Since we arrived in 2019, we’ve been in a losing struggle against the rats that keep on invading the Mennonite Central Committee office here in Phnom Penh. When we first arrived, the office had a small dog who was a terrific rattier but – no matter how many she killed – it seemed to served as no deterrent to the rats. They would scurry right by her. Even built a nest in the generator she slept under. They just kept on coming. She ended up getting very sick from a stomach parasite and we actually had thought she had died, but just found that there she’s still alive and living with one of the office guards. The parasite was probably from the rats she had eaten.

The situation improved somewhat in 2020 when the Prime Minister terminated the trash service’s monopoly and brought in competing trash services who actually began to clear away the piles of trash on the street. There’s an industrial rice mill two building downs from the office that serves as a rat incubator and no matter how many we kill they just keep on coming. We patched holes, put out traps, and took the trash out daily. We didn’t use poison since that can kill other creatures and often results in them dying in the walls or ceilings. Earlier this year, I cleaned up three unwounded adult dead cats on our street all the same week. I think they must have eaten rats poisoned by our neighbors.

Despite it all the rats kept on coming. Even being so bold as to raid people’s desk drawers. It wasn’t so dire when we were working remotely but we knew we’d be returning to the office one day and needed to address it before then. The only thing that was effective was when Sumo, the cat we inherited when we arrived, moved to the office. Sumo was an excellent mouser but, more so, it seemed that the feline scent itself was a deterrent. Unfortunately, Sumo was too committed of a mouser. After wiping out the rodents at the office – once killing six in one afternoon – he would grow bored and then disappear in search of other hunting grounds. He was frequently missing for weeks. Finally he just never came back.

We began a campaign to lure a new feline to live at the office. We finally persuaded a mother cat to hang out. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that she lives at the office but it’s one of her regular haunts. Her prowling around the office has reduced rat intrusions to almost nil. The feline smell deters the rodents much more effectively than anything else. She had a kitten here earlier this year but, sadly, it disappeared after a few weeks. Last week she gave birth to a litter of five kittens. We’re planning to neuter and vaccinated them. Then hope that two or three of them decide to work at the office as guards. Specifically, anti-rat guards.

As you might know, this presents some challenges as Crystal is allergic to cats but she was quite decisively in favor of the felines. When the choice is cats or rats, it’s an easy decision.

Our old house was also plagued by rats and mice but, fortunately, our new house hasn’t had this issue. The layout is much more straightforward with only one point of entry – guarded by our dog – and then we have our new cat, Miso, patrolling inside. So far, thank God, we haven’t had a single rat or mouse since we moved.