Dead rat found in elderly patient's mouth

[snopes]

Staffing was so inadequate at a California senior center that a rat crawled into an Alzheimer's patient's mouth and died there before staff noticed, a lawsuit claims.

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/art...-rat06-ON.html

[mags]

With Alzheimer's, it would seem more possible to me the patient found a dead rat (also not a good thing in a care facility) and placed it in his mouth, than that the rat crawled in there on its own and died. There's no motivation for a rat to crawl into someone's mouth.

[snopes]

Originally Posted by mags

With Alzheimer's, it would seem more possible to me the patient found a dead rat (also not a good thing in a care facility) and placed it in his mouth, than that the rat crawled in there on its own and died. There's no motivation for a rat to crawl into someone's mouth.

Back when we used to live in a place where we allowed our rats to have the run of the house (rather than confining them in cages), I awoke more than once to find one of our rats perched on my face with his snout in my mouth. Either there was something about the mouth that appealed to him, or he had an interest in dentistry.

- snopes

[charlie23]

Back when we used to live in a place where we allowed our rats to have the run of the house (rather than confining them in cages), I awoke more than once to find one of our rats perched on my face with his snout in my mouth. Either there was something about the mouth that appealed to him, or he had an interest in dentistry.

- snopes

And you probably used to get all cute and feed them treats held between your teeth, like I used to do with not only a pet rat but also a lovebird. The guy was "eating candy with the rat", the rat probably was already sick from poison in the traps...the guy took a siesta with the candy in his mouth, the rat took a more permanent one at the same time....

There's a big difference between a field mouse and a rat. Here I was picturing a husky rat like one of my old babies in someone's mouth. In most of the article the animal in question is called a "rat" and in other parts a "mouse". Field mice are really quite a bit smaller than a rat... I wonder if it really was a rat, or a lot of people involved in this are ignorant of the difference between the two.

Anyways, I second the idea that perhaps this gentleman picked up the dead mouse/rat and placed it in his own mouth. I've worked in dementia care for years and while no one has yet to eat a furry I can almost guarantee you of two things:

1. It's really hard getting anything in their mouths that they don't actually really want in there, especially a living furry animal. I doubt that a resident would have let something crawl in there unless they were a willing eater. Even if they were asleep- they usually aren't the world's deepest sleepers.

2. They put all sorts of weird things in their mouth, when they want to. I wouldn't be suprised if someone found a dead small animal and tried to eat it.

[Halfmad]

My father was in a nursing home for months at the end of his life and there was a dementia patient on his ward that went steadily downhill and should have been moved to a setup where they could keep a better eye on her far before they did. She had a habit of walking into other patients' rooms, including my father's, and [STOP READING NOW IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH] would actually put things from bedpans in her mouth before the other patients could stop her. I found it heartbreaking for all concerned, and infuriating that it was able to happen at all.

[frogpond]

Originally Posted by snopes

Back when we used to live in a place where we allowed our rats to have the run of the house (rather than confining them in cages), I awoke more than once to find one of our rats perched on my face with his snout in my mouth. Either there was something about the mouth that appealed to him, or he had an interest in dentistry.

- snopes

Your pet probably was smelling the last tasty thing you ate! I find it hard to believe a wild rat would stick it's head in someone's mouth, so I also believe the patient probably picked up a dead one.

I really wish someone would discover a cure for Alzheimer's - it just robs you of everything that matters.

[Xia]

Originally Posted by snopes

Back when we used to live in a place where we allowed our rats to have the run of the house (rather than confining them in cages), I awoke more than once to find one of our rats perched on my face with his snout in my mouth. Either there was something about the mouth that appealed to him, or he had an interest in dentistry.

- snopes

Rats do have an interest in dentistry... There's even a name for it: rodentistry.

[Andrew of Ware]

Originally Posted by Xia

Rats do have an interest in dentistry... There's even a name for it: rodentistry.

True, but I bet you'll still couldn't find one on the National Health Service.