# Mousing rummaging through Lucky's dog food.....what would you do...



## cinnamonteal (May 16, 2008)

It could be why he stopped eating it... especially if the mouse had been urinating or defecating in it. :yuck:


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

cinnamonteal said:


> It could be why he stopped eating it... especially if the mouse had been urinating or defecating in it. :yuck:


Yuch...that is what I was thinking to.......But I kept thinking of all the horrible stuff he yearns to eat and wasn't sure....


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## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

I can remember one time Jacques didn't put the lid on the dog food container and when I reached in....a mouse ran up my arm.

The dog food became fish food. The fish in the pond loved it.

Definitely keep the food in sealed containers. FOOD GRADE...like Tupperware. In a food grade container, you can dump the food directly into the container.

Or if it's a huge bag....keep it IN the BAG...in something like a garbage can. Don't take it out of the bag. Plastic that isn't food grade....like trash cans....will absorb and trap the oils that are in the food. Then it will go rancid and trap bacteria. When you put in another fresh load of kibble....it gets contaminated by the container. Not good.

Ps...If you have ONE mouse....you have MANY. Believe me. Time for traps. No poison because they carry it in their mouths and can drop pieces...which the dog might eat. You don't want that.


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

I agree with AG on the air tight containers. I probably would throw the food away.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Ardeagold said:


> Definitely keep the food in sealed containers. FOOD GRADE...like Tupperware. In a food grade container, you can dump the food directly into the container.
> 
> Or if it's a huge bag....keep it IN the BAG...in something like a garbage can. Don't take it out of the bag. Plastic that isn't food grade....like trash cans....will absorb and trap the oils that are in the food. Then it will go rancid and trap bacteria. When you put in another fresh load of kibble....it gets contaminated by the container. Not good.


I didn't know this. I stuck the whole bag in the container but was considering pouring the kibble in....glad I didn't do that.


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

Time to get a cat. LOL


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## Charlie06 (Feb 10, 2007)

Yuck, I would definately throw it out. I've been buying the smaller bags, actually the medium sized bags and started keeping it in the fridge.


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## 3SweetGoldens (Feb 28, 2007)

I would have thrown it out as well. I keep my three's food in a metal garbage can that has a tight fitting lid. I also leave it in the origional bag, inside the can. 
YUCK....how I HATE mice and rats!!!:yuck:  gives me the willey's to think of it! We too, have set some traps this Summer....but haven't gotten any.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I've always used poison.....and worried about where the mouse died at. I have a real hard time with the death throes I hear and see when mice caught in the trap. Used glue traps once and me and my then 7 year old son cried as the poor mouse screamed......tried to get the little guy out but he was plastered...what a terrible way to go. 

The cat would be good, but my husband has issues with cats.

I suppose we could get some traps....


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## cinnamonteal (May 16, 2008)

How about live traps? That way you can just let them go or dispose of them in a more humane way.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Yeah....I've been thinking of that. We've go lots of fields around here where a mouse could live without being a nusience to humans. Not sure if I've see live traps anywhere.....

Ahhh I see them online...


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

I've been keeping what I use in a week or so in the stainless containers I got from Pet Edge and the balance IN THE BAG in one of the air tight plastic pet food containers. Could be important to have the batch/lot numbers available with all the food issues lately. Also, I feel better if it is not in contact with plastic. Also, all food is kept in the house... not out where it is hot. Not only can it go bad when exposed to the heat, but all those sprayed on nutrients are inactivated.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I will probably look for something that is made for food or metal. Right now the bag is tightly rolled and placed in a big shallow and long cumbersome plasitic storage container in my VERY small kitchen. I have to put the trash can on it....takes so much room. I will get something tall.

We did have to use poison or I guess I'll blame my husband. He was up late and saw mice JUMPING from my microwave stand into the trashcan and then jumping out. Several. He also heard them in the bathroom under the sink. I guess that one mouse I was seeing was really a huge infestation. He put poison under the sink and one on the microwave stand and we haven't seen or heard any since. I moved the one on the microwave...wasn't comfortable with that at all.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I have to add this...I had been talking to my husband about live traps ..of course he was telling me not to be rediculous.

And after the incident with the mice jumping in the trash can...he told me that it reminded him of something that happened in his previous marriage. He and his wife had left for the evening. They had the trash can by an over hanging counter. When they got back, they found SIX mice who had jumped into the trash can from the counter and who cound't get out. A live trap is you wish.


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## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

> I've always used poison.....and worried about where the mouse died at.


One thing about poison. Even if it's out of reach for the dogs....mice pick it up and carry it in their mouths to another spot, just like they do with food. If you have mice, when you start moving things in the room you see them in, you'll find a "stash" of food somewhere. If they're stealing dog food...that's what you'll find. (Look UNDER your microwave)

They also drop the poison as they go, which makes it potentially dangerous for your dogs. The mice drop some, the dogs eat it. 

I know of someone who found pieces of rat/mouse poison in a shoe in her closet. So that goes to show how it "travels".

We use the live traps and they work very very well. Just gotta keep them baited, and take the mouse far out into the field or woods or whatever when you empty them.

I've found the best bait is peanut butter, or PB on bread...or even chocolate. They LOVE chocolate.

Good luck!


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## Celeigh (Nov 29, 2007)

Ugh, vermin!!!! :yuck: My parents live in a rural area and have lots of wildlife around them including mice and rats. They have a pest control service that comes monthly and have tried every trap out there. Their vermin have laughed at the live traps. The snap traps work about 75% of the time, but the faster rodents can spring one and not get caught. The glue traps work well, but you are right, it is hard to watch the animal die. The T-Rex traps work well for rats and kills instantly.

The main thing you HAVE to do is find anywhere they can get in and seal it up tightly. Any gap larger than 1/4" is big enough for a mouse or rat to get in. Go to the hardware store and buy screening to seal up any vents and steel wool to shove in small holes followed by expandable sealing foam. Use the steel wool/foam around any pipes or cracks.

The nice thing about an exterminator is that as part of your service, they come out and seal all the entry holes for you, place traps in the areas where they see activity of mice/rats, and check and empty traps for you. The service my folks use also as part of your normal service charge will come out at anytime during the month when you need them to (if you smell something has been trapped or see new activity).

I feel for you! Good luck.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

Lucky's mom said:


> Ok...so our new Pro-Plan experiment is off to a good start. Lucky's eating it, his coat is really looking so much better ...which is important because he has bad coat "genes".
> 
> But 1/2 way through he starts not to eat it ...well he does but it takes a whole evening.
> 
> ...


 
If you were seeing good results with the ProPlan, I'd go back to it. I'm sure that now that you have a mouse-proof container, he won't be offended by Micky or Minnie "sharing" his food, using it as a rest room, and will continue to eat it and do well.


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## Phillyfisher (Jan 9, 2008)

I would not feed my dog food that mice had been in. It was probably why he was not so crazy about it. Now that it is protected, try going back if he was doing well on it.

I don't have a lot of faith in live traps- are you really willing to drive far enough away for one mouse to guarantee it is not come back? A cat is the best way to go. When we moved into our house in the woods, our cat caught her first mouse- she was 8 at the time. We have only seen (caught in a snap trap) one or 2 since, in an attic space that she is not allowed into due to the insulation. In the rest of the house, we have never seen or caught any. I love little critters when they are outside, but that changes when they get in my house!


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## Goldilocks (Jun 3, 2007)

Lucky's mom said:


> I will probably look for something that is made for food or metal. Right now the bag is tightly rolled and placed in a big shallow and long cumbersome plasitic storage container in my VERY small kitchen. I have to put the trash can on it....takes so much room. I will get something tall.]
> 
> I bought a storage container at Petsmart called a "Vittles Vault". It is guaranteed pest proof and ant proof and it's made of human grade, food grade plastic. There are many different sizes and syles to choose from. For more info, the website is www.gammaplastics.com. I hope you get the mouse soon!


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## LOVEisGOLDEN (Jan 4, 2008)

we use this: http://www.sterilite.com/ProductDetail.html?ProductId=434&Section=Household for the girls food. I wash/dry & let it air out for a day after each bag. We found it at Walmart. they also carry a smaller one with a blue top, my husband's firehouse uses those for sugar & flour storage.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

My dh is the king of trapping vermin - with ten acres of meadow, we have more than our share. Like AG, his bait of choice is peanut butter. I do store my dog food and our bird seed in airtight, commercial food service storage bins. Before getting them, our mice and ground squirrels were in full show coat, eating ProPlan Performance:doh:

Before I was married, my brother was staying with me and one morning he decided to make breakfast and when he dropped a slice of bread into the toaster, out jumped a mouse! (I hadn't used the toaster EVER...) and he discovered that a little familiy of mousies had taken up residence in it!!!!!! He wanted to "toast them". I nixed that and made him eliminate them elsewhere, what he ultimately did remains a mystery. I didn't get another toaster until we received one as the obligatory wedding gift when I got married.


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

Pointgold said:


> If you were seeing good results with the ProPlan, I'd go back to it. I'm sure that now that you have a mouse-proof container, he won't be offended by Micky or Minnie "sharing" his food, using it as a rest room, and will continue to eat it and do well.


That's what I was surmising to....just needed to break away and figure it out. We'll try the Pro-Plan again next time. I have trust in Eukanuba as well...but man its EXPENSIVE!


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## LOVEisGOLDEN (Jan 4, 2008)

Lucky's mom said:


> That's what I was surmising to....just needed to break away and figure it out. We'll try the Pro-Plan again next time. I have trust in Eukanuba as well...but man its EXPENSIVE!


I banned my DH from the pet store after he noticed that the Eukanuba was almost half the price of what we buy...:doh:


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

LOVEisGOLDEN said:


> I banned my DH from the pet store after he noticed that the Eukanuba was almost half the price of what we buy...:doh:


Well....I don't tell my hubby what I pay. When he was working and I was at home we were on a budget and dog food was a monthly clash. Purina dog chow does cost $11 for 20lbs....he couldn't understand paying $15 for 17lbs of Iams.

Now that I'm working and he's at home....we don't seem to have a monthly budget anymore. We aren't saving money but Lucky does gets better food without the bickering.

I know those super premiums are substantial more.....but I understand priortizing what you feel comfortable with.


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## Pointgold (Jun 6, 2007)

Lucky's mom said:


> Well....I don't tell my hubby what I pay. When he was working and I was at home we were on a budget and dog food was a monthly clash. Purina dog chow does cost $11 for 20lbs....he couldn't understand paying $15 for 17lbs of Iams.
> 
> Now that I'm working and he's at home....we don't seem to have a monthly budget anymore. We aren't saving money but Lucky does gets better food without the bickering.
> 
> I know those super premiums are substantial more.....but I understand priortizing what you feel comfortable with.


If you really were to look closely, though, the "premium" dog foods cost you less in the long run. You feed less of it as more of it is utilized nutritionally than the cheaper foods, which you have to feed more of to come close to the nutritional value of the premium foods. Overall health is better and that equates to lowered vet bills. And, as it is more digestible, there is less clean up.
A bazillion years ago, we found that a 40 pound bag of "premium food" lasted much longer than 100 pounds of cheaper food. The nutritional benefits were obvious in a short time.


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## cinnamonteal (May 16, 2008)

Pointgold said:


> If you really were to look closely, though, the "premium" dog foods cost you less in the long run. You feed less of it as more of it is utilized nutritionally than the cheaper foods, which you have to feed more of to come close to the nutritional value of the premium foods. Overall health is better and that equates to lowered vet bills. And, as it is more digestible, there is less clean up.
> A bazillion years ago, we found that a 40 pound bag of "premium food" lasted much longer than 100 pounds of cheaper food. The nutritional benefits were obvious in a short time.


Yup. I totally agree. We started Caleb out on a cheeper brand but after doing a little research and calculations, discovered that we could get better food at the same price per calorie.


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## Adriennelane (Feb 13, 2008)

Having worked at a farm and home store while in college, I have to say that the only way you can keep mice out of any type of feed is to keep it in a hard, air-tight container. We don't have mice yet, but still yet we keep Lucy's food in a big, plastic container with a lid that snaps shut. Mice can eat right through a dog food bag, and what's left behind is disgusting. It's not worth feeding to anything after a mouse has had its way with the food.


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## Popebendgoldens (May 16, 2008)

BeauShel said:


> Time to get a cat. LOL


I have 9 cats and if a mouse gets in the house they will play with the mouse and kill it but will not eat it. I STILL have to throw the thing away.


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