Mousing question

pwallenjr

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
8
Purraise
0
Location
Maryland
Well, this is probably more mouse behavior than cat behavior. But our cats have caught a couple of mice in our basement, and have left me wondering about something... the mice they've got have been very dead, but also don't seem to have a scratch on them. No signs of being bloodied, beaten or scratched. So, I'm just curious what they died of. Is it possible the mice actually get "scared to death" when a cat gets them cornered? Has anyone ever heard or read anything about this? Just one of those silly questions that's not worth thinking about but I can't seem to get out of my head!
 

hissy

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Feb 19, 2001
Messages
34,872
Purraise
76
Count yourself lucky that your cat didn't take a bite out of these mice. Quickest way for a kitty to get tapeworms is to devour a poor mouse. My barn cats kill mice all the time, but they usually leave visible marks.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #3

pwallenjr

TCS Member
Thread starter
Kitten
Joined
Dec 14, 2002
Messages
8
Purraise
0
Location
Maryland
Well, the one time they did eat the head. I guess they ate it anyway, because the head was gone and we never found it anywhere.
We asked the vet about it and he said this was normal. But the other two they killed didn't have a scratch on them!
 

maui

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Feb 17, 2002
Messages
414
Purraise
1
I saw a PBS show on cat's and I think it said that the domestic feline canines (long fang teeth) have evolved to perfectly pierce between the neck vertebra of mousies and kill them instantly. Larger cats also kill by biting on the neck of prey and either suffocating or piercing the neck.

Maybe there is a small puncture on the neck? If not, I think just about any mammal can be "scared to death" -- I sure would if some saber tooth was after me
 

a_loveless_gem

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 13, 2002
Messages
1,759
Purraise
1
Location
Australia

Mice can die from shock easily.

Where I live in Australia, there are native mice around. I've nursed some injured ones back from shock. But sometimes I can't.


I've helped a friend nurse her pet mouse from shock. Her cat got to the cage and frightened the little thing. I kept it warm and in a box away from light and waited. It came back much to the relief of my friend.

 

kumbulu

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Aug 6, 2002
Messages
4,338
Purraise
3
Location
Perth, Western Australia
Mags mate, I just wanted to say how good it is of you to look after the native mice around here - they are so beautiful. Where are you in WA?
 

lhezzza

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 31, 2002
Messages
2,525
Purraise
1
Location
Orange, California
We let Cooper in the garage.... but thank goodness we don't have mice/rats! (We do have grasshoppers, she loves to chase those!!)


Cooper also loves to "talk" to the ants!!
 

a_loveless_gem

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 13, 2002
Messages
1,759
Purraise
1
Location
Australia

Ants...lol....Russell doesn't understand ants. He doesn't know what to do with them. He just meows pitifully, seemingly to complain that they're too small to play with properly, unlike cockroaches...


Kumbulu....I'm in Port Hedland. Roughly 1700ish km north from you. ^_^

 

angelzoo

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
1,535
Purraise
2
Location
Maryland, USA
Yes, small rodents can die under sever stress. Growing up most of my cats hunted things, mice, moles, birds, snakes, squirls etc. Some of them wouldn't eat the mice but would just simply kill it with a bite to the spine or neck, and it wasn't ever really bloody, or had any big teeth marks etc.

However, I don't like my cats eating mice or any animal outside, it can cause illness, or death if the mouse has consumed rat posioning.

About the shock thing... I've owned probably... 50 mice through out my life so far, and tried to save many out in the wild that my cats had found. After mananging to catch my cat and put him back inside (which took forever) I would sometimes have to sit out in the field or drive way with the mouse for 3+ hours before I saw it do anything but breath. I just felt so bad, I couldn't bring myself to leave until I knew if it was going to be able to run away and live, we lived in the county with lots of hawks, owls, and such, as long as I was there, none of them would swoop down and take the poor thing while in shock.
 
Top