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If you are plagued by rats, think twice about getting a cat. A prowling feline might lead to the appearance of a rat-free home, but it turns out that is only because rats keep a low profile when cats are around, rather than because cats kill lots of the vermin.

鈥淐ats are not the natural enemy of rats,鈥� says Michael Parsons of Fordham University, New York. 鈥淭hey prefer smaller prey.鈥�

His team has been studying a rat colony at a recycling plant in New York City. When feral cats moved into the plant last year the researchers were dismayed at first 鈥� but decided to set up infrared cameras to see what would happen.

Over five months, they saw just three attempts to catch rats, only two of which succeeded. 鈥淭he rat population is still thriving,鈥� says Parsons.

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Cats have good reason to be cautious. The city rats (Rattus norvegicus) have large incisors that can inflict a painful bite, carry lots of diseases and weigh 340 grams on average 鈥� compared with 25 g for a mouse, a more favoured feline prey.

Parson thinks that only starving cats will attempt to tackle rats, unless the rats are sick or injured. The two rats killed during the team鈥檚 observations were probably weakened by eating poisoned bait, he says.

However, cats do have a big influence on rat behaviour. 鈥淩ats overestimate the risk posed by cats,鈥� says Parsons.

When cats are in the area, rats spend much more time in hiding and creep around cautiously rather than moving out in the open. That means they are much less likely to be seen by people, which could explain why everyone wrongly thinks cats are good at killing rats.

Some cat owners may be convinced their pets are excellent ratters. But Parsons has found that many people mistake mice for rats. And even if the animals a cat drags in really are rats, they may have been sick, wounded or pre-deceased. That said, it is possible there are a few exceptional moggies that do take on full-grown, healthy rats.