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My dogs found a rat

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by weluvvegas, Oct 11, 2012.

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  1. weluvvegas

    weluvvegas Casino Countess

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    So 2 of my dogs found a rat in the backyard last evening and thought it was the coolest new toy. Until the rat latched onto my smaller dog's lip somehow and scared the crap out of him. All I saw was the rate dangling from Odie's mouth as he was tyring to shake it off.

    My dad was at the house so I screamed for him to take care of IT and went to inspect my little dog's face. There were no bite marks, broken skin or blood at all and he was not acting like anything was hurting. Both have had their 3 year rabies shots about 1.5 years ago.

    My dad said I shouldn't worry, that more than likely that rat was not carrying rabies....but one of my coworkers said I should've had the rat tested. I'm freaking out now. I've heard of dogs and cats actually eating whole rats before and they've been ok. What do you think?
     
  2. Dpin300

    Dpin300 Low-Roller

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    What are the odds? Maybe we can bet on the outcome :wink2:

    just kidding, only thing I can think of is maybe it's time to look for an other place to live.. Seriously, rats???
     
  3. weluvvegas

    weluvvegas Casino Countess

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    We have rats in our area for some reason. There are a bunch of fields and wooded areas nearby and all I can think of is that they come from there. We live in a nice clean upscale neighborhood and of course, our house is clean -- so other than that I don't know where they come from but I see them around from time to time. I think this one was probably running along the back fence and my big Lab jumped up and it got knocked onto the ground.
     
  4. Joe

    Joe VIP Whale

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    We're rural, so deer, raccoons, turkeys, possum an occasional red Fox. But rats, yuck!

    I would just be guessing, but I bet one of the neighbors is leaving something out that is attracting them.
     
  5. Sonya

    Sonya Queen of VMB

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    Ick! I had a similar experience earlier this week when my cat brought a squirrel into the house. My dog was loving it, but I wasn't too thrilled to find it on the floor in the bedroom. Super gross to find a dead animal in the house, but a rat is *shudder*.
     
  6. HoyaHeel

    HoyaHeel Grammar Police & Admin

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    My cat is a fabulous hunter and we live in the woods. We find stuff every week. We're lucky if there's enough to identify species - usually she just leaves us the liver & intestines and we try to guess based on size....

    I think the changing temps have excited her - there've been a lot more kills the past 2 weeks....

    Re: your dogs - call your vet and see what s/he recommends. My cat is current on rabies and all her other shots, but we have a fairly high prevalence of rabies in my county and neighboring ones.....
     
  7. weas

    weas Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Vegas Deals

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    On my last two trips to Vegas this year, our Basset Hound Amanda has brought a dead bird and a rat into the house and buried it under the pillows.
    Guess she thought her Daddy was missing her Mommy.

    I am leaving Saturday for Vegas and we wonder what she has up her sleeve this time.
     
  8. weluvvegas

    weluvvegas Casino Countess

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    Makes me feel a little better. We've been in this house for 5 years and they've never "played with" anything. My Lab thought he had made a new friend....the rat was visibly disabled by the time my little one got done with it and Koda (our lab) just picked it up gently like a baby dog and looked at me all happy like "Look ma what I found!" wagging his tail. *sigh* :rolleyes:
     
  9. jpw711

    jpw711 Is that your cat?

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    My dog used to kill wood rats all the time, I'm sure she took a bite or two, and never had any problems. We haven't seen any rats, or moles, or anything, in the back yard for a long time. Good dog!
     
    No reason to go home yet.
  10. S'AllGoodMan

    S'AllGoodMan High-Roller

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    I don't think rats and mice carry rabies, Thyphoid, bubonic plague maybe...but not rabies. And if your dogs are current on their shots they should be fine.

    If you don't want to call your vet, animal control would know.

    Good luck

    Beth
     
  11. HoyaHeel

    HoyaHeel Grammar Police & Admin

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    Technically, it's the fleas that are the problem......:peace:

    (but it is true that rats rarely carry rabies, while also true that rabies prevention in general is very important for our domestic pets:peace:)
     
  12. Jerseyguy

    Jerseyguy MIA

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    Snakes,Foxes,Coyotes ,mice and rats dont stand a chance

    Plus the air is patrolled by Hawks ,all this in the pinelands region of NJ. A regular wild kingdom here lately,one of the golf courses I play has signs near the lake warning of rattlesnakes.
     
  13. weluvvegas

    weluvvegas Casino Countess

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    Checked my dogs all over last night for any bite marks, scratches, sores etc.... couldn't find anything thank goodness. Now every time I open the back door to let them in or out I fear that a rat might sneak in my house!! I have a rabbit and 3 birds....I would die if a rat got in and hurt them!

    I'm tempted to let the city know now of this problem. I don't know what they can do about it but I've been seeing more around in the neighborhood recently near the sewer drains.
     
  14. booker

    booker VIP Whale

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    Vermin are literally everywhere, we just don't often see them. Dogs frequently kill rodents, eat them, and live.

    Coyotes are all around our area and rodents are a diet staple. Sadly, so are cats and dogs. Three nights ago our two dogs were running up and down the back fence "playing" with a coyote. I've read where will play with a domesticated dog, then the distracted dog "finds" other coyotes that attack it.

    There are so many wild animals where I live that I'll not try to list them. In my yard I've seen deer, raccoons, rats, mice, voles, grouse (my dog killed one) bear, snakes, frogs, chipmunks, two types of bats, pheasant, dove, squirrels, rabbits, hawks, and far, far too many slugs. Now those critters are nasty!
     
  15. weluvvegas

    weluvvegas Casino Countess

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    We have a ton of coyote nearby as well. Seen several of them just run accross the road in our suburban neighborhood! Kinda scary, you can hear them howling at night. My brother's little weiner dog got out their back gate a few years ago and we fear fell victim to a hungy coyote :cry:
     
  16. luvstp

    luvstp High-Roller

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    weluvvegas:
    At the risk of making you even more concerned....couple of stories for you. We live in an undeveloped area and have 2 springer spaniels. When they were just pups, they would go on "day trips" and bring back all kinds of "treasures" through the doggy door. My one dog came running in so very happy to show me her latest treasure.....which looked like a snake hanging out of her mouth. It turns out it was the tail of a dead armadillo....which they had naturally rolled in during the middle of summer. Baths for everyone! But, I couldn't yell at her as she was sooooo very proud of her armadillo tail!

    And the worst one.......imagine one spaniel pointing right in front of the stove/oven.......and my DH finding a small copperhead snake.....thankfully, I was at work and only got to hear the story rather than experience it.

    Glad things have worked out okay for you with the rats......but dogs love to bring their "parents" back really cool gifts! :wave:
     
  17. HoyaHeel

    HoyaHeel Grammar Police & Admin

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    Yep, we have all these things (except slugs, knock wood, I haven't seen those....)

    And coyote hunting is legal:peace:
     
  18. weluvvegas

    weluvvegas Casino Countess

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    Hoya: ECK! I have to say I did feel a little sorry for the rat. I'm an animal person and just naturally cannot stand to see anything suffer or hurt. It was obviously suffering from being tossed around by the dogs and just caught a glimpse of my dad putting it out of it's misery. It's a vision I can't get out of my head now. I did tear up! Call me crazy, it's just my nature....I can't help it. I'm sure it didn't intentionally attack my dogs...my lab probably knocked it down.

    Funny thing....I looked up from the chaos and a squirrel was on the fence watching the whole time.

    A friend of mine said their dog found a dead rat, rolled on it and then they couldn't get the smell off of him for 3 days. That is just nasty.
     
  19. S'AllGoodMan

    S'AllGoodMan High-Roller

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    Hoya, you are absolutely correct. It is the fleas that carry disease.

    Weluvvegas, we have a house rabbit too. I don't think a rat or mice would hurt a rabbit.
     
  20. Film-Noir

    Film-Noir High-Roller

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    Good Dog!

    Your dog is fine, just be glad it's not a cat.

    As your cat would bring home the prize to you, for 1st Bite,
    (gift to master):nworthy: they want to share the meal.
     
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