Sick Mouse

by sara.benaglio Tue 18 Apr 2017, 6:03 pm

Hi. I recently adopted a female mouse (she doesnt have other friends but will be getting then this week, shes seems happy she eats drinks and plays) I've noticed that she doesnt always sneeze but when she does she'll go into a sneezing fit. For about a minute or so she'll sneeze around 4 times every 20 seconds and will do this either when I'm holding her or in her cage. Her bedding is cagefresh, shes in a bin cage that has ventilation on the lid but not the sides yet. My room is warm or neautral (not cold not hot) and shes been doing this since I got her. I'm not sure if this is how all mice are but when shes standing on my hand she feels very shaky or buzzy. I do not have a vet for her yet nor do i think I can take her to own because of financial issues. If anyone has any advice on how I could stop this or stop it from progressing please let me know!

by scaredymouse Tue 18 Apr 2017, 8:45 pm

If she's eating/drinking/running on the wheel, I wouldn't worry just yet. New mice sometimes go through something called "box shock" where they sneeze a lot the first couple of weeks. It's a nervous behavior. Of course, it's possible that she's sick but it's most likely box shock. Especially since you are describing a buzzy feeling, it sounds like she's new and nervous. If anything changes (eating/drinking/playing) or she looks like she is having trouble breathing or you hear a clicking sound, that would indicate that she may actually be sick.

by sara.benaglio Tue 18 Apr 2017, 8:46 pm

Okay. Are there any home remedies for breathing problems or any type of sickness in mice?

by scaredymouse Tue 18 Apr 2017, 8:55 pm

Not really. Nothing curative for breathing problems. There are some things that can help you get through the night until you get to the vet like using a humidifier and keeping them warm with a heating pad on low under a corner of the tank. But respiratory infections require antibiotics. Other things mice get are eye infections, bacterial intestinal infections, abscesses/tumors... all of which require antibiotics or veterinary assistance.

There are a couple of minor things that can be tried for basic things like mild diarrhea... you can try benebac which is an over the counter probiotic which can help. Sometimes eyes will get irritated but not quite infected... you can use saline eye drops to flush the eye out twice a day for a few days and sometimes it clears up. Minor wounds can be treated with Neosporin. And mites can be treated with over the counter Ivermectin.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

by sara.benaglio Tue 18 Apr 2017, 8:56 pm

And how much would a vet check up be with or without being prescribed medication?

by scaredymouse Tue 18 Apr 2017, 9:03 pm

It varies depending where you live... but my vet charges about $50 for an office visit and medication is usually in the neighborhood of $20 on top of that but can be more depending on what you need.

Here is a link to our health packet as well, it's got useful info in it:

https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t25-health-packet#34

by sara.benaglio Tue 18 Apr 2017, 9:04 pm

Okay thank you! This website is amazing for new mouse owners

by River Fri 21 Apr 2017, 9:10 pm

Perhaps a late response, but might be helpful; my vet is about 30$ an office visit for the mice plus (around) 20$ for medication. Really quite reasonable, and its a great vet. I suggest calling around till you find the best one for you.