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[DrGamut]

The last wave of immigrants brought a kitten with them. It's killing vermin everywhere, which is neat except that for some reason my dwarves aren't dumping the vermin remains without explicitly being told to and miasma clouds are popping up everywhere (which has NEVER happened in my fort before).

I tried building a cage but the kitten doesn't show up in the list of animals that can be assigned to it.

What can I do?

[loser]

• Kill the owner, then cage the kitten.
• Kill the kitten with an elaborate mechanical device.
• Kill the kitten with a simple atom smasher.
• Kill the owner and the kitten at the same time.
• Kill everyone.

[DrGamut]

I'm about to introduce the kitten to my water reservoir (eww they drink from that).

So why the heck would anyone keep cats when they leave miasma spouting vermin corpses everywhere? Is my fortress overrun with vermin for some particular reason? Most of the dwarves have complaints about flies in their thoughts.

[slMagnvox]

OR designate a refuse stockpile?  Anywhere outdoors, I'd suggest editing the stockpile settings (use the q command to view the pile and choose settings) to ignore stuff like corpses, bones and shells (keep those indoors if you want to use them for crafts), body parts, etc..

OR make a dump ... Make it outdoors as above.  Use the activity zone menu (i I think?) to designate a zone.  The zone needs a z-level drop, so place it on a nearby cliff or have a miner dig a pit (use the channel designation), then use the same activity zone menu to make that zone a dump.  Finally -hah nothing in this game is easy, right?- go to <o>rders -> <r>efuse and tell dwarves to dump other .. then they'll dump the remains of what your kitten kills off the cliff you designated or into the pit you dug.

[Derakon]

Bad thoughts from miasma are universally worse than bad thoughts from being accosted by vermin, so it's worth killing all the vermin (or capturing them in cages). You can avoid the miasma by having an outdoor refuse pile, as things that decay outdoors don't generate miasma.

Incidentally, if you let zombies into your fort, they'll occasionally generate a puff of miasma. Awesome. So if you want to make your nobles' quarters be continually enveloped in purple fog, construct them over a pit full of zombies.

[DrGamut]

OR designate a refuse stockpile?  Anywhere outdoors, I'd suggest editing the stockpile settings (use the q command to view the pile and choose settings) to ignore stuff like corpses, bones and shells (keep those indoors if you want to use them for crafts), body parts, etc..

OR make a dump ... Make it outdoors as above.  Use the activity zone menu (i I think?) to designate a zone.  The zone needs a z-level drop, so place it on a nearby cliff or have a miner dig a pit (use the channel designation), then use the same activity zone menu to make that zone a dump.  Finally -hah nothing in this game is easy, right?- go to <o>rders -> <r>efuse and tell dwarves to dump other .. then they'll dump the remains of what your kitten kills off the cliff you designated or into the pit you dug.

Ahah! The dump other order is what I needed, thanks.

I already have a refuse pit with a dumping zone that my dwarves use, I just couldn't figure out why they wouldn't pick up the vermin corpses.

Thanks again.

[Ancient Whale]

Note that vermin gnaw on your food, even if stockpiled. This causes the XX-cat tallow biscuits-XX. Having your food in barrels(especially metal ones) will dramatically decrease this problem, but it still serves as something to consider in the vermin vs. miasma debate.

[Jamuk]

I just collapse the roof in the fortress grid space next to the food stockpile, that way the refuse has a really short trip.  Sure I may lose a miner in the process sometimes, but not a big deal.

[Erk]

rather than killing the kitten, it would be quite easy to lock it in a closet as well, and would not make the owner unhappy.

[Techhead]

Or the easiest method ever:
1. Dig a 1x1 channel outdoors.
2. Dump a kitten in it.
3. Profit!!!

[Mulch Diggums]

Or the easiest method ever:
1. Dig a 1x1 channel outdoors.
2. Dump a kitten in it.
3. Poor magma into it and let cool
4.?.?.?.?
5.Profit!!!

Fix'd

[Eita]

Would give owner bad thought.

[Frelock]

I never get why people have a problem with vermin remains.  I simply have a refuse stockpile underground that's accessible by a diagonal only (miasma doesn't travel diagonally).  After that, no problems.  I usually get more trouble from rotting food in my kitchen and butcher shop than from cat-killed vermin.

As to why your dwarves arn't picking up vermin remains...that's a problem.  You could check the refuse under (o)rders.  See if your dwarves are slated to remove refuse.

If you really don't want the kitten running around, use a simple room with two doors: one pet-passable and one not.  Have the dwarf in question walk through the room from the pet-passable door to the tightly-closed door.  The kitten will go through the first, but not the second.  Then, lock both doors, and no more kitten problems.  For reuse-ability, add a retractable bridge and a 1 z-level  pit to dump all your useless pets into.

On a different note: you can have dump zones that are not over a pit.  I personally like to call it the "dwarven compression device," as you can dump over 200 stones onto one tile (I don't think there's a limit).

[Demonic Gophers]

Improve your dining room.

[RyanW]

Improve your dining room.

I'm not sure which of the following interpretations I get from that:

1: If your dining room is nice, no one will care about a little odor.
2: This is a finely-crafted table.  It is encircled with bands of superior quality kitten bone.