Help - just found a poorly baby mouse....

EyePeaSea

Hi,

I've just got home from work to find my youngest cat staring intently at an absolutely gorgeous baby mouse. She's about 2 inchs round (yes, she really is round) and she looks as if one of her rear legs is broken (she just drags it when she moves).

After shooing the cat out (I'd like to think she was just watching over it in a motherly kind of way!), I gave her some corn flakes, which she seems to like. She was breathing very rapidly (presumably pretty traumatised) but has now settled down a bit. She's in my paper shredder (without the shredding unit!), with enough paper to snuggle into/under and a bottle cap of water and some more cornflakes.

I was going to do what I normally do with anything live the cats bring in - put her straight back out - but surely there's no way she can survive on her own?

Any suggestions? I know she may just die from shock in the next few hours, but if she doesn't, I'm thinking of keeping her. Has anyone had experience of wild mice? Are they happy in a proper mouse/hamster house?

She can stay in my room for now - the cats are banned from there because they cover my bed in hair :mad:

Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. Oh, and she's called Tiffany (because Audrey Hepburn was too much of a mouthful).

Thanks in advance


Ian

whatatwit

Not much in the way of advice, but could it be a pregnant mouse?
You might find lots of little mices in a few days.

Errata

If it's really, really round - it's pregnant. If the leg injury is recent - done by your cat ? - is the mouse in pain? If it is, why not put it out of its misery.

Froglet

If it is dragging it's back leg it will indeed be suffering.Do you have a local wildlife centre?.Failing that i think a trip to the vets in the morning to stop it suffering any longer,poor thing.That is if it makes it that long.

Cats,they do so much damage to our wildlife.One got my beautiful blackbird last year that had a deformed foot.She was so trusting i could get within a few feet of her.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Froglet wrote: »

Cats,they do so much damage to our wildlife.One got my beautiful blackbird last year that had a deformed foot.She was so trusting i could get within a few feet of her.

Cats do no damage to wildlife. It is their instinct that drives them to catch birds and mice, which they see initially as a food source. Obviously, if the cat is well fed, birds and mice become play things. It's natural behaviour, human emotions get in the way.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Problem is with wild mice, they generally carry fleas. Obviously, it is one of the negative sides to trying to keep one as a pet. Also, unfortunatly, you may have to put your own emotions to one side and let nature take it's course. Hard to do I know, but maybe for the best.

Good luck with it and hopefully the mouse survives and can be set loose back into the wild.

wishiwasarichgirl

A whack over the head with a shovel is probably best if it has a broken leg.

EyePeaSea

Thanks for all the responses.

I'm expecting her to be dead now (no sound from the padded box she's now in), but if she's still alive, then a trip to the vet will be sorted.

No - please don't talk about her being pregnant!

As for putting her out of her misery - I had to do that to a pidgeon once - v. badly mauled by something (before I had cats) - and that was a pretty horrible thing to do, but it was for the best.

I don't blame my cats - I shoo them (or their victims) away if I see them stalking, but it is in their nature. Not necessarily pleasant, but it's still 'natural'.

Thanks again

Ian

Hintza

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

Cats do no damage to wildlife.

How do you figure that out? Cat numbers are huge (7.7 million in UK) and some cats have been known to individually take over 1,000 animals and birds etc a year.

Froglet

yes,Hintza,i had to read that twice as i couldn't believe it first time.What a stupid statement.Millions of birds and small mammals are "played with" ie tortured,and killed by cats each year.It is a well documented fact,backed up by research.

I love all animals and would never hurt a cat,but i was horrified when a new neighbour moved in with 2 last year.Now i rarely see a bird,have found frogs mauled and have to keep my fish ponds covered.

It may be "natural" to a cat but it is also natural to a caring human not to want to see this destruction a on a mammoth scale.

foreign_correspondent

yes, I expect cats kill a lot of mice, but then so do we - at least cats dont see fit to poison them, thus passing on the risk to other animals who may predate or scavenge poisoned mice.