A cat and a mouse

[Millys Mum]

Mice are rare here so theres no chance i can get them back, Lola squeals at me until shes happy im aware of what shes got and puts herself somewhere i can see her but cant reach her 
Shes a quick killer tho, doesnt waste time playing with them.

If their catch is alive and kicking i remove but if its paralysed/half dead i let them finish it. The vets i can get to with wildlife are very tight so i have a feeling they wouldnt waste drugs on whatever i take them, it would be a quick twist type job

[Cathryn87]

When I was very little I remember our cat bringing in presents. One particular time she brought in a Shrew (sp?) which I caught, and it bit me  Lol. We scooped it up in a bowl and drove up to a nearby field, to live the rest of its life *hopefully* cat free.

I know this sort of thing is very natural to cats, and I would never be overly shocked by the odd dead present lol, but I could never let a kittie play with a mouse or any other critter knowing it was still alive and in pain if I was in eyeshot and able to step in.

[Ann Clarke (Tabby cat)]

I'm sure many people will remember my suicidal mice that were stupid enough to come into the house despite me having two cats. Hobbes' record was 2 caught by him and rescued by me, including the one he took upstairs which then hurled itself down the stairs to get away from him  , one that I chased him round the house to try and catch but which escaped of its own accord and one very dead one that he kindly left as a present for me on my living room rug. He was most indignant when I took the two mice off him but I couldn't have listened to him playing with them. I'm just thankful mine are indoor cats, well Hobbes at least, Dylan watched each of the mouse episodes with bemusement and didn't move an inch 

[Rosella moggy]

I'm sure we all have many varied ways of dealing with this scenario 

Wot to do with poor critter once he's loose in the hoose?     We have a "humane" trap somewhere that we baited with a ferero rocher with great success    We then let the mouse loose about 1/4 mile away. I'm sure there's lots of reasons why we shouldn't do wot we do but we still do it 

[Maddiesmum]

I scream blue murder for my neighbour who comes in and makes Charlie let it go!  Then my legs go all jelly like cos I am phobic about mice

[tigerbaby]

To be honest I think I would turn a blind eye .. as there is no way I could finish mousey off.

I'd do this too, if it was only me at home... infact I've turned a blind eye in the past... I could never finish a mouse of myself!

Purely tween you and me    I have a scar at top of leg as a result of chasing our puddie as a kid over 40 years ago over a small fence (with protruding rusty nail) as she had caught a mouse. I caught her and she let it go.  40 years on, I haven't changed.

sorry, made me chuckle!! I can see the situation though, I nearly did the same today (minus the small fence and minus the rusty nail!)

Hmm, I dunno. I have always stood by my argument that I want Jameson to live his life being a cat and doing whatever is natural to him. It's my first time as a cat owner, and I have never seen so many mice in my life (ever) as I have since adopting him! Its just a thing getting used to I guess. We have a fan ventilation system that OH reckons could be big enough for mice to get into and then they would practically be in our kitchen wall. The area outside of it is where Jameson seems to find them. So I should really turn a blind eye to it, and let him get on with it. Ultimately it's a win win situ, where he gets to have his bit of fun, and our garden and house will stay mouse-free.

[Rosella moggy]

Purely tween you and me    I have a scar at top of leg as a result of chasing our puddie as a kid over 40 years ago over a small fence (with protruding rusty nail) as she had caught a mouse. I caught her and she let it go.  40 years on, I haven't changed.

I think it can be difficult to tell whether the mouse is a gonner or not and it wouldn't bother me spoiling a cat's fun.  They'll get over it, unlike the mouse. Cat's instinct and my instinct differ on this one 

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

To be honest I think I would turn a blind eye .. as there is no way I could finish mousey off.  If mousey was OK I'd step in and let it go but if it was beyond help I would have to let Zephyr do his thing .... Foxy and Rossi would never do anything nasty like catch a mouse 

[tigerbaby]

OH just came in saying the mouse disappeared in his bike shed, and Jameson couldn't get to it. We have a very annoyed, cranky cat here at the mo... oh, and a cranky OH too, as he reckons he'll find a smelly half dead mouse there tomorrow. What a lose-lose situation!!

[JackSpratt]

Really depends. If it's obvious the cats prey is beyond saving I let the cat finish what it started. That may sound heartless, but when I took on cats I was aware of that part of their instinctual behaviour and felt it was something I either had to accept or not have cats.

If it is still very much intact and the cats is behaving like an utter git, I take it off them.

The worst part is when Big Lad comes in with something in his mouth and the prey is still alive enough to kind of look at you, but you know it's past saving. When that happens, I usually pick Big Lad up with his prey still in his mouth and post him back out the cat flap! (None of my other three are particularly hunters, thankfully!)

[tigerbaby]

Jameson is currently in the garden, torturing a mouse. The mouse is actually still alive and intact, but probably in total shock. Jameson is just playing with it, and whacks it every now and again for it to move, only to catch it, take it in his mouth, throw it in the air etc. I yelled at OH that we should rescue the mouse, although when I got the bucket to put it in it looked like it's legs had been broken and thought maybe it would be even more cruel ''letting it go'' incase it would die anyway of the injuries. Plus Jameson got very upset, so we put the mouse back for the torture to continue. OH asked me if I wanted him to kill it, to end his misery, but all of a sudden I thought of Jameson and thought it would be unfair. He is just being a cat. And he's actually doing a great job keeping mice away from the house. It just hurts to see him torture it so much. I know he'll eventually kill it and eat it, but it's just the torture that hurts me!

Last time I rescued a mouse from Jamesons killer paws he got very upset, and I felt guilty ruining it. It's a game he loves and it's his natural instincts, plus he's being a very good cat keeping the garden clean. So I just came inside, letting him get on with it. I know he'll go to bed a happy satisfied cat.

What do you guys do if you see your cat play with a mouse/bird? Do you try to rescue it (if it's poss) or let the cat get on with it?