We have five cats four of which have lived most of their lives in suburbia with the odd foray into the field and occasionally brought home the odd vole and small bird. We moved to a disused farm with lots of out building and of course lots of rats so I got two kittens to live out side, unfortunately one got run over, I think they go hunting across the road.
Any way the old moggies have adapted well to rural life, they know where its warm but wander round the building but its hard to imagine these softies are killing the rats I find in the yard. The technique seems to be either to take their head off or bite out the throat, then leave the rest on the drive. I know someone is also killing small stuff as they have the run of the old house and the bodies are left, but they seem to eat mice apart from the liver.
The rats are fully grown and I just wondered if anyone had ever seen a cat attack a rat and how they do it, taking off the head seems a bit risky as its the sharp end.