Mouse euthanasia wasn't on my to do list.

Emily has mice. She's had mice for several years, ever since we went into the pet store to get a guinea pig, and left with 3 white mice. I am not a fan of mice. Frankly they're something I'd rather keep OUT of the house, in all forms, both wild and domestic. Nevertheless, I am a pushover and we have mice.

Emily is an extremely good mousy mother. She trains them not to bite, she walks around with them on her head, she teaches them little mousy tricks, and feeds them exotic cheeses. The last mouse she had lived to be about 4 years old, which is like the Methuselah of mice. Recently that mouse went to the big Swiss cheese house in the sky, and so we went to get Emily a couple of gerbils. And came home with more mice. Not that there's much difference between the two types of rodents, so whatever, we have mice.

Last night she discovered that one of her mice has a huge raw spot on it's stomach. I don't know how he got it, but we suspect one of the other mice was picking on it. One of her mice, Blizzard, seems to be on the aggressive side, so much so that I put a dab of nail polish on its tail so that we could observe it more closely. Also because we couldn't find a black leather jacket small enough to fit it.

The injured mouse, Marshmallow, seemed fine last night. He was eating and drinking ok, he seemed to be alert, and active, and I didn't relish taking him to the nearest mouse ER, so we isolated him from the other mice, made him as comfortable as possible, and I told Emily I would take him to the vet today.

This morning, Marshmallow is looking a little worse for the wear. I don't think he's going to make it. So now what do I do? The only appointment I could get with the vet is during the time I'm supposed to be volunteering in Haley's class, so I had to cancel an appointment to tutor math to take a mouse to the doctor. Part of me is a curmudgeonly Scrooge, who cannot see her way clear to spend a minimum of thirty dollars to treat a mouse which only cost $1.99. But of course the bigger part of me says, this is a living creature, and it's something my daughter cares about, so suck it up and kiss the 30 bucks goodbye.

I actually Googled how to euthanize a mouse, because I think Marshmallow may be close to the end, and I don't want him to spend his last few hours in pain. That did me no good, because the only painless way to kill a mouse is to give it an overdose of the anesthetic Halothane. Hmm, let me check, do I have any Halothane in the medicine cupboard? I usually keep it between the Nyquil and the Pepto Bismol. GEE, I SEEM TO BE OUT OF MOUSE ANESTHESIA. NOPE, NO ETHER EITHER. I doubt I could have done it anyway. Not liking mice is one thing, but holding solvent-soaked cotton balls over his little nose is another.

So I'm off to the vet. I hope she can save him. If you're in tight with St. Francis, put in a good word for Marshmallow.

Comments

[Violet]

Having euthanised a hamster and a rat, at different times, I gotta' say that I felt like a total tool doing it - even though they were my beloved pets. Even more tool-y was walking out of the office clutching a box of dead rodent and sobbing like a crazy person.

In other words, I think you're a mighty good egg for doing this. :)

[Violet]

Erm, just to clarify? *I* didn't do the euthanising, ok? The vet did. I do not have a supply of ether or Halothane or anything else in my cupboards..

[lizardek]

No pet is easy to lose, rodent or not, when they're beloved. :( Hope the little guy makes it, for your daughter's sake.

[ilinap]

My brother and I had pet mice when we were little kids. They were named Woody and Allen. My parents have yet to tell us the truth about their demise. And I'm 40 now. Hope you're all faring well without your little furry friend.

[All Adither]

Poor Marshmallow. This post was both poignant and hilarious all at once. You're a nice mom to go through with this.

[DM]

Oh. I am very sad. I will hope the mouse makes it. My nephew has gerbils and they like to escape. One of them (my sister's favorite, of course) was discovered by Sebastian, the large demon cat. And devoured. Kari was devastated. Josh was somewhat nonchalant. So I get caring about a pet, regardless of what type it is.