Seth caught a mouse!

My cat caught his first mouse, in the apartment, unfortunately. While I'm inordinately proud of him (I never thought he'd be able to catch anything), I wasn't sure what to do. He had the mouse alive in his mouth, and I wasn't keen on letting him kill it and possibly dismember it in the apartment. I tried to get him to go outside, but he was "protecting" his prey (as if I'd want it) and reluctant to come with me. In trying to get him outside to deal with the mouse I accidently caused him to drop the mouse and it got away.

Anyway, any advice/similar experiences?

In my experience the more you force them to drop a live prey the harder they will hold on to it. When they give it to me as an offering it is either paralyzed with shock (in this case I can release it somewhere safer but not sure if it will survive) or it dies after a few minutes. The few times when the prey got lucky is when I managed to distract my cats so they let go and I quickly grabbed the poor thing.
Anyway, because my cats go outside (the source of their hunting trophies) it is easier for me to "chase" them out rather than to tell them to follow me. Maybe you can try this strategy next time you want Seth to take care of his catch outside.

I'll try that next time. Trust me, I wasn't *trying* to get him drop it. I really wanted him to get the mouse out of the house (it ate all my flour...)

Thanks

Does your cat have a collar with a bell on it? That could help warn prey that something is nearby.

No, but I don't want to warn the prey . I'd love for him to catch it ... I just want him to finish the job outside the house. Hence the confusion...

Leave poor Seth alone!
It's natural to defend his catch, because other critters might steal it from him.
I would just get use to it and let him kill his prey.
Hopefully he is well fed and just offer it to you.
However I've had cats that would eat the mouse and give me a head or tail.
Nice kitty, good kitty.

Now I have to check you for worms!!!

I am just DREADING the day my BF and I move into a place that has mice! Last time I found a mouse in my apt, it was pre-cat, and I stood on a chair cringeing while my bf scooped it up and put it in the trash!

I think my kitten would be a good little hunter, tho....