What's your wounded mouse protocol

[felinelucky]

For a bit of a bloater, my cat is a quite efficient hunter. Never eats what he catches, but plays with them endlessly. What do you do when you find a small squeaky or feathery creature that's still alive but clearly isn't going to pull through? I feel like I need a humane killing jar with chloroform or something.

I just holla “ for gods sake Juno put it out of its misery” and then shut the doors because I know she’s heading our way with it.

We send the teen out

I looked it up on the internet. I pop the unfortunate animal into a bag and then swing it against the wall hard and fast. It breaks the neck very quickly and is a kind way to kill the animal.

If it’s very much alive and well then I fling a plastic tub over it, keep the cats in and put the creature in the garden under a bush.

Otherwise I send cat and creature outside, close the cat flap and tell them they’re not getting in until they’ve sorted it out.

Now though, if I say ‘what do you think you’re doing, get that outta here’ they scarper back through the cat flap.

@EdithGrantham

I'm afraid to say I put them outside, shut the cat in and let nature take its course, I feel bad that it's not going to be quick but I just can't bring myself to do anything else

That's so cruel - condemning the prey animal to the slowest possible death.

I think that, as a cat owner, you have a duty to finish off suffering prey with a brick or spade, not pat yourself on the back above how sensitive you are, and how you couldn't possibly do it etc. Your feelings are less important than the animal which is suffering.

But, if you really can't/won't, at least let the cat finish the job.

I had thought mice were a bit fragile and wouldn't cope with being chased for ages - but we seem to have a bonny lot and coupled with two fairly useless cats, they can survive a bit of patting and carrying and chasing and once they are free, they run off happily.

I know this because I have found living ones days after the cat has brought them into the house

@EdithGrantham

I'm afraid to say I put them outside, shut the cat in and let nature take its course, I feel bad that it's not going to be quick but I just can't bring myself to do anything else

Me too

Wrap in kitchen roll, bang on the head with a brick.

I think that, as a cat owner, you have a duty to finish off suffering prey with a brick or spade, not pat yourself on the back above how sensitive you are, and how you couldn't possibly do it etc. Your feelings are less important than the animal which is suffering.

This is it. I think it’s just as much an owner’s responsibility to limit how much suffering your pet puts another creature through as bringing then to the vet, grooming and training etc. It’s part of being a decent pet owner.

I’d like a cat but I couldn’t face having to dispatch any birds that an animal of mine hadn’t quite managed to kill themselves, so I won’t get one.

If they’re still running around, put them outside. If they’re injured, bash them on the head. It’s horrible but the alternative is so much worse for the poor suffering mouse.

Some critters look like goners then get up after a few minutes & run away. I don't want to rush to kill them if they might recover.

@JulesRimetStillGleaming

If it's clearly injured, I leave it with the cat to finish off. If it's a superficial looking flesh wound and it's otherwise seemingly moving ok, I grab the cat and shut it in and release the rodent in a different place. The cats ALWAYS look for it where they last saw it and can't comprehend that it's been moved so it doesn't need to be released far away to escape.

I'm a new cat owner and only having to deal with this recently. I thought my cat was maybe a little dim because when I take the frog away (current favourite prey) and put it over the back fence - they never seem to watch me or realise what I'm doing....so they aren't stupid just cats?

One of mine bought me a tiny featherless baby bird the other day. No injuries visible but I had no idea where the nest was to replace the poor thing. I really didn't know what to do for the best.

@ragged

Some critters look like goners then get up after a few minutes & run away. I don't want to rush to kill them if they might recover.

This is very true of birds. If I don’t see a wound I will put them somewhere safe outside and see if they recover and fly off. They often do.

I've had several mice and voles make a full recovery, place in a box in a quiet, warm space with food and water and they recover well. For obvious injuries a whack with a spade is instant, as much as I don don't like doing it, it is far kinder than leaving a poor creature suffering. Big girl pants are needed for cat owners Im afraid!

Yep short sharp whack. It's suffering so it's the kindest thing to do. If you feel funny about doing it then lay a piece of newspaper over the mouse first so you don't look at it. We used to get a lot of rabbits that needed finishing off. They were awful as they'd scream and thrash with half their innards hanging out and I'd have to whack them with a spade. Luckily we have moved now and they don't seem to find as many bunnies.

Last animal my cat caught was a young rat. I felt so sorry for it that I chased my cat away and moved rat to somewhere safe. Then realised it was seriously injured but I couldn’t bring myself to let it die in agony either.

Dh chopped its head off with a gardening spade. Less painful than dying slowly and painfully

My boyfriend had to dispatch a couple of squirrels last year with a spade through the neck. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

I felt awful recently when my cat bought a pigeon in which seemed totally fine apart from missing wing feathers which meant it obviously couldn't fly. I shut the cats in and shooed the pigeon away out of the garden, certainly condemning it to death with the next better hunter it came into contact with.

Thankfully ours rarely catch anything but if they do and its too badly injured then DH does the deed. I have never asked how he does it, I'm just grateful that he does so I don't have to.

@Elbels

My boyfriend had to dispatch a couple of squirrels last year with a spade through the neck. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

I felt awful recently when my cat bought a pigeon in which seemed totally fine apart from missing wing feathers which meant it obviously couldn't fly. I shut the cats in and shooed the pigeon away out of the garden, certainly condemning it to death with the next better hunter it came into contact with.

Just why?

Why not let the cat finish the job, if you're too naice to stop an animal suffering yourself?

I normally put on my most Angry Posh Grandma voice and tell the Very Special One 'And you can take that straight back outside and put the poor thing out of its misery'. DP says he's woken up and really exactly what's going on from the way my voice projects through the entire house (and because it's generally about 5.45am on a Sunday for some reason).

VSO knows exactly what it means, takes his new chum with him, I close the back door and won't let him back in until the deed is done. It usually takes him no more than five minutes if he knows he'll have to watch the Ancient One tucking into breakfast through the window otherwise.

He understands the difference, as if there is a slightly chewed corpse indoors, I'll tell him Well Done, clever boy before chucking it back outside (they're Wood Mice, not house mice, so I know they're outside before Mouseageddon happens).

I have a Jack Russell. He very quickly takes care of any critters the cat leaves.

I think I’d rather drive over it with my car than actually hit it with something myself. That would be just as quick surely? But messy :(

Pick the mouse up in a bag like you would a dog poo. Then quick hard whack with a shoe on the back step. Much kinder than the alternative...

I use a butcher knife, one quick whack

@coogee

My husband shoots it between the eyes with an air pistol.

The cat I hope