Post respiratory infection

by anniecallister Tue 02 Feb 2021, 9:24 pm

I am a new mice owner. One of our mice got a respiratory infection just a couple weeks after we got her. I couldn't find a vet in my area that could schedule her within the week. So I tracked down some Baytril and used an old human prescription of Doxyclycline. I've just been guessing on the amount of each medicine, erring on the too little side. With a heating pad, pedialyte w/baytril, banana & yogurt mixed with Doxycycline she has improved immensely and is almost completely back to her old self. She just still needs to gain more of her weight that she lost back. It's been about 10 days since she got sick and has been improving. When do I know if she is better? How long should I continue the meds? And when can I re-introduce the other mouse back in with her? They seem pretty lonely without each other. Should I put Baytril in their water feeder even when the two mice are back together? Any help would be appreciated! Thank you.

by River Tue 02 Feb 2021, 10:01 pm

There are resources out there for how to properly dose mice, since they're such common lab animals. It's a bit risky to just guess the dosages, but it's been done. Glad she's doing well! If she's not showing symptoms I would probably stop treatment now, if I'm remembering right then 2 weeks is the normal time frame for antibiotic treatment. They can have a bit of plain unsweetened Greek yogurt to act as a probiotic, though mine didn't quite like it.

We don't usually separate mice when one gets sick, because if they were together at that point then the other mouse has already been exposed. They can probably go back together fine, though I'd wait for confirmation on that. Go through the reintroduction process again to be on the safe side when you do reintroduce, though.

Millet spray and oatmeal is a good option for underweight rodents, though I'd keep an eye on it.

by anniecallister Tue 02 Feb 2021, 10:43 pm

Thank you for your response. That's good to know about not separating the mice in the future if this happens again. Is it normal that one mice can get a respiratory infections while it's littermates don't? I did find those dosage sites and did my best to get the dosage right. I was pretty nervous about it though. I forgot to say I also gave her albuterol nebulizer treatments with baytril in the nebulizer. That helped a lot as well. I'll give her some millet and oats to fatten her up. Thank you very much again for your help. I'll make sure to go through the reintroduction process. Btw, should I just keep the heating pad in there for good? She seems to love it. It's one of those stuck under the glass terrarium lizard heating pads that stick to the bottom.

by Dee67 Sun 07 Feb 2021, 10:31 pm

Wow, you sure are a good mouse mom, you did a lot for your mousie. I worry about heating pads long term myself but see what others think. I'm just glad she's doing better, thanks to your efforts. Mice have different immune systems and different genetic predispositions, so it is not strange that one can get sick and not another, same as 1 child might get sick but not another.