Requirements
- Completion of the following quests:
- Icthlarin's Little Helper
- Gertrude's Cat
- Access to Keldagrim
- The Giant Dwarf started
QUEST 93 · MEMBERS
Ratcatchers
Gertrude knows of some ratcatchers in Varrock, pay her a visit and she may tell you of their whereabouts. Perhaps they could show you and your cat a few pointers about rat catching. Enter the subterranean world of the rat catchers and discover more of your cat's true potential.
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Length
- Medium
- Quest points
- 2
- Released
- 28 November 2005
Talk to Gertrude west of Varrock.
BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE BANK
Preparation
Requirements are gates. Recommendations are comfort and risk controls, not mandatory levels unless the game enforces them.
Items required
- Any type of cat or hellcat (for most of the quest, a cat with a high successful rat catch rate is recommended, and overgrown cats cannot be used there -- during the Hooknosed Jack part of the quest, any cat with strong combat stats is recommended)
- 4 cheese (or 4 Poisoned cheese)
- Rat poison (if cheese is not already poisoned; can be found in the Clock Tower Basement), or made during the quest with the following items:
- Empty vial
- Cleaned kwuarm (grimy will not work; Zahur in Nardah cleans grimy herbs for 200 coins)
- Red spiders' eggs
- Cleaned marrentill (grimy will not work)
- Unicorn horn dust
- Bucket of milk or Bottomless milk bucket
- Catspeak amulet, even if Dragon Slayer II is completed
- Pot of weeds (use an empty pot with weeds)
- Tinderbox
- 101 coins (or 51 coins with a Ring of Charos(a))
- Snake charm (obtained from The Feud or during the quest)
- 1 free inventory space
Recommended
- 8-10 fish to heal your cat (leaping trout/leaping salmon won't work); raw karambwanji stack and can free space
- Ring of Charos(a) to spend fewer coins on Ali the Snake Charmer
- Fast travel to several locations
- Varrock (Varrock teleport, Chronicle or combat bracelet to the Champions' Guild)
- Port Sarim (Rimmington teleport, Teleport to House if your house is in Rimmington, Explorer's Ring 2, amulet of glory to Draynor Village, skills necklace to the Crafting Guild or Fairy Rings to AIQ)
- Pollnivneach (Pollnivneach teleport, Teleport to House if your house is in Pollnivneach or Magic Carpet transport)
- Ardougne (Ardougne teleport)
- Keldagrim (Blast Furnace Minigame Teleport, Varrock teleport, ring of wealth to the Grand Exchange or Fairy rings to DKS or DKR)
Enemies to defeat
- None, but your cat will have to fight the King rat
ACTION CHECKLIST
Walkthrough
Nested rows are alternatives, dialogue selections, or substeps under the action above them. Recheck the pinned source after a game update.
Starting out
- 01
Talk to Gertrude. Dialogue:
- 02
Talk to Phingspet or Grimesquit in the Varrock Sewers.
- 03
Catch 8 rats by having your cat chase nearby rats.
- 04
Talk to the sisters again.
Jimmy Dazzler – The Mansion
- 01
Talk to Jimmy Dazzler in the house west of the Ardougne pub.
- 02
Read the directions to arrive at the mansion. Dialogue:
- ↳
Guards will notice you by proximity and line of sight. Nab all 6 rats without being caught. (Being caught does not reset the rats)
- 03
The garden
- ↳
Go west then north around to the back of the mansion. You will spawn here after being caught.
- ↳
Climb the trellis to the upper floor.
- 04
Upstairs
- ↳
Catch 1 rat in the NW room.
- ↳
Sneak into the NE room.
- ↳
Wait in the NE room until either one of the guards is on the porch and the other at the end of the hallway or until both guards step out onto the balcony, then run to the SE room.
- ↳
Note: If the guards don't step out at the same time, try hopping worlds. Look for one with them in sync.
- ↳
Catch 2 rats in the SE room.
- ↳
Climb down the ladder.
- 05
Downstairs
- ↳
The SE and NE room will have 3 rats combined, catch them.
- 06
Climb back down the trellis to return to Ardougne OR use any teleport. (Your character will say "Good job puss, I think that just about wraps things up here." once you have caught all the rats.)
- 07
Talk to Jimmy Dazzler.
Hooknosed Jack – The Warehouse
- 01
Talk to Hooknosed Jack in South-east Varrock near the Varrock rat pits manhole. He will make you the rat poison.
- 02
Run south to the abandoned building and climb up the ladder.
- 03
Use your rat poison on your cheeses and use them on the 4 rat holes.
- 04
Talk to Hooknosed Jack. Dialogue:
- 05
Talk to the Apothecary south-west of Varrock Square. Dialogue: [Dialogue: if Dragon Slayer II or A Tail of Two Cats is completed, or if One Small Favour is started but not yet completed.]
- 06
Return and talk to Hooknosed Jack.
- 07
Head back to the top of the abandoned building.
- 08
Pick-up, and then use your cat on the corner hole in the wall. Dialogue:
- 09
Use fish on the hole in the wall (not on your cat) to heal your cat as it fights.
- ↳
If you have access to raw karambwanji, they may be used to heal your cat and preserve inventory space during the quest.
- 10
Talk to Hooknosed Jack.
Smokin' Joe
- 01
Head to Keldagrim (trapdoor in north-western part of Grand Exchange, or minigame teleport to Blast Furnace.)
- 02
Talk to Smokin' Joe east of the Keldagrim mining shop in east Keldagrim. Dialogue: I could help you.
- 03
Use weeds on a pot and light it with your tinderbox.
- 04
Drop your cat or kitten.
- 05
Use the smouldering pot on the rat hole just east of Smokin' Joe. (Use the Call follower button or relog if your cat disappears)
- 06
Try it again and accept your cat's help (don't forget to wear the catspeak amulet).
- 07
Talk to Smokin' Joe.
The Face and Felkrash
- 01
Head to Port Sarim
- 02
Climb down the nearby manhole to enter the rat pits
- 03
Talk to Felkrash in the east room.
- 04
Exit the rat pits and talk to The Face. Dialogue:
Charming the rats
- 01
Head to Ali (or Badir) the Snake Charmer in Pollnivneach (just south of the pub).
- 02
Put a coin in his pot and talk to him. must ask about charming Dialogue: I want to talk to you about animal charming. → What if I offered you some money? → Forget about it, I don't care. → Walk away slowly → Stop
- ↳
If you already have a snake charm from The Feud, you will not receive another one.
- 03
Return to the Port Sarim manhole. Don't go down.
- 04
Remove items from your hand slots
- 05
Click the Snake charm to open the interface.
- ↳
There are eight pages, select one note from each page and move to the next one: D, G, E, F#, for the fifth page, also select "raise one octave" from the top left corner "D", B, C#, A.
- 06
Press play at the top to begin a cutscene.
Finishing up
- 01
Return and talk to Felkrash in the rat pits.
- 02
Congratulations, quest complete!
QUEST COMPLETE
Rewards
- 4,500 Thieving Thieving experience
- A rat pole
- The ability to train overgrown cats into wily and lazy cats.
- The ability to name your wily or lazy cat (up to six letters long).
- Access to the Rat Pits.
- The ability to use the Minigame Teleport to the rat pits in Port Sarim, Ardougne, Varrock, and Keldagrim.
REVISION-PINNED EVIDENCE
Verify the guide after updates.
Facts and walkthrough actions are adapted from Old School RuneScape Wiki contributors under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. This page is fan-made and not affiliated with Jagex.
- Ratcatchers ↗full guide · revision 15315231
- Ratcatchers/Quick guide ↗quick guide · revision 15315327