URGENT Rats eaten ..... (distressing)

[Dinky]

OK, a while a go I posted about a mouse being in our house.

I got home today to find a leg in the rat cage, I was so worried I thought one of the boys had savaged another - I can only presume this was our mouse.
So awful. Poor little thing

Now I really worried about the meat they have eaten with him being a wild mouse.....I have rung the vets but both our specialist vets are not in today so I cannot get an answer out of them.

I am so freaked out!

[spoiled_rat]

Sounds like some nice extra protein
(ok I am being gross now, sorry!)

Hopefully mr mouse has not eaten any poison that folk have put down.

[Dinky]

OMG I didn't even think about that! I really hope not, what should I do......the boys seem happy with themselves for eating the damn thing!

[spoiled_rat]

If the mouse has eaten some poison...and your boys have eaten the mouse....well, there isnt really a way to tell if mr mouse has or hasnt eaten anything or what has been eaten, be it 1st or 2nd gen anticoagulants or similar.

Rats generally have to eat a surprising volume of poison themselves to die, so one mouse between them, isnt really that much if the mouse has been poisoned.

Vitamin K1 has been used as an antidote to anticoagulant based poisons before.

[Anthony]

poor poor mouse :[

[acapae_wolf]

I'd keep a close eye on them for a few days, but they should be fine

[Julie_Ann]

Is it possible that they DIDN'T eat the mouse. . .?

Once a mouse got caught in a trap that my grandpa left out. The little mouse had got it's leg trapped in the mousetrap and when my grandpa tried to let the mouse go, it was struggling so hard that it's leg fell off. Gruesome story, I know. . .but the point I was trying to make is that maybe one of your rats grabbed it as it tried to escape back out the cage, and it's leg was pulled off. If there isn't a lot of blood, then maybe that's possible? Is there blood outside the cage?

I hope it's that and you don't need to worry so much

Good luck!

[Neotoma]

It's pretty unlikely that a poisoned mouse would just happen to chose your rat cage as the place to die.

It's much more likely that it went in there looking for food, and well, met an unfortunate end. It's not a very nice thought, but rats predate mice in the wild, so it's actually fairly natural behaviour on their part.

As beri says, keep a close eye on them, but it's not likely to have done them much harm. If you're worried about bugs / parasites etc, then by all means take vet advice, but unless they seem ill, you don't need to worry about it being an emergency.

[Dinky]

Thank you all, they seem fine.

It's pretty unlikely that a poisoned mouse would just happen to chose your rat cage as the place to die.

It's much more likely that it went in there looking for food, and well, met an unfortunate end. It's not a very nice thought, but rats predate mice in the wild, so it's actually fairly natural behaviour on their part.

As beri says, keep a close eye on them, but it's not likely to have done them much harm. If you're worried about bugs / parasites etc, then by all means take vet advice, but unless they seem ill, you don't need to worry about it being an emergency.

My usual vet will call me back on Monday as he is on holiday.

I think this may be taking enrichment too far! Those chicks freaked me out a few weeks back, so this was not nice!

I think the mouse has been living the house a while and we bunged up all the holes and he/she/they got trapped in. We moved all rat food in to the kitchen on a high shelving unit and all our food is in high cupboards, so the only place for food was probably the rat cage.....

Is it possible that they DIDN'T eat the mouse. . .?

Once a mouse got caught in a trap that my grandpa left out. The little mouse had got it's leg trapped in the mousetrap and when my grandpa tried to let the mouse go, it was struggling so hard that it's leg fell off. Gruesome story, I know. . .but the point I was trying to make is that maybe one of your rats grabbed it as it tried to escape back out the cage, and it's leg was pulled off. If there isn't a lot of blood, then maybe that's possible? Is there blood outside the cage?

I hope it's that and you don't need to worry so much

Good luck!

There was just a leg......so unless they all devoured the rest during the day I have no clue, I thought I saw something rush from behind the rat cage and then behind our sofa, I pulled the hole thing out and searched but couldn't find a thing.
There was no blood any where either I would have expected to find some blood somewhere unless they beat him to death....

I know it is a little horrid, but I want to know if the shadow I saw was a mouse with three legs or my boys ate him.

One of my gerbils ate the other when it passed on when I was younger and I felt really differently about the gerbil then on, but with the rats I think now I am older and wise I now understand that it's not nice, but nature aint always pretty!

We have moved the cage on to a small chest so hopefully this wont happen again and we are going to get some humane traps.

[Julie_Ann]

Well, I think that if there's no blood, or any other evidence of being eaten, then the wee thing probably escaped . . .with it's three remaining legs going like the clappers!!

I don't know much about rat's digestive system when it comes to bone or fur, but I would have though that they would be hard to digest? What goes in, must come out (one way or another) . . .so check their poo

If your rats aren't showing any signs of distress etc by now, then they are probably fine

But you're right, it's just one of those things. Sure, it's a shame for the mouse, but at the end of the day - our beloved pets are still rats

[Karly]

Realistically I would say with no blood, it's more likely that they killed the mouse then later came back to eat it - had they ripped the leg off a live mouse then I would expect some blood (unless they licked it all up - but then would expect a trail outside of the cage where it escaped). I know of a case of an escapee mouse climbing into a rat cage, it was discovered dead with barely a mark on it - as if they'd just broken its neck or killed it with one swift bite. Had it been left in there longer than I imagine they may well have started to eat it