To dispose of mouse or not?

[SchrodingersMouse]

Tw: dead mouse

(Name changed to avoid being recognised)

Yesterday our cat found a dead mouse. She didn’t kill it - it was already dead. It was probably poisoned by our neighbours, who have a mouse infestation and called in the pest control people.

We didnt want our cat eating the poisoned mouse so we brought the cat in. Then we noticed the mouse was in the last throes of death so waited a while before disposing of it. In fact the mouse was struggling to breathe and shivering so we put a small flannel on it to help it die in some comfort (yes we are ridiculous).

An hour or so later we became worried that another cat would eat it or play with it and it was still breathing but totally paralysed. So we put it in a small box and brought it inside to die in peace and warmth on a high shelf.

The mouse has remained completely still with no signs of breath since yesterday evening.

AIBU? I now want to dispose of the mouse.

Dh doesn’t want to get rid of it because it might not be dead yet. I think it is sadly dead and it is weird to keep it in our hall for some future proof of it being dead.

I'd put it in the food recycling. You should probably have killed it yesterday

YANBU to get rid of it now, but you were VU to not put it out of it's misery when you first found it.

Is the mouse stiff and cold? It's dead if either or both of those things. What a horrible way for any animal to die, being poisoned.

Ok thank you. Without being too gruesome, is there a humane way to put a mouse out of its misery?

Yes I agree, it is a horrible way to die. It was a beautiful creature

If it was in its death throes I would have given it a swift bang on the head with a stick or something to put it out if it’s misery but I grew up on a farm so my thoughts might not match other people!

Put it in the bin. You can't keep a dead mouse on your shelf

Chop it with a spade or trowel or something or smack it with a stick.
Brutal but quick.
Like myxy rabbits or not quite dead roadkill.

Poor thing. I've had this with birds that the cat brought in and sadly I didn't have it in me to finish them off either so did similar to you op.

Oh my goodness, that sounds like the most awful suffering. You should have taken it to a vet to be euthanased instantly or banged it on the head with a shovel. Dig a deep hole and bury it.

The vet wasn’t interested sadly

So I understand and agree that we should have put the mouse out of its misery and will do so in the future

But as for now - should we dispose?

@SchrodingersMouse

So I understand and agree that we should have put the mouse out of its misery and will do so in the future

But as for now - should we dispose?

General waste bin. Poor little mouse 😞

Just put in general waste when dead

@Clymene

I'd put it in the food recycling. You should probably have killed it yesterday

That's where we put them, in the OUTSIDE one though

Bury it in your garden, with a rock on top so it doesn't get dug up. Make a teeny tiny gravestone / cross and have a funeral. That's what we do

@ItsAllGoingToBeFine

Bury it in your garden, with a rock on top so it doesn't get dug up. Make a teeny tiny gravestone / cross and have a funeral. That's what we do

I think this is lovely

Oh yes outside in the brown bin. I didn't mean in the kitchen!

You are not ridiculous. If my cat brings us a mouse and it's still alive I will stroke its head and wrap it in tissue to keep it warm.

I’d have done the same op. I’m betting the majority typing ‘bang it on the head’ wouldn’t actually be able to do it.

it would be in the fields or compost bin if us

Well you're not going to keep it on the mantelpiece, surely?

@Winniemarysarah

I’d have done the same op. I’m betting the majority typing ‘bang it on the head’ wouldn’t actually be able to do it.

I certainly wouldn't. I'd have driven to the emergency vets and probably paid £££ to put it out of its misery.

We had this exact situation.
Vet wasn't interested.
Alas we felt that it struggled for too long.
It was one of those sexist occasions whereby I couldn't possibly do the deed and my husband got a cleaver out and did the deed ( bless him.)

Horrible.

Unfortunately vets are not interested, as others have said. I don’t think this kind of poison should be allowed.