Advice needed please.

[ozziesmum]

Hi everyone,
I'm sorry if this is in the wrong section.

One of my cats brought home a longtailed field mouse today which he happily handed over, it has a small puncture wound in one shoulder which I have bathed, I knew there was a strong possibilty that he would suffer a heart attack and pass away but I had a spare faunarium so set it up for him with a couple of hides and food and water. 8 hours on and he is out and about eating and drinking, now I know that I could still lose him to infection but if he does survive and I shall do all I can to help him when would it be the right time to release him. At the moment we have a couple of inches of snow on the ground and more falling all the time.

Many thanks.
Jane

[Farplace]

As he has a puncture wound he will need antibiotics - vets will probably recomment baytril.
Keep the wound clean. Feed and water and provide enough bedding.
If this little one makes it, release it somewhere sensible when the worst of the bad weather is over.
But don't hold your breath.... Stress and infection are major killers.

[ozziesmum]

Hi just a quick update on the little field mouse, he had made a complete recovery and had been out and about investigating the faun, being very active at dawn and dusk and eating and drinking well. I tried a soft release yesterday by moving the faun into a friends stable but with the temperatures here dropping to -11 I think it was just too much for him as he was found laying on his side in the faun,his breathing was very shallow and he was freezing cold. I brought him back into the house and fed him some warm water to let him warm up slowly but didn't hold out much hope for the little guy but this morning he is back to his normal self. I'm making a point of total hands off only changing his food and water when he's asleep as I still intend to release him but this time I'll wait until the weather warms up.

[Brocakat]

Just wondering if one can buy muzzles for - cats ?
It might help to stop them catching mice & birds .

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Brocakat

Just wondering if one can buy muzzles for - cats ?
It might help to stop them catching mice & birds .

Its the claws that do the damage maybe pull them out along with its teeth...

Where's the tongue-in-cheek smilie..

[Dogghound]

A key problem to cat (and dog) victims is Pasteurellosis which is a bacterium found within their mouths. The victim may initially recover and seem fine, however without anti-biotic treatment it may then start to lose condition and eventually die days after it appeared to recover. It is just a case of whether or not the victim contracted the infection or not, initially it can be hard to identify.

[Brocakat]

My mum was bitten by one of our Siamese cats ( which wern't allowed to wander-off on their own as they lived next to a V fast road ) - and it swelled up like a balloon.

[Jim Ford]

What on Earth's in your Mum's blood that the cat swelled up like a balloon after biting her, 'Brocat'?

;^)

Jim

[Brocakat]

She was the inspiration for all these U.S. Teen-Vampire series that the latest import- but don't tell anyone else or I'll have to kill you ( but only if you let me in through your window & you've also forgotten your Garliic Cloves ! )