Cat brought home a live mouse - help

[Zofloramummy]

So it’s stupidly late, I pooped down for a drink and my cat was meowing outside. I let her in and thought she was behaving rather oddly by her food bowl.

She’s brought a live mouse in with her. It pegged it underneath my fridge!! I can’t see it, cat is now bored and can’t reach it.

Have shut the kitchen door and going to try to get to sleep. Any good ideas on capture (preferably humane)

Omg 😱😱
It will come out when it’s ready.
But if your cat is in the kitchen with it under the fridge then there won’t be a happy outcome .😬😬

Do you have a back door from the kitchen you can leave open and remove the cat to another room so the mouse can have a chance to emerge and escape? Mine regularly do this, we’ve had mice, voles and tiny geckos they’ve brought home and released to run and hide somewhere, unfortunately it rarely ends well and we find a tiny cadaver under whichever piece of furniture they’ve made their last traumatized stand under.

I do have a back door but I’m not standing there for hours tonight. I’ll do it in the morning. If there is no sign I’ll have to drag the fridge out.

Cat is very pleased with herself and is in bed with me. She thinks I must have really enjoyed running around the house with a box before it ran under the fridge. Think she is secretly thinking she is a far better hunter than me!

Mouse didn’t look harmed in any way, may die of shock though after the trauma. I’m just grateful that so far any rats brought home have been dead and just left for my approval. I can cope with mice, rats would require pest control and a full house decontamination as I can’t stand them!

It will die under there and start to stink horribly. You will need to move the fridge to get it out.

The best way to catch visible mice is to chuck a large bath towel over them, gather them up and return them outside.

I can totally sympathize, my cat has done this many times... usually they are dead...one time he bought it all the way upstairs...dropped it and it ran under the bed... He was so pleased with himself. It was an ordeal... lol

When you move the fridge make sure you have stuffed all spaces including under the kitchen door with towels or similar ! I second the towel suggestion. Particularly with things which have sadly expired covering them as you deal with them makes it easier - also feels respectful in a way ! Good luck op.

This is vermin. The mouse won’t come out of its own accord. You need to try and move the fridge so it runs out, then your cat will “catch” it and then kind of “chase” your cat to go outside and once outside and the cat drops it grab the cat and lock her in.

I know mice are “cute” but outdoor mice are extremely unhygienic and you don’t want it in your house or your kitchen!!! If you don’t want your Cat to catch it (which is the best method), then lock cat out, move fridge, when it runs out try and catch it yourself and take it outside.

This morning you will have an empty space under the fridge and the realization that you have a live mouse somewhere in the house.

Good luck!

Oh I agree that mice are vermin, just meant that they are vermin that I can handle.

If it was a rat I’d have evacuated the house last night and refused to enter until it was gone.

Geckos? Where do you live stardust?

Do you happen to have any cardboard/plastic tubes? Rodents will often run into one of these. You can then clap your hands over the ends and take the tube outside (I’d risk this with a mouse, but not a rat). I have pet degus, and I’ve found that I can wait right next to the tube if I stay very still.

I was going to suggest a cardboard tube too, like from a roll of wrapping paper, then possibly transferring it into a shoebox if you have one handy.

I've had this a few times and spent ages trying lure or direct mice out of doors etc. On every occasion wax unsuccessful but within a week mouse was found dead in middle of kitchen floor. Think the cat catches it eventually. 😢

If you can't bear the idea of putting your hands over a tube to contain a live mouse, then try a Wellington boot.
Mice like dark spaces, so will run into the boot; and you can dispose of the mouse without having to touch it.

Will try the welly, can’t see it though. Back door has been open so I’m hoping it’s escaped

Thank god mine couldn't catch a cold. I'd have to burn the house down if they caught anything!

Mine went through a phase of frags and newts - about to regime beloved beloved boy die to every night being woken by screaming frogs and catching them and rehiring them. Couldn’t bear to keep that one in at night. We became expert at rescuing/rehoming things to safe pond.

From long experience I suggest no swapping from wellie or tube or whatever to anything else. It’s right there that it all so often goes wrong and escapes are made just when you have it (whatever it is) contained. Pppppp was always our method and it was essential !

Rehome not régime. And due not die. Apols.

If you can move the fridge you may be able to pounce on it. I used to have a mouse-catching pot for this purpose! I upended the pot over the mouse then slid a thin piece of card underneath.

Unfortunately, the past two times my cat has brought in a mouse they both ran under my heavy divan bed which cannot be moved without dismantling it. The cat lost interest after a couple of hours. I'm afraid I found the only solution was to trap them. My previous cat brought in a mouse when I wasn't home and the first I knew of it was when I noticed an awful smell coming from the cupboard under the stairs where the poor thing had died, so I think trapping is preferable to that.

My old cat used to be very good about looking after me when I was ill in bed. He would bring me special treats; live mice, one of which he took under the duvet and released.

chemenger great image.
My babby used to bring me newts. He was so gentle with them they were almost always unharmed and ‘lively’ - so was I. Miss him.

We're currently waiting to use our bathroom, once the cat has finished eating the mouse in there he brought home tonight...he does this about once a week. The hall is his other killing field. DP always manages to tread in whatever bits are left, so antibacterial wipes adorn all areas.

Had to put down poison for the rat he brought back alive - it bit him and he lost interest. It took refuge in the shower caddy, which was a nice surprise I did not need in the morning!

I'd shut cat in kitchen with mouse actually, she may catch it when it emerges in the dark. We do that when he lets them loose. Always seems to catch them by morning.

we get lots of mice, voles and shrews brought in. I don't mind when they're still alive (i'm quite adept at catching them although i'd give up if behind the fridge and go to bed) however, they actually eat them and i hate coming down to half eaten rodent. Sometimes i hear them crunching the bones downstairs when i'm in bed ...... just gross. if you can move your fridge i would try and rescue the mouse, however I am told that even if you let them go outside they regularly die anyway from the trauma.

Just get a mouse trap!.

'Vermin' is a word that annoys me more than probably any other. All it means is 'inconvenient to humans' and yet it's trotted out as a reason to give no thought whatsoever to the pain, suffering and death that we humans inflict on said creatures. (I'm talking in general here - not about the OP or indeed anything mentioned on this thread).

Anyway - you can get humane mousetraps.

My mum's old cat once brought in a mouse which ran under the fireplace. This meant my mum couldn't light the fire for weeks. She also left peanut biscuits and water for the mouse as she felt sorry for it. Eventually it got so fat that when it came out it was slow enough to pick up and put outside :)