Vet Costs?

by M O U S E Fri 13 Nov 2020, 8:46 am

I've been posting a lot about this recently, and hopefully this is my last post on this topic. This morning I saw red goo around Roisin's eye. She later groomed it off during play time. As far as I know, this is either caused by conjunctivitis or stress. I brought it up to my mom this morning, and before I even mentioned the vet she said she isn't "paying $5,000" for a "$7 mouse." I work, and if I end up convincing my mom that my girl needs medical attention, I'll probably be paying for it out of my college funds.
1. How much would taking her to the vet cost? I live in Pennsylvania in the US, if that makes a difference.
2. Would there be additional costs for any medicine or eye drops she may need?
3. How badly will/might she be hurt if she doesn't go to the vet?

by Molly_mouse Fri 13 Nov 2020, 1:33 pm

I have absolutely no experience with eye issues, but I think she may need medical attention. Try to remind your mom that she is more than walking seven dollars, she is a life with feelings and emotions. Mice are very good at hiding pain because that’s how the survive in the wild, so it would probably be difficult to tell how much pain she’s in with taking her to a vet. In the future, it might be a good idea to get pet insurance, it’ll save you a lot of money in the long run. I’ve taken my mice to the vet three times, and I’ll let you know what I’ve had done and how much everything costed. The most expensive vet visit I’ve ever had was $500, which consisted of an examination and two tumor removals which she had to be put under for. Unless your mouse has a tumor, I would not expect paying that much. The second time I took my mouse to the it was $50, it was only an examination as I live in the Pacific Northwest, and this was during our really bad wildfires, and the smoke had messed with her lungs. I got tips from the vet as to how to decrease the smoke amount in her cage, and after that I went to the store and bought about $30 of supplies. My third and last vet trip was $200, which was because my mouse had what the vet thought was pneumonia, and by the time they were able to fit her in she was on her last legs. She had some sort of treatment to help her lungs breathe more easily, and she got antibiotics. She passed a week and a half after that, although I do think that that treatment added that time to her life, and it allowed me to spend some quality time with her. She passed in my hands while I was stroking her, and I wouldn’t have wanted it to happen any other way. I believe the anti biotics were around $50, though I know different medications or dosages are much less. In my vet, and I don’t know if this stands for all vets, but the first time you bring a mouse in the examination is $80, just because they have more information to record than a second time visit, and for every visit after that the examination is $50. There would be additional costs for medicine, but I would be very surprised if it in total went over or even near $150. Before you take her to the vet, you should make sure that the goo was in fact coming from her eye, and that it wasn’t just some fruit goo that got stuck to her. If she shows no other symptoms, you could refrain from taking her to the vet, but if your subconscious thinks that something is wrong, it probably is. It is concerning though, because it was red. If she has any other symptoms I would make sure to get her in as soon as you can. Please keep me posted because I’d love to hear how your little mouse is doing, and if I can’t help you in any other way, please let me know!

by M O U S E Fri 13 Nov 2020, 2:26 pm

Molly_mouse wrote:Please keep me posted because I’d love to hear how your little mouse is doing, and if I can’t help you in any other way, please let me know!

I will! I'm concerned that it just keeps getting worse. It went from just looking a little small (her left eye is less protruded than my other mouse's eyes, and she squinted it a lot), to watery, to better once I switched the bedding, back to watery, then red goo, and she's back to closing it the whole way sometimes (namely after she wakes up). I started using homemade saline drops, and that helped with the squinting tremendously. Do you have any advice for finding a good vet?

by Molly_mouse Fri 13 Nov 2020, 2:44 pm

I would take her into the vet then, sometimes it can be hard to find small animal vets. And if you’re worried about it coming out of your college savings, I don’t think, although I very well could be wrong, that it would be too expensive for that case. What I did is I just searched “small pet vets” or “pocket pet vets”, and most veterinary clinic websites let you read about their vets. I just picked the one with good reviews and a vet that seems qualified, and it turned out great! Again because the money would be coming out of your college savings, when looking at reviews you might want to find a clinic where the word affordable comes up. If you got your mouse from petsmart (and maybe petco? I’m not sure), which I wouldn’t recommend, but if you did they offer free or close to free vet service for any animal that they supplied you. I wish you good luck!

by M O U S E Fri 13 Nov 2020, 4:29 pm

Molly_mouse wrote:I would take her into the vet then, sometimes it can be hard to find small animal vets. And if you’re worried about it coming out of your college savings, I don’t think, although I very well could be wrong, that it would be too expensive for that case. What I did is I just searched “small pet vets” or “pocket pet vets”, and most veterinary clinic websites let you read about their vets. I just picked the one with good reviews and a vet that seems qualified, and it turned out great! Again because the money would be coming out of your college savings, when looking at reviews you might want to find a clinic where the word affordable comes up. If you got your mouse from petsmart (and maybe petco? I’m not sure), which I wouldn’t recommend, but if you did they offer free or close to free vet service for any animal that they supplied you. I wish you good luck!

I don't think it would be very expensive either. I'm guessing she is just stressed, has conjunctivitis, or an eye infection. I'll ask Petco if they do free vet service as well (I know now how bad chain pet stores, are, and am planning to find a breeder for my next mice!) Thank you for the luck and the advice!

by Floopsy Fri 13 Nov 2020, 9:02 pm

Dealing with the cost is more worth it than dealing with it getting worse, imo. The store option sounds like it could be great, but here are other resources I got from the vetective link on the forum that might help as well here (click) and here (click). Another option is to call local vets/shelters and ask them what exotic vet they recommend, then call the vet and ask about cost and payment options. Last time for myself was around $100 (exam/antibiotic/pain medication), just for an idea if it is an infection, but realize that could differ depending on what options are available and the diagnosis of your mouse. Best wishes!

by M O U S E Sat 14 Nov 2020, 3:33 pm

Floopsy wrote:Dealing with the cost is more worth it than dealing with it getting worse, imo. The store option sounds like it could be great, but here are other resources I got from the vetective link on the forum that might help as well here (click) and here (click). Another option is to call local vets/shelters and ask them what exotic vet they recommend, then call the vet and ask about cost and payment options. Last time for myself was around $100 (exam/antibiotic/pain medication), just for an idea if it is an infection, but realize that could differ depending on what options are available and the diagnosis of your mouse. Best wishes!

I agree. If it were up to me, she would have already seen the vet. Thank you for the links!

by disastervibe Sat 14 Nov 2020, 6:17 pm

M O U S E wrote:I've been posting a lot about this recently, and hopefully this is my last post on this topic. This morning I saw red goo around Roisin's eye. She later groomed it off during play time. As far as I know, this is either caused by conjunctivitis or stress. I brought it up to my mom this morning, and before I even mentioned the vet she said she isn't "paying $5,000" for a "$7 mouse." I work, and if I end up convincing my mom that my girl needs medical attention, I'll probably be paying for it out of my college funds.
1. How much would taking her to the vet cost? I live in Pennsylvania in the US, if that makes a difference.
2. Would there be additional costs for any medicine or eye drops she may need?
3. How badly will/might she be hurt if she doesn't go to the vet?

My vet says the exam fee for small animals/exotics is around $70. The last time I had to take an animal to the vet for an eye problem (around ten years ago) it was for my dog and the cost for medicated eye drops was $60.

You're mother is really making a leap regarding the costs. I would recommend telling her it's unlikely to cost that much. I would also suggest going to the vet, asking for what the procedure she will need would cost, and deciding from there what to do. If it's beyond what you can afford, then you can ask what you can do to make her more comfortable/ease the symptoms at least.

by River Sun 15 Nov 2020, 12:14 am

My vet appointment was 60$ and the eye ointment they prescribed was like, 10 bucks. Some are even cheaper, but I went to a specialized exotic. Medication costs will vary, and you can use the GoodRX app to find cheaper places to get it.

by M O U S E Mon 30 Nov 2020, 5:14 pm

Molly_mouse wrote:...Please keep me posted because I’d love to hear how your little mouse is doing, and if I can’t help you in any other way, please let me know!

I began using store bought saline drops, and she's looking much better! Thank you for your help!

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