Need help with elderly mouse

by Razumouse Sun 13 Aug 2017, 3:20 am

Please, I need some advice. I have a lone elderly female, I'll discuss why she is alone later, and she is around one year and nine months old. It began a few weeks ago, when I noticed her scratching frequently. It didn't go away, and I ruled out allergies, so I took her too the vet, suspecting mites. The vet had a look at her and didn't find any mites or lice. They actually said she was really healthy for her age! I stopped worrying about the scratching, but recently I've seen the back of her neck bleeding. I cleaned her up, and it has formed a scab. Behind her ears and her neck area is starting to lose fur from the scratching, and I'm concerned. Sometimes she gets the scab and it bleeds slightly. I think it's a case of obsessive scratching, but I don't know how it started. Maybe stress? Her cagemates died months ago, and she was always the loner, so I don't think she is particularly lonely. I don't know what is wrong, any ideas? Sidenote: Sometimes she does a random full body twitch kind of thing.

by CallaLily Sun 13 Aug 2017, 8:01 am

What is the crude protein of the food you're feeding her? Sometimes too much can cause hot spots.

The full body twitch sounds like sparking to me. Which is sort of like a guinea pig popcorning and is a sign of happiness. Unless I'm misunderstanding what you're describing. If you can get a video I could tell you for sure.

by Razumouse Sun 13 Aug 2017, 3:27 pm

Thanks for replying, I will check her food later! It's a little strange, though, she's had the same food most her life with no problems. As for the twitching, I can't supply a video, sorry. It doesn't seem like she is really happy.

by CallaLily Mon 14 Aug 2017, 8:59 am

Even if you've fed the same foods or used the same bedding all her life, allergies can develop at any time and age sometimes changes things.

There's more info on scratching here: https://www.petmousefanciers.com/t17-itching-hair-loss-and-parasites.

I'll see if I can't find a video on sparking to show you. Smile

Here's one.

by Razumouse Mon 14 Aug 2017, 11:00 pm

I watched the video, I can definitely tell it's not sparking (or what you said). She doesn't move off the ground (or move from the spot she is in) when she does it. It's kind of like she's trying to flick something off her. Also, I think you're right about allergies. I haven't got to asking the pet store how much protein is in her food (the packet doesn't say any of that, plus I threw it away and put the food in a food storage container), but I am trying to remove possible "problem foods" and seeing if she gets better. She isn't showing signs of bedding allergies so I'm probably not going to switch it. Anyway, thank you so much for your help, I really appreciate it!

by peas Wed 16 Aug 2017, 2:00 am

it sounds to me like it is obsessive compulsive disorder

Give her more attention, change her cage fairly often (like re-arrange her toys) give her more toys, and give her more treats more often and new treats and hide them, wrap them in toilet paper, do stuff to make the finding of the treats more enjoyable.

I had a female live alone for about 5 or 6 months and she was very happy.

Even if it turns out to be something else, doing all that will make her happier anyways.

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