My cat catches a rat but doesn't want to eat it

In the video I ask whether my cat has caught a large mouse or a rat. I am now convinced that it was a rat because not soon afterwards my neighbour started to poison rats because they were chewing at the roots of her roses. In doing so she threatened the lives of a number of cats who walk along a right of way behind her house including mine. She also threatened the lives of two foxes and two badgers. Why were they threatened? Because it takes about three days for a rat poisoned by the poison used to die and in that time they can be caught and eaten and thereby poison the predator which eats it.

So my cat caught a rat and he didn't want to eat it. This happened later on as well. In contrast, he eats mice very quickly once he has caught them. So is there something about a rat which is unappetising to cats in general or my cat in particular? There may well be. It may be something to do with the way the carcass smells. Perhaps this rat was poisoned and my cat could smell the poison. Who knows? 

The important point, though, to make is that domestic cats and stray cats can be a deterrent to the presence of rats. A lot of people say that domestic and stray cats don't have the stomach to fight and compete with a big rat. There is some truth in this but it depends upon the individual cat by the way. 

This said, rats tend to stay away when a domestic cat is occupying a particular place or space. A brewery in New York City keeps a couple of feral cats which had been socialised. The cats have transformed their business because their grain is no longer being gnawed at by rats. Once a bag of grain has been attacked by a rat they have to throw that bag away which is expensive. Apparently each bag of grain produces about 120 pints of beer. That's real money. In addition the presence of a cat in a workplace such as a brewery makes the place more pleasant to work in. There you go. Sometimes domestic cats are not very good with rats but they deter them and in my case my cat caught one but wouldn't eat it.