If anyone is awake and reading my blog

I could use some advice right now. There is a mouse in my apartment. My cat chased it into the radiator where it stayed perfectly still until she got frustrated and wandered away. Then I watched it go back into the closet.

So now there is a mouse in my closet.

My cat has strong hunting instincts and she has killed a mouse before, so I know that she would kill it if she had the chance. But,

1) I don't want her to get germs and/or poison in her mouth.

2) I don't want the mouse to die.

My first priority is to protect my cat. But, the mouse is little. It's gray and fuzzy, and it has a little nose and ears.

I don't know if I should show my cat where it is, so that she attacks it in front of me -- then I could take it away (and kill it, I guess, though I can't bear the thought of killing a mammal myself). That way, I could make sure that she doesn't eat it. Or should spend time trying to set a humane trap, taking the risk that my cat will kill it first, when I'm not watching to make sure she doesn't eat it? This would have to wait until tomorrow when I can purchase a trap.

Last time she killed a mouse, she left it intact on my living room floor. But this all happened while I was out for two hours, so I don't know what she would have done unsupervised all night.

I don't know what to do. I'm afraid for my cat, and sick at the thought of the little mouse dying... and I can't catch it tonight because I have no traps or supplies.