you know in certain varieties of tibetan buddhism practitioners essentially live in charnal grounds holding human skulls and thigh bones and such. the purpose is to meditate on the transience of life. all life passes, this is the world we live in. to be conscious of it is our fate. for our dear mouse friend, he was not self-conscious and had no expectation of the length of his time on earth, so i doubt he was disappointed with his lot. and most likely he did not die in pain, because most people are not cruel enough to perform that act.

evilbeagle's got a point. there are far more important things to worry about.