Mouse in the House
Posted by Angie Pyper on April 13, 2006
Q: hello. We have mice in the garage that my cat loves to hunt. If I catch him soon enough, I release them outside. Unfortunately, I believe he ate one the other day. We do NOT use poison on the mice, we have live traps. So, would eating this mouse harm my cat in any way? thanks!
Angie
Great site by the way!!!!
Habitat: suburban/yard
State: British Columbia
Habitat: suburban/yard
A: Your cat is just doing what it's well-adapted to do - catch and eat little animals. No, the mice won't hurt your cat in any way and in fact are probably a very healthy addition to its diet. It's interesting to note that people who care for raptors (birds of prey), make sure these animals get whole animals to eat. As a result, all of the nutrients available in a whole chicken or whole mouse, for example, are available. Commercial foods for cats probably don't have everything (they may have some added vitamins etc) that a whole mouse would have so the live foods a cat finds probably are good. Of course, we don't want our cats catching nesting or baby birds but an occasional mouse shouldn't be a problem. Thanks for asking.
John Wiessinger ( April 14, 2006)