Dead mouse smell in kitchen: where is it hiding?

[LooseMouse]

New young male cat keeps bringing home dead rodents... He mostly leaves them on the stairs, but now the kitchen smells of a dead mouse!

We've looked in a few places but can't find it! Any ideas where a cat would have left it, or where it could have crawled to?

It'll be in the most annoying place - but check behind the kickboards first since they're easy. Then look at yoinking the washer/dishwasher/fridge out and checking under+behind.

In a saucepan/jug? I’d empty out all the cupboards just incase! 🤢

If it really stinks it’s probably a rat! Try checking, Under the floor boards, under the units, under fridge freezer, in the cavity of the wall or behind the boiler. It might not of been killed properly snd limped to die in a warm quiet place 😬

Oh this thread is making me heave!

We're emptying all the litter trays etc to rule out anything else causing the pong, then we'll start moving things.

Do they ever bring in a live one ?
Saw something on another site where a mouse had gotten itself in a toaster for the crumbs but had then died as it couldn't get out .
Don't make toast until you've looked ! 😱

We've found mice:

Squashed under the washing machine
Squashed under the cooker
Stuck in the bathroom pipes

So good luck!

Thinking outside the kitchen box as this happened to me....

Do you have a loner or elderly neighbour you haven't seen for a while?

We found a dead mouse who'd escaped the cat via the bit the hoover wire goes into....

My DH toasted a mouse. We heard the squeak and then smelled burning and voila, one toasted mouse.

I found one in my slipper once. It had been dead a while I think as it was quite…..crusty…. 🤢 Just glad I had socks on so not entirely bare footed!

DM kept scrubbing her fridge as there was a nasty smell she couldn’t get rid of. It turned out there was a dead frog under the fridge. So I’d look there first.

Mice can squeeze into remarkably small gaps, though, so it could be anywhere. They particularly like tunnels and tubes, and will be attracted to anything that smells of food, of course.

The worst one was the dead mouse we found in that little well of water at the back of the fridge, gently heated with an element, wafting dead mouse smell throughout the kitchen.

Do you have any mats? My cat likes to hide them under mats and biff them till they can't move. I lifted the bath mat to find a dead mouse pancake once after my husband had a shower and stepped on it. Grim

However also check that you don't have neighbours using poison. I know a dog that killed a load of poisoned rats and became very ill. I think cats are a bit smarter but it's just something to be aware of.