# My sick mouse



## Lufniss (Jun 11, 2013)

I know he isn't a rat but I'm hoping I can get help. My mouse hasn't been right the past two days. I first noticed he was sitting in an open corner of the tank instead of inside his house. I didn't think too much of it until I saw that he was breathing heavy. I assumed right away it is because I started using hay in his tank a little over a week ago ( though I thought it would happen right away if that was the case). But I'm also thinking it might possibly be his age. I found him almost a year ago in my driveway (poor boy had been dyed blue by someone) and of course I don't know how old he was. Yesterday when I noticed that he didn't seem himself I cleaned his tank so he wouldn't have hay to see if that would help. The weirdest part was that he wanted me to hold him. I'm afraid of being bitten even though he's never been nasty (bad experience with hamsters as a kid) so I rarely touch him. I thought he might have wanted to be in my hand because he was cold (though it's 87 degrees in my room). Another strange thing was that he didn't bother putting any newspaper or cotton into his house when I put it in his tank. He's only been sitting on it outside his house and he always spends the day in his house. Any ideas on what to do to make him better? And is it possible that he's acting this way because of age as opposed to hay?


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## Lufniss (Jun 11, 2013)

Here are two pictures of him. The upside down one is flipped and won't rotate; he is not being held upside down.


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## LightningWolf (Jun 8, 2012)

I'm not an expert with mice, but sounds like he might have a Respiratory infection, which I'm going to assume that just like rats it's more common to get as they get older. Can you get him to a vet? If you can, or even have a dog vet that would be nice enough to give you some medicine, baytril might help. I'm not 100% sure of the dosage on mice though since they're much smaller then rats. If you have amoxicillin (normally prescribed for people) then that would also help.

Is he still eating? If so see if he'll eat some parsley and cilantro (if you have fresh oregano that's better then cilantro). If you have to put it in a blender with other stuff that he likes, along with some honey, that way its a liquid and he can eat/drink it better. If he's loosing weight, or seems to be loosing weight, then try something like chicken, or meal worms if you have them, along with the herbs, or a fatty fruit like avocado (Use the fruit thats not by the peel or the pit). Hopefully the herbs and the honey will help him fight it.

If he's not eating, or what I mentioned above isn't working, then the only thing you can do is that if he wants to be held, is to hold him, and hope that he passes peacefully or somehow is able to overcome it himself.

Since he is a mouse, and I'm not sure how many people on here have experience with sick mice, this forum might help you out a lot more. I know it's mainly for breeders, but I'm sure they'll be able to help you in some way. (http://www.fancymicebreeders.com/phpBB3/)

if it makes you feel better I really doubt its the hay, he probably would of started showing signs the day after you put it in there.


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## Lufniss (Jun 11, 2013)

Thank you for your help. I had not been able to find a mouse site when I was looking up what to do for Lucky. I think I have some leftover amoxicillin so I may give that a try; I'll see what the people on the mouse site have to say as well. He's eating very well and I had him out for a while today, which made him seem very happy, but he still won't set up his nest in the house like he always used to do.


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