URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics

by timez Thu 22 Jun 2017, 9:05 pm

Hi,

I have a male mouse called Nova -He is about a year old now...

He has suffered with a chronic URI since being weaned from his mum...

I have seen a vet - mutiple times now and he is not getting any better.

He squeeks loudly every breath - his sides are constantlly being sucked in - and i feel so bad for him and am trying despretlly to help him Sad

He has already suffered with this for a year despite being on medicaton.

He was on just baytril (Vet has since stopped giving me that when i asked for doxy to be combined with it)

She said she does not want to give both in case it is too much for a mouse - I said please - all you need to do it google it!

But alas - once he was on baytril + amoxycilin though and did not get better even after a full course.

When he was on baytril even alone he did queten down a but but not fully.

he is now on only doxy - as the vet is still dragging her heels.

All the meanwhile he is suffering with noise and uncomfatable breathing that has once or twice turned into respority distress - luckily I had a nebuliser here for my astma

there must be something I can tell the vet to listen to me - what would you reccomend in a situaton like this?

I cannot see another vet atm either because it is the PDSA as thats all i can afford atm.

What medicatons and doses should he be on at this point and for how long?

(Im sure the vet is giving too low a dose but do not want to increase it without guudence.

He is also very thin

(Even now as i write this I can hear him squeeking as he breathes and the little coughs he does now and then Sad

- this must be so scary for him as it is me - and a whole year too Sad

)

Someone please help Sad

by scaredymouse Fri 23 Jun 2017, 5:01 pm

It's quite possible you are not dealing with a bacterial infection... that could be why the medication isn't working. He could have a viral infection or viral pneumonia or even permamently scarred lungs from previous infection. I'm not sure what the standard dosing is on Amoxicillin or Doxy but if you want to tell me the concentration/dose of your baytril, I would be happy to run the numbers and see if it's a good dose.

I'm sorry he's so sick. I know it must be hard to see him like that....

by Colors Mon 26 Jun 2017, 6:56 am

I had a female mouse that was sick her whole life. I'm not able to go to the vet but she never got better and died from a large tumor on her side. She had a respiratory infection of some sort (un diagnosed, it could be something else), and always had gooey eyes and puffy fur. The litter I got her from never got any bigger and they were the tiniest mice I had ever seen. Never getting mice from Pets in the park again. :'(

by Akoniti Wed 16 Aug 2017, 5:40 pm

Our mouse Squearl (was Earl, but is very squirrelly, so her name evolved over time) is just like this. We've had here for about a year now, and she's been very sneazy and squeeky, pretty much all the time, since we got her.

We've tried different beddings (shredded newspaper, store-bought white paper, hemp, paper towels), and she's been on a couple of antibiotics (once in tandem at the vets recommendation). So far nothing has made a difference, so I fear its something else. The other mice in the colony have never displayed symptoms though.

If it's viral, what can be done?

Alternatively, if it's something lodged in her nostril, what can be done (I have a mouse book that mentions this can happen, small particles get stuck in there) ?

by scaredymouse Thu 17 Aug 2017, 1:18 pm

Does your mouse have any other symptoms of being sick, like lethargy or difficulty breathing? It's possible that it's a viral infection.... but more likely that she has residual lung scarring from an old infection and makes those noises as the result of that. She might not actually be sick, even though she sounds like it. Kind of like an asthma patient that wheezes.

by Akoniti Fri 25 Aug 2017, 9:32 pm

scaredymouse wrote:Does your mouse have any other symptoms of being sick, like lethargy or difficulty breathing? It's possible that it's a viral infection.... but more likely that she has residual lung scarring from an old infection and makes those noises as the result of that. She might not actually be sick, even though she sounds like it. Kind of like an asthma patient that wheezes.

Great question! For the most part, Earl seems OK; eating, drinking, playing, snoozing with her buddy Ophelia, but also squeaking and sneezing fairly often, and her breathing is audible, raspy in-and-out now and then. She's been like this for most of her life, and is a little over a year old.

The fur on her face is a bit thin too, especially around her nose & mouth.

by scaredymouse Sat 26 Aug 2017, 6:51 pm

I can't say for sure obviously.... but i'm inclined to think that your little lady has lung scarring from previous illness leaving her with something akin to chronic bronchitis or asthma. So she has some symptoms but she's not actually sick-sick. She doesn't have an infection anymore, just the leftovers of one. She may even have good days and bad days, probably due to allergies that irritate her respiratory tract. And the fur on her face could be a little bit thin from her rubbing her face more often that her sisters because of her runny nose or watery eyes, just like people want to rub their face when they're sick.

If she's otherwise happy, I think you can let her be. As far as keeping her comfortable, low dust bedding would be ideal. Also, keep in mind that she can still get sick, so if there are any sudden/worsening symptoms, that would be cause for concern. Although, her symptoms may worsen a bit with age. If you ever just see her standing there, breathing heavy... that's a bad sign. If she seems particularly congested sometimes, you can use a humidifier in the room... that helps with their breathing.

Alright, that's all I've got! Take care of your little lady.

by Colors Wed 13 Sep 2017, 8:18 am

If a mouse has scar tissue then it probably will never heal from the original infection. I had a mouse that suffered from a respiratory infection for her entire life. I got her as a baby and she had it since she was very young. I don't have a local vet that treats mice but I tried making her symptoms better by sprinkling oregano powder in the tank several times a week.

by Sponsored content

URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics

URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics

Re: URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics

Re: URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics

Re: URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics

Re: URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics

Re: URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics

Re: URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics

Re: URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics

Re: URI not improving - not sure if medication doses are correct - vet relluctant to give combo antibiotics