DEAR JOAN: Last week, my prime-of-her-life and joy-of-my-heart calico cat caught a live vole and brought it into my office to chase around. Two hours later I found my cat in the grip of death with classic symptoms of rodent poisoning.

Not only our pets, but the wildlife, such as hawks, owls, coyotes, and others are all at substantial poisoning risk. There are non-toxic ways to eliminate rodent pests. Why is this dangerous poison being sold and how can it be stopped?

I am so sad.

— Carla, Walnut Creek

DEAR CARLA: I am so sorry for your loss.

Rodents do cause a lot of damage to structures, landscapes and our way of life. They also carry an unsavory, but perhaps not entirely justified, reputation that makes them even more unwanted. All that leads many people to desperate acts to get rid of them.

Traps work, but they kill one by one, and for some people that’s not fast enough. It’s also not easy to deal with the aftermath of handling the dead rodent. Poisons on the other hand work quickly, are easy to disperse and usually don’t require any further action on the part of the human who put the poison out.

Unfortunately, rodenticides don’t just kill rats. Any creature that gets into it are also poisoned, and as you sadly witnessed, the poison can be easily passed from the intended target to an innocent one. Your cat wasn’t the intended victim, but she became one through secondary poisoning.

In January 2025, California became the only state in the country to ban so-called first generation rodent poisons, limiting their use to agriculture areas and in emergencies. The first generation are the deadliest and require the rodent to eat the poison just once.

Second-generation rodenticides have been under limited use restrictions for a couple of years. These poisons kill, but require the animal to feed several times before it ingests enough poison to work. Pesticide companies are permitted to use these, but they are banned around schools, residential areas, malls, restaurants and other public areas. The general public also has access to some rodenticides, but there are regulations on how they can be used.

While it is called a ban on rodenticides, it’s really more a ban on certain poisons used in the rodenticide formula. There are several groups pushing for a total ban, but they’ve met opposition from farmers and others, as well as government agencies, that deal with the most severe damage the rodents can do.

The most important thing to realize is that we’re never likely to wipe out all rodents. They reproduce quickly and have multiple litters every year. They also are animals that have evolved over time to live happily and willingly in close proximity to humans while not becoming domesticated.

We shouldn’t have the goal of killing all of them, but learn to set boundaries, taking care to discourage them from congregating in my yard.

We should always look at the least lethal methods first, and resist the urge to use poisons. Sadly, this is a reminder that the outdoors aren’t safe for our indoor pets.

The Animal Life column runs on Mondays. Contact Joan Morris at AskJoanMorris@gmail.com.