Help-Wild Mouse/vole not quite sure

[Eve]

Hi, I hope someone can help me. My female cat (Bonnie) brought what looked like a very very young but mature mouse into the house yesterday, looking at photos I'm not too sure as it looks more like a vole, due to the fact it doesn't have the big ears & big nose, it's not a shrew as it's nose isn't that big. Problem I have is when she brought the rodent in, I know it was from the embankment in front of our house as I saw her hanging about there, by the way there was no harm done to the rodent, if it had been by my male cat Clyde (her brother), then it would have been dead & skinned. Our dog was crying at the bottom of the steps, so i went in & saw the poor little thing. Now I used to have domesticated mice that breeded, hamsters, rats the lot, so I am really unsure what this is. It has smaller eyes & ears than a wild mouse, & is as small as a marble, I don't want to scare it too much but does seem to be at full length 6cm, it looks fully grown, but could be a young adult. The worse thing is, I couldn't let him go when I found him as the council was cutting the grass on the embankment where he came from, so I put him in a tub with air ways & some food & bedding, but when I found him several hours later he was really cold & gasping for breath, I felt terrible, I revived him & warmed him up & fed him, & was up until 6am this morning coz I was so worried, so couldn't let him out in that state. I've been looking after him all night again, but he seems a bit docile, I let him out in the back garden & he perked up a bit, so I decided to take him back to the embankment, I watched & he didn't seem bothered at first, then he did then he didn't, but coz the grass has been cut I'm worried that he can't find his way back. Another thing is, when he is on my hand he wee's on me all the time, he doesn't seem scared of me, in fact he latches on to me n doesn't want to let go when I put him down, I also have put him on my lap, n he falls asleep, I'm worried in case he's hit his head or something, he has not bitten me or even tried, he's glued to me, but he's a bit lifeless, even out in the field, now I don't know what to do, it's cold out there, n he is just over an inch big. What's wrong with him? What should I do? & what should I feed him? I've had to put him in my pocket (keep checking him), while I type this, coz he won't let me go.

I've had all rodents all my life, hate that word tho, & a dog who had a big heart & she loved my rats Sam & Eric, they used to fall asleep on her, when she died I got two cats (bro & sis), now all I have is dead mice/shrews etc & the odd live one, should have got another dog, the dog we have is crying all the time, wanting to see him.

Anyway, if anyone can help, please do, especially on what he is & what to feed him, I've been giving him milk & milk with oats, & he eats it but I don't think enough, brought some grass dandy leaves etc but he isn't interested.

[mystic meg]

Hi Eve,
Your mouse/vole(voles have short tails) sounds like he's not very well at all. If a cat catches mice or birds chances are they will have toxins from the cats mouth racing around their bodies, you may not see an injury as such but it only takes a piercing of the skin witha claw or tooth to set off these toxins. There is probably nothing you can do to stop this process now, but you can make it comfortable, warmth is important ie hot water bottle (low heat),or airing cupboard. If you have a small childs paint brush you could perhaps offer him a drink, mice do dehydrate quite quickly. You can make up an emergency rehydration fluid using 1/4 cup full cooled boiled water,tip of 5ml spoon of sugar or honey/glucose and a tiny pinch of salt, give it a stir and there you have your rehydration fluid, with the paint brush dip it into the mix,shake off any excess fluid and gently roll the brush into its mouth starting at one side and rolling through you may find he'll latch on and suckle, carefull you dont get any up his nostrils of he may ingest the liquid and this causes pneumonia.
Thats all you can do for him at the moment, good luck, i would give him some fluid then settle him down, get some rest yourself then see what you have in the morning ok

[tufftie]

Originally Posted by mystic meg

Hi Eve,
Your mouse/vole(voles have short tails) sounds like he's not very well at all. If a cat catches mice or birds chances are they will have toxins from the cats mouth racing around their bodies, you may not see an injury as such but it only takes a piercing of the skin witha claw or tooth to set off these toxins. There is probably nothing you can do to stop this process now, but you can make it comfortable, warmth is important ie hot water bottle (low heat),or airing cupboard. If you have a small childs paint brush you could perhaps offer him a drink, mice do dehydrate quite quickly. You can make up an emergency rehydration fluid using 1/4 cup full cooled boiled water,tip of 5ml spoon of sugar or honey/glucose and a tiny pinch of salt, give it a stir and there you have your rehydration fluid, with the paint brush dip it into the mix,shake off any excess fluid and gently roll the brush into its mouth starting at one side and rolling through you may find he'll latch on and suckle, carefull you dont get any up his nostrils of he may ingest the liquid and this causes pneumonia.
Thats all you can do for him at the moment, good luck, i would give him some fluid then settle him down, get some rest yourself then see what you have in the morning ok

The best advice for caring has been already given. It sounds like it could be a harvest mouse by the size but there again it could be an escaped exotic pet?
Hopefully it's okay this morning if not and you live in the South East I know quite a few wildlife rescue people that might come and take it from you? Though if you just want advice sounds like Mystic Meg's your person!

[Eve]

Thanks guys, bad news, the poor little fella died throughout the night, I feel really awful, but I did my best. I did the water bottle & fed him fluids, which he did take & milky oats, which he also ate, but it wasn't enough unfortunately.

[mystic meg]

Hi Eve, Sorry to hear about your mouse but you gave him a chance, and thats all we can do Just a little pointer and this probably would not have altered the end result, milk(cows) is bad news for mammals, they can,t break down the fat globuels and causes digestive problems, and would you believe people still think it,s ok to feed h/hogs bread and milk

[Eve]

Thanks for that, I still feel awful though, when I was a kid I was the one always bringing home ill wildlife, once brought a very young black bird home, named him George, when he was older I used to let him out & teach him to fly off of the washing line, & one day he flew away, which was nice, I fed him milk & bread, then worms (felt bad for the worms though). Did actually think whether or not I should have given the mouse cows milk, but wasn't sure, know cats can't have cows milk because of the digestive issues, I probably should have fed the mouse sugary warm water, but he seemed to like the milk, n like I say I wasn't sure it would harm him, but I don't think that's what did it, I think initially I didn't keep him warm enough, which now I know is ultimately one of the most important things, so I hope anyone reading can learn, as I pressumed it's cold out there & warmer in the house, so the first hours I had him I didn't keep him warm enough I don't think. I know if I'd have let him out he wouldn't have lasted an hour, so at least I gave him a few more hours, just feel so awful though, if it happens again the first thing I'll do is let it back out in the wilderness (like I said I couldn't do that due to the council cutting the grass where he was from), but failing that then I know heat & fluid (not cows milk) is the most important thing. So are you a bit of a H/Hog fan then? I once brought one home when I was a kid, it was been harrassed by cats, let it back out after an hour, they are so nice. I live in Yorkshire, & we have fields around us, so I get to see all the wildlife every day, I feel quite lucky really, but not when things like this happens. I see squirrels every day, also at least once a week I see hedgehogs, foxes, owls, loads of birds especially in summer & ones I've never seen before. But now I have cats, unfortunately I get to see shrews, mice, voles etc, my female cat Bonnie doesn't kill anything not even spiders, but my male cat Clyde does the full monty, he doesn't bring them in anymore though, he knows I don't like it, so he leaves them outside the back door. My favourite rodent is the rat, they are very clean & intelligent, before I had cats I had them, I used to let them out of there cage & they'd run around get bored & go back in there cage, & never messed on the carpet, only in there cage in a corner, & believe it or not this is true, I used to call them by there name & they'd come to me, also they never ever bit me, in fact they'd lick my fingers. I miss having rats.

[tufftie]

Ahh what a shame. At least you and the mouse (?) know you tried and it would have felt your love I'm sure. i wouldn't feel guilty about the milk, a one off thing wouldn't have had any adverse affect, unless it was severely allergic to it which is extremely unlikely. As for warmth, in a way, it sounds like you may have done the right thing. It's difficult when it comes to rodents because they are susceptible to sudden changes in temperature and while a rodent in trouble definitely needs to be kept warm a sudden change in temperature could also cause a big problem; bit of a tricky one that!
I love your bit about feeling sorry for worms - thought i was the only soppy one on here!
..and rats, yes i love them to - very intelligent and very funny!