What are the chances of us catching this mouse now?

[LastnightIDreamedofManderley]

On Thursday evening, our lovely cat took home a live mouse. We spent the night turning over furniture etc but we just couldn’t catch it.
Managed to set up a humane mouse trap last night with peanut butter and chocolate on a cracker inside it, but nothing. The last time we saw it was Thursday night.
Where the heck is it?? Could it have died somewhere and we just don’t know? Would very much like for it to not be in the house..

Depends if it was injured at all by your cat. Cat bites are full of bacteria so they can result in the death of prey even though at the time it doesn't seem like they're hurt at all.

I well know the live mouse let free by a cat saga! Had that happen about 6 months ago, eventually the next day our cat caught it and finished it off. But you may well have a dead mouse, if so, you will start to smell it. If not, maybe it's made a nest. For your sake I hope not! They are nocturnal creatures so keep an eye out after dark.

And let your cat know you aren't impressed! 😅

Watch your cat closely, if mouse is alive and moving around house, they'll be interested. We had the same many years, a few days later I came downstairs to find our two cats closely focused on a folded up pushchair on the floor. DH was absolutely delighted to be pulled early from bed to rescue the mouse - it was his birthday

Yes this is very true. I remember once unknown to myself there was a mouse hiding out behind the fridge. One of our then cats, the most patient with hunting, just loafed down in front of the fridge and sat there. I wondered what he was doing. As dusk approached, the mouse came out and WHAM. Cat got him.

The mouse has been caught!
Dcat was fixated on the radiator last night after we went to bed - heard lots of crashing around.
Investigated, removed DCat and shut over the door with the trap inside. This morning, mouse!
It was very keen on the cracker and chocolate we had placed inside.

However, my main concern is any potential disease/germs it may have spread in the house. I am planning to steam clean the floors but is there anything else i could be doing? The difficulty being, I don’t know exactly what the mouse had been on top of etc!

Congrats on catching it, OP!!

OK re cleaning: so you don't want to inhale mouse dropping dust (hantavirus risk) so sweeping and vacuuming is out of the question. What you can/should do is:

1. Air it out. Before cleaning a space, ventilate it by opening multiple doors and/or windows for at least 30 minutes, allowing fresh air to circulate. Leave the area while it is airing out.
2. Get your gloves on. Wear rubber or plastic gloves at all times. Dust masks can help protect against dust, molds, and insulation fibers, but they don’t protect against hantavirus. When you’re finished cleaning, wash the gloves with disinfectant or soap and water, and then wash your hands after disposing of the gloves!
3. Spray, then mop – never sweep or vacuum. Sweeping and vacuuming stirs up dust, which contains allergens and could be contaminated, such as with hantavirus. Instead, spray the soiled area with a bleach solution and let it soak for 10 minutes. Then, using paper towel or rags, wipe up the droppings or nest material, seal the cleaning materials in a bag, and throw them in a covered trash can.
4. Shampoo or steam clean upholstery and wash bedding. If you notice evidence of rodent urine or droppings on upholstery, bedding, or clothing, shampoo or steam clean it or wash it with detergent in hot water.
5. Dead mouse? Soak dead rodents and nests, then double bag it. While wearing gloves, spray the dead rodent(s) with your bleach solution and let it soak for 10 minutes. Seal the dead rodent or nest in a bag, then seal that bag in a second bag. Throw the bag in a covered trash can.

That looks like a rat look at its face

I think that’s a young rat?

Defo a Roland!

You're lucky you caught it , rats are much more difficult to trap. I would worry that that's a young one, so where are the rest?

Ooh lucky you caught it as I was just about to send dp round to help.
When we had a mouse he sat on the kitchen worktop armed with a spatula and a Tupperware pot 🙄😂while I shot off to B&Q for a mousetrap.
I wouldn't worry too much about germs, it's not a rat, just a good hoover and run a cloth with disinfectant over all your surfaces

Wowsers! It's one mouse, not a consignment of Novichok. It's not that unusual to keep rodents as pets that are handled by children - surely they're not that highly toxic?? And it's not as if cats are aseptic themselves.

Blimey, that's a bit exciting. Glad your cat found the rodent.

Just to reassure you about the mouse thing, my cat used to bring home oodles of live mice and birds and lose them in our house. We never caught the Hantavirus. Having said that I have never been in sparkling health, so what do I know? But nothing instantly catastrophic ever happened to make us think we had caught something from a visitor. Apart from hilarity, when the house went to cops and robbers mode and cats flying everywhere, and things like that. Reading this thread, I now understand why my Mum used to get me to catch the mice.

I do think that what you have is a non-mouse kind of rodent though. It also looks like a rat to me. I'm glad you caught it. It might be a good idea to have a word with your cat, because now that (s)he has got the knack, (s)he will probably go back for more. Once they get good at hunting, cats can be very prolific. I'd be inclined to keep the cat in for a bit and seek help from a pest control officer to find out where they are and sort them out.

Was about to ask why the mouse was sitting on the worktop holding a spatula and a Tupperware pot...

OP could you give us a sense of scale on the trap? That might help narrow down what the occupant is.

me too. Fantastic mental image.

Yes definitely! Although as PP says the face/ nose looks very rat like (shudder).

Fuck me, I can only assume you aren’t country people. DCat is forever bringing in creatures to slowly murder (in fact he lost a mouse last night and has forgotten about it despite the fact I’ve seen it lurking next to the fridge several times). I’ve never done more than my usual cleaning routine. I am yet to die of terrible mouse borne diseases despite the fact our terrace had a whole colony of mice for a while (until dcat was purchased and put to work).

That looks pretty ratty to me.

Well in my defence I did a one year virology course and the professor said if a wild mouse gets into your house never sweep up the mouse droppings/urine as any viruses in them become airborne and you can inhale them. Not all rodents carry hantavirus, it should be said. But that stayed with me, apparently a damp cloth is a far better way to deal with it!

Pet rodents aren't in the same category as they aren't out in the wild getting infected.

I did chuckle at Novichok though. 😂

Thats a rat!

Looks like a rat to me.

My home is an equestrian one and we have mice outside. They tend to end up in my water bucket/troughs. I do feel sorry for them until one of them is in the house then I’m screaming ‘kill it’ to my cats whilst stood on top of the coffee table.

I had no idea I was scared of mice until they were in the house.

I can jump on a huge horse and yet a tiny mouse freaks me out.

Well done on catching it OP.

You will know where it’s been. Mice and rats pee almost continuously (they are incontinent) and will leave a trail of sticky grey marks. Clean surfaces and floor with a mild disinfectant.
And that is a young rat not a mouse.

Definitely rat.

It's not a rat, not the right proportions, just a hefty mouse. Also lol at the novichok comment. I'm guessing, but hantavirus doesn't seem like a big problem in this country, despite the amount of mice cutting about.