Mrs Macfarlane said she had not seen any rats herself, but was concerned about laying bait as she had different cats which roamed through her property.
Bay Pest Services manager Chris Brunel said they had been getting a few calls, about four or five a week, for rats being in roofs and around sections.
He said this was unusual for this time of year as rats were normally a winter problem.
"The reason for that, we suspect, is it's very dry - unseasonably dry - and they are trying to get into houses to get water."
He said the calls had been from all over Rotorua and its outlying areas.
Mr Brunel said spiders and cockroaches were always a problem at this time of year because they were cold-blooded.
He said along with the rats a lot of spiders and cockroaches would be looking for water, turning up in parts of houses such as bathrooms.
Mr Brunel said people should always consult a professional if they were having problems with bugs or pests, but particularly when dealing with rats.
He said unless people had a professional rodent baiting service rats might store the bait rather than eat it.
There was a lot of food in the environment at the moment with the likes of berries, and if rats came across bait and did not want to eat it they would store it in their burrows for winter, he said.
He said if bait was loose and not done professionally there was also a danger to dogs, cats and children.
Positive Pest Control owner Murray Avery said there were rats out there at the moment and he had been catching some big ones.
He said rats normally came into a building when it was cold to get warm, and Rotorua had got some cooler days lately, though whether that was causing them to come in he did not know.
Mr Avery said this time of year saw a prominence in common house flies and he had been receiving a lot of calls about white tail spiders.
"There are heaps of spiders out there at the moment and ants are a problem here in Rotorua."
