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Originally Posted by poohbearsmom
Rats in the 'hood do not mean that your garden/house is unkempt. They thrive anywhere there is an available food source.
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AMEN TO THAT!!!!!!!
I am a pretty clean neat person living in a pretty nice area and I have field mice and rats everywhere outside. They come from the lake after my bird seeds and it gets worse in the winter as they look for warmth. I have been lucky enough to keep them out of the house itself.
Psyche has not only been caught eating a rat she got bit by one not too long ago when she caught it outback.
stella123,
As weird as it sounds rats carry very little dangerous germs or disease. If you do a search on the net you will find article after article that there isn't one case in America of rats and rabies and the plaque is pretty darn rare. In a very small %....VERY SMALL they can carry something called RBF (rat bite fever) and even in those very few cases the symptoms can be seen and human/dog can be treated pretty easily.
I was shocked to find out that in the ER many times they just wash the bite area and send the person home....
As far as eating the rat as already noted, I think you (I mean the dog.....lol)are pretty safe unless the rat was previously poisoned.
Edited to say I see you are from London. I'm not sure if of the disease there but I bet you can do a quick search to see if there are any cases of rabies from rats and other disease but I bet your still pretty safe......
