Maeve Gregory

Like Judith I give my flour a run through the freezer when I bring it home. It goes in for at least 24 hours, but most often it stays there until I need to open a new package. Then it's stored in an airtight container. I haven't had any bug issues since I started doing this.

(Note: let the flour come to room temp before baking with it or it will add considerably to baking time. Learned that the hard way. )

If you plan on doing this on a large scale, then it might be worth making your own catch pole. Something like http://www.animal-traps.com/catch-poles.html (scroll to the bottom for simple ones). Snag the rat while it's in the barrel and then heavy gloves and handling by the scruff of the neck while you do the killing. Heck if you are really handy with making a catch pole, maybe you could make it sturdy enough to strangle the rat while you're at it.

How big are these rats that their fighting is a problem?? I don't understand why you can't reach in the trap, grab the rat, and break its neck or slit its throat. Wear heavy gloves if you are afraid of being bitten or scratched.

If your intent is not to scam people giving their pets away, then why not just tell them what your plans are? Not telling them would be a lie by omission as you *know* that the assumption is that the pet will be allowed to live out their natural life in their new home. Now if you simply want to wait until the animal dies naturally, then I don't see a reason to mention that you'll be eating it once it's dead.

I have no practical advice on butchering as I'm a vegetarian. I just want to add that as a vegetarian I find it ironic when people get bent out of shape at the thought of killing and eating one species of animal when they have no problem eating another.

You can logic all you want about whether or not it's radical to eat dog or cat, but the reality is that it's a taboo in certain parts of the world. You'll have a hard time getting people to accept you breaking that taboo. I have a hard time believing that a person can get enough meat from pet dogs/cats to make the potential social stigma worthwhile. So my only practical advice is to keep mum about it.

How about a pet waste digester?

http://petprojectblog.com/archives/dogs/diy-doggie-dooley-waste-digester/

My veterinarian mentioned at a recent visit that she's seen a big increase in numbers of pets having worms. I'm guessing mild winters here contribute to that. Maybe people short on money not treating their pets medically as well as they have in the past too?

Anyway, most of the remedies mentioned can be ground and mixed with food. You might want to identify the worms and see if there are specific remedies. If they are small and look like grains of rice, then it's probably tape worms.

I agree with protecting the "underdog" pet. That's always worked well for me with cats and dogs. Basically "shelter" your dog with your body and arms and push the aggressor away. With kittens/cats you can escalate to giving them a solid tap on the nose just between the eyes. Not hard, just firm with a finger or 2. I learned that from watching our older cats discipline kittens (heck the older cats are way rougher than I am and the kittens cope with it!)

No advice on dog trainers. Not sure how that would help as your cat needs the training.