Actually it was a mole, and it wasnt loose. The cats had it. Specifically Wookie, who brought it in, and then proceeded to torment the poor wee soul in the kitchen. I closed the door. Back to Ostriches! 
The noise stopped, and there was silence for a while, so I decided that the poor wee mite was out of its misery, and into my cat's belly.
Wrong! 
All that happened was I gave Yoda the opportunity for his turn. He took it into the utility room, and spent a good half hour making it scream. I have a strong suspicion what they were in a previous life.
Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore, so I went in and took the little guy off Yoda, inspected him, found no injuries, so ejected him thru the cat flap.
Exit Yoda. Returning with said mole, and carried on tormenting.
This time, I took no shit, stomped into the utility room, grabbed the mole and threw him out the front garden.
Where, hopefully, he will live out his mole years, well into senility, where he can sit in his little mole hole, regailing baby moles with the time when he was young and he was taken prisoner by The Cats Up At The House, how they tried to break him, but he was steadfast and escaped unscathed back to tell his sorry tale.
Either that or the fox will get him. 
Sounds like it would make a great children's story. We used to give our cats a treat if they brought something in (to make them drop it, not as a reward) until we noticed that different cats were bringing in the same dead thing. Not stupid - cats.