Cat caught very young mouse

[GD91]

I opened the back door the other day & spotted my cat black tom playing with something very tiny on the ground. Normally when I see him with a mouse, its fully grown & he usually growls & runs off with it, but sometimes he'll give me LIVE mice.

Anyway, when he spotted me he proudly brought this tiniest little wee furred field mouse over & dropped it at my feet. It tried to trundle off in a daze & he caught it & returned it to me. When he does this, I normally give them a second chance, there are never too many mice around when it saves me paying for cat food as far as I'm concerned, but usually they die anyway.

I didn't hold up much hope for the baby, but I brought it in (Cold, eyes closed, wet & shivering) & put her in the incubator. By her size & eyes I'd have judged her at 4 - 5 weeks or maybe 3 - 4 weeks.

So I left her in the incubator for 2 - 3 hours with food & sugar water while I bleached down & set up an old small fish tank with sawdust from the chicken coop (I thought the outdoor scent would give her some comfort of home & the mouse was by the coop) & added food, water, toys & baby field mouse.

And, just before anyone says too much about disease, I KNOW, I've raised field mice before, always wash my hands after petting, never handle them because this scares them & have never fallen sick from mice.


Anyway, this little girl (Of course I have to sex everything that comes through the door) is an absolute sweetie. She will nibble bread from the hand & let you pet her at the same time. She comes out & runs around her tank, but only at night. She's got loads of hay to tunnel through. She's made a nest & has been hoarding her food in it. I've given her sticks & an old loo roll to play with to.

But I do worry about her needing the company of another mouse, I'm hoping she may be older than I think she is & pregnant so I can cull the babies for cat food, but keep behind 1 or 2 girls as company for her.

I don't think she would get on with a pet mouse

I'd hate for her to kill it, vice versa or something. They are descended from house mice which is a different species.

I would release, but now I know its a female, I'm a bit dubious about letting it go back in the yard & I don't wan to release her a mile away on strange grounds with no hiding hole & lots of competition from other mice.

I'm thinking just let her be as long as she seems happy enough, but I sure would like her to have some company.

 

[FluffyPuff]

Don't cull the babies. And u should definitely get a female mouse from the pet store. All u need to do is introduce them properly. Here's some info u can read about introducing female mice. http://www.fancymice.info/introdoes.htm

 

[Cluckincanadian]

You have a soft heart. I would have killed it. Mice are cute. Get her a friend

 

[GD91]

Thanks for the info, I'll try & get her a mouse friend this week.

I just didn't want to buy a female or 2, to find they don't mix because of the domestication process.

I'm surprised because she is running around as I type this. Its the first time I've seen her during the day, so she must be settling well. I fed her a treat by hand.

She seems a very sweet rodent, usually they won't let you touch them at all. My last field mice were "Watch but don't touch at all" mice when they were at about the same age as she is.

Maybe its because they came from the country where the mice had less human contact, whereas she's a town mouse.

I know the mice are seen more around here than in the country, they don't seem as nervous around people & we have had an adult male mouse come out in living room with the lights on, only a foot away from me while I was on the PC & later it was sitting on the arm of the sofa next to DH who thought it was a "Cheeky little sh*t!". He met his end after 3 nights when one of the dogs caught him. That was when the weather was really cold. They are quite bold.

 

[Gingerbelle33]

I've currently got a youngster in my utility room that one of my cats caught last night. Like you, it is a really young one, but we have had younger. If you are near Stevenage, Hertforshire, you are more than welcome to come and get the one I have to keep yours company