Hiya,

My pet mouse has had problems with itching on the back of his neck for almost 2 months.

Initially the vet thought it was mites so he had a course of 3 injections every 10 days which should have sorted the problem.

The itching didn't get better so the vet prescribed a cream thinking it might be dermititus.

A week later he was worse again.

The the vet thought maybe it was mites but in his ears so prescribed ear drops which I did for a week twice daily (very hard on a tiny mouse) and he seemed to get even worse.

So after another visit to the vet we tried a cream for ringworm combined with an antibiotic in his water, but again after a week he's looking even worse and starting to squeel when he itches himself.

Having spoken with the vet on the phone he says there's nothing more he can do.

So now I turn to the sheffield forum pet owner group - please can anyone help my poor little mouse?????

Jen x x x

Awwwww- I'm so sorry to hear this Jen- it sounds like he's not having any fun at all.

I don't have any great suggestions I'm afraid- I'm not experienced with creatures smaller than cats. I hope someone can help you with this though.

Have you tried tea tree cream by johnsons? It has a soothing element and may help

Hiya,

My pet mouse has had problems with itching on the back of his neck for almost 2 months.

Initially the vet thought it was mites so he had a course of 3 injections every 10 days which should have sorted the problem.

The itching didn't get better so the vet prescribed a cream thinking it might be dermititus.

A week later he was worse again.

The the vet thought maybe it was mites but in his ears so prescribed ear drops which I did for a week twice daily (very hard on a tiny mouse) and he seemed to get even worse.

So after another visit to the vet we tried a cream for ringworm combined with an antibiotic in his water, but again after a week he's looking even worse and starting to squeel when he itches himself.

Having spoken with the vet on the phone he says there's nothing more he can do.

So now I turn to the sheffield forum pet owner group - please can anyone help my poor little mouse?????

Jen x x x
Hi remove all the sawdust and bedding from its cage and use newspaper for a week it sounds like it got a dust allergy

Hi remove all the sawdust and bedding from its cage and use newspaper for a week it sounds like it got a dust allergy
was thinking the same myself, my mates rat lost all its fur and was red raw, removed the sawdust and all was good!
Good luck jen, poor little might.. i cant help having a giggle at you putting the ear drops in though:hihi: :hihi:

Have you tried changing the bedding??

Small animals, especially rats and mice have serious allergies to pine bedding (rats and mice often get respiratory infections or mycoplasma from pine bedding)

So have a go at changing the bedding to plain tissue paper, or some soft bedding for small animals that you can get in petshops. Or Carefresh, there's also megazorb and aubiouse which are horse beddings and come in massive bales for £6-8 so try going to your local riding centre.
Or try reptile beddings like Aspen or beech woodchips, Aspen/beech is a hardwood and so doesn't have the phenols that softwood like pine does and so doesn't irritate the system as much or at all.

I have an exotic species of gerbil that had weird patches where the fur was being chewed/scratched off for apparent reason, changing her to chinchilla sand has done the trick and her coat no longer has these odd bald patches.

I agree, all my rodents sleep on shredded paper

Hi jen13kd. Have you considered trying another vet? I have had 2 very poorly pussycats, who have both had full and good lives thanks to my vet's dedication, even when the conditions they had weren't well known or understood at the time they were diagnosed. I had other vets, but never found anyone so good. Anything she doesn't know, she makes a point of finding out.

was thinking the same myself, my mates rat lost all its fur and was red raw, removed the sawdust and all was good!
Good luck jen, poor little might.. i cant help having a giggle at you putting the ear drops in though:hihi: :hihi:


it certainly wasn't funny trying to do the eardrops at the time....

poor fella - I've just found a website about food intolerance in fancy mice so that might be it - I'm going to make some home made mouse food

fingers crossed.

Some mice (Only bucks in my experience, but it may happen to does too) develop
a food intolerance which results in itchy skin, sores and scabs over the back
and neck, and a generally miserable-looking mouse. The intolerance probably
varies from mouse to mouse, but it is most common in mice which are fed on
hamster mix (sometimes called 'rodent mix').
The foods most likely to trigger it off may be peanuts, maize
(corn), perhaps wheat, and perhaps for some mice other oily seeds.
If your mouse shows there symptoms and you are certain that he
does not have a parasitic infestation (lice, mites etc.. - you can't always
see them, so if in doubt ask a vet) then put him on a very simple diet. This
could be either:

*Home-made mouse diet as described above - rice, oats/barley, vitamins if
required BUT NO millet or sunflower seeds.

Or, if you cannot face the hassle of making up the mouse health food diet:
*Plain grains - whole or crushed oats and barlet, but not wheat

*Soaked staled wholemeal bread as above, but NOT fresh bread - it sometimes
triggers skin reactions in susceptible mice.

Sounds like he's going to have a change of diet and bedding this week then- good luck on getting him sorted out Jen.

Hi jen13kd. Have you considered trying another vet? I have had 2 very poorly pussycats, who have both had full and good lives thanks to my vet's dedication, even when the conditions they had weren't well known or understood at the time they were diagnosed. I had other vets, but never found anyone so good. Anything she doesn't know, she makes a point of finding out.


He's a pretty good vet - the only thing he suggested was to give him gas to take a sample of the skin to send for analysis so we can see exactly whats causing the problem but he said the risks of him dieing from the gas are quite high, so I really didn't want to take the risk...

When I was in the vets the other day someone called up to have a gerbil castrated, receptionist told them that the gerbil would most likely die under anaesthetic and they refused to do the surgery.

Sounds a bit like what happened with a mouse that we had; he had the injections but things didn't get better and he died not long afterwards.
It might be kinder to have him/her put down, I'm afraid.

When I was in the vets the other day someone called up to have a gerbil castrated, receptionist told them that the gerbil would most likely die under anaesthetic and they refused to do the surgery.

Odd, I would guess the vets just didn't want to do it because I've known a few people to have gerbils castrated successfully.

I've had three gerbils undergo anaesthetic so far (never had a death), one went under twice, first for an abscess on his eyelid the second,was a few weeks ago at 3 1/2! and had a scent gland tumour removed. Gerbils are known for being hardy little rodents...

But I couldn't say how hardy mice are, mostly depends upon whether it's from hardy lines or not. But I would try changing bedding and even the diet first to see what happens.

I know rodents will chew at themselves if they are in severe pain, so perhaps it's some sort of mental/ behavioural problem?

My hamster had an anaesthetic and surgery and he came through it fine! They put him inside an old coke bottle with the gas in to anaethatise him, worked a treat!

Hi I would definately suggest trying another vet. When my mouse was ill the first vets I took him to wanted to put him down and so I took him to peak vets in Woodseats who put him on a longer course of different antibitoics and he was fine

Although there is a risk involved with surgery for tiny little pets, the risk is very very small. At Peak Vets, we have recently taken a huge tumour of a hamster and performed abdominal surgery on a budgie, and they are both fine

It seems like people have already answered this. Jen13 i doubt that its to do with the food, if it was an intolerance the mouse would not just have the problem at the back of the neck. These people are more than likely right and it is the bedding your using, its normally the dust in the shavings that cause it but still, wouldnt it have affected all of it body?

It does sound more like a mite but if it isnt have you checked for fleas. IT could be a hereditory thing so do you know about the parent mice? It could also be related to stress so the mouse could be suffering from something you arent looking for which is causing stress which is making it scratch its neck.

From Fallen

if you're going to change his bedding ad his diet, do one at a time, that way you know which if either, is making him better!