2w ago

Is it possible for an neighbor's apartment to have mice but not mine?

I just found out that my neighbor that I share a wall with is moving out because of "the mouse issue." This is the first I've heard about it. I'm pretty sure I don't have mice. I haven't found any chewed food packaging or what looks like mouse droppings. I do have a cat but I'm not confident he would know how to kill a mouse. I've never seen him chase anything on the floor but I know he will chase flying insects. I also haven't been presented with any "presents." Could he really be keeping the mice from my apartment by just his scent?

53 comments

If you pay rent: Tell your landlord, this is their job to fix. Email them about it now so you have proof in case they try to blame you for an infestation...
- Why is there an assumption OP is renting? And why in the world is this the top voted comment? It has absolutely nothing to do with the question.
  
  To my understanding US English use different words to differentiate whether you own or not your appartment/condo.
  Which IMO is a bit weird, but languages have tons of weird stuff, so one less, one more
  
  No, you're right. I assumed they were renting because of the use of "apartment" and "moving out" vs "selling". But as for relevance, they were showing valid concern for the possibility of a rodent infestation. What to do about it would be a logical next step, no?
  
  I guess it's solid advice that most people didn't think about. If OP happens to not be paying rent, this comment is just irrelevant. But if OP is like the majority of users reading this comment, a little lightbulb will turn on and they'll appreciate it
  
  Apartments are by definition rented. If they're individually owned, they're condominiums.
  
  Why did you assume they aren’t renting? … And it absolutely answers the question. “Yes, maybe, nobody can say for sure right now, make the owner handle it cuz you pay them for it.”
Mice can often find ways you wouldn't believe, but they still have to adhere to the laws of physics, so you might simply not have suitable holes in your apartment for them to enter. But yeah, also quite possible that they can smell the cat and don't want to enter the lion's den.
- but they still have to adhere to the laws of physics
  [citation needed]
  
  https://www.disneyworld.eu/entertainment/mickey-and-friends/
Cats get rid of mice just by existing. We had a mouse problem when we moved in. The cats never once killed a mouse. We no longer have mice (in the house). Mice are always outside so maybe your neighbor just doesn’t like that?
- I have a friend with six cats, and a mice problem. I had actually never seen a mouse indoors until I was visiting them one day lol
  
  Some cats do not pull their weight! Fuzzy lovely freeloaders! I love them even as I admonish them for not doing their jobs.
  
  When we moved into our house, we had two cats and kept finding mouse droppings. (The house had been flipped after belonging to a hoarder.) Lived there for two months and the cats did nothing and we still had mice. Got a dog and suddenly no more mice…
You didn't HAVE a mouse problem... You may soon, the mice may travel now that their previous source is cut off.
The cat well help though.
- *the cat will help if it is so inclined. -cat
When the dirty neighbor moves out you're about to have a "mouse issue".
IMO, get ready now and set some old-school wood-and-copper snap traps, I put mine in shoeboxes or disposable tupperware with little mouse holes in the side. This keeps the kitty off the traps. I bait with peanut butter, two traps per box and I bend the sear so it goes off on a hair trigger.
I am loath to use poison on rodents because I don't want to make pets, raptors, or owls sick. I settled on Cholecalciferol because it seems safer for other wildlife.
Good luck and don't forget, smacking them with a broom works too.
edit: I like to imagine the two people who downvoted this are soap-dodging militant vegans who are AGHAST I would kill vermin.
- Poison also means they’ll hide and die somewhere unreachable and will stink up the place.
  
  yeah, but sometimes they are smarter than traps. small mouse = small stink.
- I occasionally deal with a mouse or two in my house, and I much prefer these kinds of traps. They're slightly more expensive, but you don't need many and they're reusable so that doesn't really matter much. The advantages are:
  Super easy to set, just pull the jaw open by the little handle and it clicks in place. No need to touch the dead mouse, it plops right out into a garbage can.
  I've never had mice successfully steal the bait, the cover forces them to put their heads in exactly the right place for the kill bar to come down on them.
  This also means that I've never seen a mouse fail to get instantly and painlessly killed.
  The best places to put mousetraps are often dark and hard to see, and the bright red kill bar makes it easy to tell at a glance whether it's triggered.
  
  Have you ever tried sticking your dick in it?
  
  Uh...
  
  At your link I'm a little concerned about all the 1-star reviews on Victor's own site saying the kill bar didn't... y'know, kill and they had to deal with a live mouse stuck in the trap. Of course it depends on the type/size of the rodent, but I'm inclined to believe them since they aren't steering people to competitors, only Victor's traditional spring-bar traps...
- Thanks for the information. I guess it's time to get containers for all my food. I already keep bread in the freezer.
  
  I already keep bread in the freezer.
  Wouldn't you rather enjoy it?
- The wood and copper spring ones are total crap. The mice will steal food off them all day, I'm sure they've evolved to see them as traps by this point.
  What you want is the red and grey plastic ones like these:
  https://a.co/d/5vgVTJe
  I've seen one of these things kill like 4 mice in a row. And it was all the same trap, on the same night!
  
  The wood and copper ones are not crap. Skill issue. Learn to adjust it.
  Someone else recommended those new Victor ones, I haven't used them but I'll try them this field mouse season. I can tell you the TomCat brand "no touch" traps are garbage.
Yes cat smell can fend off rodents. I only saw rats in my childhood house after my cat died.
Many apartments have a firewall between units, it's a safety measure. If fire can't get through, I doubt mice could.
Yea, I got a cat, my cat is stupid and doesn't know how to kill mice, only bite and play around with them. Mouse is all gone within 3 months. Haven't seen a mouse since, well except that one time like 2 years later when my cat caught and killed one mouse, that's it. No other mouse sightings.
Roaches tho... that's a problem my cat couldn't fix... 🤷‍♂️ now roaches are just funny tiny moving living toys for my cat to squish lol
You'd definitely find dry little black rice-grain-like droppings on all surfaces if you had mice, especially in rooms that have food, and more will appear if you clean them away. Also, little sticky splotches that are easy to mistake for drink spillages, because they pee everywhere too.
I managed to get rid of mine, but I occasionally still find evidence they were here in out of the way corners that I forgot about.
Brave mice - because I'm sure some will have that trait - and those infected with toxoplasmosis won't care about cats.
Good luck.
- I have mice active in my house and haven't found poop yet, only realized last week when I found a piece of leftover food that was nibbled down on the edges. These ones are sneaky.

53 comments