I'm following this thread correctly...

...you get a cat to catch the mice, but they leave bigger 'droppings'. Then you have to get a dog to chase the cat away later on - correct??

Sounds like it could get into the Old Lady who swallowed that fly

Perry

[John Miliunas]

So if I'm following this thread correctly...

...you get a cat to catch the mice, but they leave bigger 'droppings'. Then you have to get a dog to chase the cat away later on - correct??

Perry

No, no, no.... You see, by the time the cat gets comfy in your shop, it's become wa-a-a-a-ay too lazy to chase the mice. *That's* when you get the dog. At least, one of our dogs does a better job of it than either of the cats. Of course, if you're in the city and have a fenced yard, you now have "landmines" to contend with!

[Doug Littlejohn]

Joe, that should work out okay. With them fixed, that will eliminate the fighting maile dominance thing.

However, there's no gaurantee that they will get along. Cats can be a royal PITA if they choose too. Since they're sibblings, get them both at the same time and then raise them together, you should be just fine. Just be prepared for them posiibly not getting along (although it looks as if that's a long shot).

THen after a few months, any sign of little rodents should all but dissappear. Also, make sure you handle them as much as possible. THis makes them used to and friendly to humans, most notably, yourself.

Sherwud