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Our cats are not the best mousers, but since we have an old house and the mice try to move in in the fall, their hunting instincts definitely keep the house free of vermin. This is quite good.

We keep them inside, so they don't bring in songbirds.

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I understand that there still are legitimate uses for keeping a cat around for utilitarian prospective but these are becoming less and less common. Majority don't rely on cats to fight vermin, the majority employ chemicals and keep cats around solely as pets. I remember a family that actively trained their feline to stay away from rodents, especially from dead ones. They said it's in the cat's best interest, because most of the dead rodents must have been poisoned. I think now that there is also the family's interest to keep their cat as clean as possible so they won't worry when it interacts with children.

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