We often encounter evidence of domestic cats in crawl spaces. Outdoor cats are often encouraged by residents to use a broken screen or other opening to enter a crawl space as a way to get out of the weather. These folks are not doing the cats any favors.
The owners of the Cat infested house may be indifferent, or totally unaware that they have cats living under their homes. If they are aware of the situation, they believe that these feral cats are doing them a service in controlling the local rat and mouse population. Actually, the cats are just occasional visitors that use the area as a litter box and a hangout area in very hot or cold weather.
A crawl space in Portland is a very unhealthy place for a cat you may care about. In this environment a cat will quickly pick up a host of diseases. These include fleas, mange, worms, feline leukemia, and several fatal respiratory diseases. Many crawl spaces never really dry out and this moisture promotes the survival of disease pathogens and parasites.
In nature, common bedding and resting areas are the most effective means of spreading parasites and disease. Most wild animals instinctively change their bedding and resting areas frequently for this reason.
Cat feces is usually concentrated in one area of the crawl space and this concentration of droppings is especially hazardous to humans that come into contact with this area. Toxoplasmosis is spread into other mamals including raccoons and rats. Rats then spread the disease all over our living areas. Nature First, and Crawl Space Portland requires our employees to treat these areas with special handling and sanitation procedures.
Rats and mice can easily co-exist with domestic cats visiting your crawl space. Cats do not like to wander very far into the dark crawl space and usually confine their activities to an area within ten feet of the entry point.
Any crawl space that has a resident rodent population has more than one opening for the rats and mice to enter. This is because burrowing animals like Norway rats, also known as sewer rats, will not stay for long in a space that only has one way out. Rats instinctively look for, or make, their own ‘back door’ in any nesting or living area. When cats are using the front area of the crawl space, the rodents are using the back door. Cats and rodents get used to this living arrangement quickly. Even the Roof rats in Portland visit ‘cat house’ crawl spaces regularly.
Call us for a quote on our ‘Total Exclusion’ rodent, and cat, proofing services. We also do the cleanup and restoration of crawl spaces and attics that have been damaged by animal invasion.
And remember that we are the only company that offer a one year total animal exclusion guarantee, without using poison baits.