How did my baby pass so suddenly?

by ajk Sun 06 Sep 2020, 5:36 pm

I recently got 2 little mice from petsmart (I know, that’s my first mistake but there isn’t many breeders near me) around mid-July. They were the only 2 in the tank and clearly super bonded. I brought them home and about 2 weeks later brought one (Rosie) to the vet to have her checked for an URI because she didn’t sound good. They checked her and gave me recommendations but said it wasn’t a respiratory infection yet but to keep monitoring her. Fast forward to mid August I started noticing that my other mouse was swollen around the tail and soon realized that this mouse was a BOY. Petsmart has them listed as both girls and I didn’t think to check as they looked the same because I assume he wasn’t sexually mature yet. I began freaking out because I didn’t want baby mice so I brought him back to the pet store and decided to get another girl mouse. The entire day after bringing that other mouse home I was a wreck and felt horrible for abandoning my boy and splitting them up so the next day I brought the new girl back and got my boy and decided to get him neutered. He was neutered a little over a week ago and is doing great but his sister Rosie passed away yesterday morning. I noticed 3 nights ago that she was very weak and trying to drink but couldn’t. I gave her water from a syringe and brought her to the vet the next morning where they told me she had mite infestation and lost 16g (she was only 29g to begin with so this was more than half her body weight). I could feel her spine and all her bones and she was just incredibly weak. I saw her eat leading up to this but I guess with separating them and everything going on with my boy just getting out of surgery I didn’t realize that she was eating very little. The vet gave her fluids and gave me a critical care formula to mix with water and feed her every 2 hours. I did this but unfortunately between 2:30 am and 6am she passed. I was heartbroken and I feel horrible for my little boy who was her companion. I can’t stop crying and feel like it’s my fault. I feel like it couldn’t have been just the mites that caused her to get to such a horrible point so what do you guys think? Please help me get through this it was such a short 2 months with my little girl and i’m so upset. Also, should I get more mice so my boy isn’t so lonely? I know boys like to live on their own but he’s neutered now and I feel like I could try to bond him to another female. Any advice will help.

by chiroptera Sun 06 Sep 2020, 9:16 pm

@annak I'm not entirely sure what happened with your girl, unfortunately - I wish I could give you a definitive answer. There are a few possibilities, though I don't think any of them were your fault. I think it's definitely possible that she did have a URI - I don't really know why the vet wouldn't send you home with meds if there were even signs of a URI. They crop up very quickly and if there were already signs, she was definitely at risk. Another possibility is that there was something wrong with her genetically, that you couldn't see until it started to really effect her. Mice are very good at hiding signs of illness or injury, so she could have just been hiding it up until she couldn't anymore. I would try not to blame yourself - mice, unfortunately, are not always the hardiest of animals, especially those from pet stores, since they're not really bred for good health.

As for your other question, I would absolutely recommend getting more females for him to be with. Unneutered males should live alone due to the risks of either pregnancy or fighting, but it's not because they really like to live alone. In nature, a male would live with a colony of females. Since your boy is already neutered, there is no risk of pregnancy, so it's in his best interest to get him some new friends to live with!

I would recommend at least two females, as mice generally do a bit better in groups of three+, but if you can only get one more, that's definitely better than him living alone!

by SarahAdams Sun 06 Sep 2020, 9:46 pm

Awww. Sorry to hear that. I once had a little mouse named Rosie, too. Please don't blame yourself. You did everything you knew how to do - and more than the majority of people would do for a mouse (or cat or dog, etc) - to save this tiny fragile creature. Mill-bred pet store animals often have health problems and short lives.

I'm sure your new boy is going to have a happy life with a few girlfriends. I believe you'll need to wait a while to introduce some females to him without any risk of pregnancy. It might be a month(?), but I'm not sure about that, so do check! Good luck with your new little friends.

by ajk Sun 06 Sep 2020, 11:29 pm

Thanks for the input! I’m definitely going to get my boy Mac a couple of girl friends. I miss my baby Rosie so much but I know she would want me to save more little ones in her honor and she would want her best friend to be happy and not lonely for the rest of his little life Crying or Very sad

by MerciToujoursMaPetiteBoop Mon 07 Sep 2020, 1:53 pm

Parasites like mites that feed on a host animal's blood put a strain on the host animal's circulatory system to keep up with new blood production. Essentially, the host is eating to feed both itself AND the parasitic intruders, leaving not enough nutrients and blood volume to sustain the host properly. One of the symptoms of parasitic infestation is anemia, which presents in the host as fatigue, lethargy, and paleness -- including gums, tongue, and the insides of eyelids that can be nearly white when the anemia is acute.

Mousies have so little blood to mess around with, and mites are much bigger in comparison to mice than to humans. So an infestation can quickly deplete a mouse.

Rather than ramble on in detail about the health risks of anemia, I'll leave that to you to look into if you're interested. Basically, deprived of adequate nutrition (because the parasites are siphoning it off), organs are strained to keep the body functioning, and the situation can lead to organ failure.

by ajk Mon 07 Sep 2020, 8:16 pm

That makes a lot of sense. When the vet said it was mites I had a lot of hope that after she treated her for them I could nurse her back to health but she was just so fragile and weak and couldn’t hold on any longer. I still can’t help but feel like it’s my fault that this poor animal passed since I didn’t catch it early enough but I appreciate the explanation on the mites. Maybe she had an underlying condition (like the URI) that I just didn’t know and I guess I will never know.

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