Concerning what I think is a wood mouse....

Question
About 4 days ago, I found a young mouse abut 1 inch long without the tail, covered in dust in the middle of the floor at my friends job. He has fur and open eyes. After looking around for more, I took him, bought him some kitten formula, and fed him about every 3 hours. At first I had to rub his belly to make him go to the bathroom but he does that on his own now. Can they poop on their own before they can pee on their own, or does it just happen at the same time? Anyway, today I noticed he didn't really want his milk anymore. He does eat solids... crackers and popcorn. I made him oatmeal and cut up some small pieces of fruit for him as well. I am concerned about him not drinking water... I have a bottle cap filled with water but he never seems to drink it. He is very active and loves to be handled. When I fist brought him in I thought he wasn't going to make it. If he was going to die, wouldn't he have already? Please help!

Answer
Dear Alyssa,

You have done a fine job with the little mouse.  If he isn't getting the hang of drinking (and my hand-fed kitten didn't figure it out until he was ten weeks old!), just make sure his food is plenty moist.  Fruit is good;  vegetables are great.  Carrots, celery, cucumber, etc. are great.

The kitten eventually 'got it' after I made him soup out of his food and he got used to licking it... you could try something more solid like unsweetened applesauce in the dish.  Make sure he always has water too.    

Best of luck!

squeaks & giggles,

Natasha