Rodent Control For Your Pet's Health

Rodent is from the latin word "rodere" which means to gnaw, or basically to chew off or through.  There are a couple of animals which make up the rodent population with rats and mice being the most common and most plentiful. The rodent family consist of but not limited to:

1. Rats
2. Mice
3. Hamsters
4. Porcupines
5. Squirrels
6. Chinchilla
7. Beaver
8. Gurbil
9. Murids
10. Coypu
11. Gopher
12. Lemming
    
13. And many more!
    

These are some of the more common rodents with rats having much more interaction between people and there pets. So why do we need to have effective rodent control and not just let rats and mice over breed and run free in bushes, yards and even in our own homes? There are a lot of good reasons for that, rodents carry some serious diseases which you don't want you or your pet to contract. This is why effective rodent control is necessary.

Rodent Diseases

Most Common Rodent Diseases

Rat Vite fever: is an acute, febrile human illness caused by bacteria transmitted by rodents, rats, or mice, in most cases, which is passed from rodent to human by the rodent's urine or mucous secretions.
Symptoms:

• Fever and chills.
  
• Headache.
• Ulceration at the site of the bite with red streaks.
• Swelling of the lymph nodes.
• A skin rash with reddish-brown or purple plaques.
• Muscle pain and arthritis (rare)
• Vomiting and sore throat (Haverhill fever)
• Complications (eg, infection of the heart, pneumonia, meningitis, hepatitis)

Leptospirosis: Rat urine is responsible for the spread of leptospirosis. Its a bacterial disease that affects humans and animals. It is caused by bacteria of the genus Leptospira. In humans, it can cause a wide range of symptoms, some of which may be mistaken for other diseases. Some infected persons, however, may have no symptoms at all. Without treatment, Leptospirosis can lead to kidney damage, meningitis (inflammation of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord), liver failure, respiratory distress, and even death.
Symptoms

• Fever and illness
• Sore muscles, reluctance to move
• Stiffness in muscles, legs, stiff gait
• Shivering
• Weakness
• Depression
• Lack of appetite
• Increased thirst and urination, may be indicative of chronic renal (kidney) failure, progressing to inability to urinate
• Rapid dehydration
• Vomiting, possibly with blood
• Diarrhea - with or without blood in stool
• Dark red speckled gums (petechiae)
• Yellow skin and/or whites of eyes – anemic symptoms
• Spontaneous cough
• Difficulty breathing, fast breathing, irregular pulse
• Runny nose
• Swelling of the mucous membrane
• Mild swelling of the lymph nodes

Bubonic Plague: Is one of three types of bacterial infection caused by Yersinia pestis. Carried by the fleas on rats, the plague initially spread to humans near the Black Sea and then outwards to the rest of Europe as a result of people trading and other interactions.
Symptoms:

• Chills
• General ill feeling (malaise)
• High fever (39 °C; 102 °F)
• Muscle cramps[10]
• Seizures
• Smooth, painful lymph gland swelling called a bubo, commonly found in the groin, but may occur in the armpits or neck, most often near the site of the initial infection (bite or scratch)
• Pain may occur in the area before the swelling appears
• Gangrene of the extremities such as toes, fingers, lips and tip of the nose

 Rodent Control Methods 
Rats and mice and other rodents are always in search of food to eat. Rats especially like places where the hygiene level is terrible. Rats like to fester around  garbage and rotting food. They like to linger around places where they can easily hide and build their nest.  So here are some things you can do to mitigate rodents from breeding in and around your home and causing health reduction of your pet.

1. Garbage Disposal

• Ensure  that garbage are properly disposed of daily and not left lingering in the house or yard. When you leave garbage with food outside, you are basically telling rodents to come home and have a party in your yard. Remember that rodents are seeking food and your garbage can is a great source.

2. Do Regular De-bushing

• Keep the bushes around your home cut and also the grass. Rodents like cover and bushes and tall grass make great cover for them.  Once you have these bushes under control, less rodents will enter your home as there is less cover for movement.

3. Don't Leave Food in Your Pet's Feeding Bowl

• Whether you feed your pet inside or out. Ensure that you do not leave food overnight in your pets eating bowl. Rodents will see this as a free meal and will begin to feed from the bowl and may even urine on that food bowl and later giving your pet a disease.

4. Ensure that Holes are Blocked Up

• Don't leave holes in fences unmend. Ensure that any area where rodents can easily enter your home is properly sealed. Don't let them go in and out as they please. Stop them from entering.
  

5. Set Rodent Traps
If you have porcupine and large rodents like those, you can set traps to catch the animal and then call animal control to take it away.

WARNING!

Never try to control rodents by  placing poison in and around your yard if you have pets. The poison may just end up in your pets stomach and you may end up getting rid of your loved pet instead of the rodents.

When To Call Rodent Control Services.
If you have tried all the methods above and the rodents continue to wreak havoc on your homes and you fear for your pets help. You should then seek out a rodent control service near you to take care of the problem, There are many professional services available who will:

1.  Look at the problem at every level, from perimeter areas and entry points to nesting sites and further roaming areas.
   
   
2. They will advise you on the best method to use to trap and rid your home of any particular rodent.
   

Remember that your pet's health is important. They can easily become quite ill from rodent diseases.  Apart from destroying your pets health, they will gnaw and destroy your property also, causing you to fork up money for expensive repairs.