Re: Itchy Ears?

by Brynne Tue 31 May 2016, 10:28 pm

You can certainly treat all of your mice with ivermectin and put your mind at ease.
The odds of pet shop/shelter/adopted from a previous owner mice having mites or lice or both is about 100%.

by despereaux Wed 01 Jun 2016, 2:31 pm

Unfortunately I think you're right, I just went out and bought some ivermectin so I can start their treatment today. Anything to get poor little Clover to stop scratching. Sad

I realize this might be a question for a hamster forum but figured I'd ask it here first anyway. I know mites are host specific, but any idea what the chances are of the mice spreading the mites to my hamster? She's pushing 2 years old so I really don't want to be treating her as well if I can help it.

by Brynne Wed 01 Jun 2016, 5:41 pm

Good question. I don't know.

On the last mouse forum, our expert said that mites were less likely to spread than lice. I put the diluted ivermectin mixture on my 2-year-old mouse, Lorca, in the past couple of months. As always, she had no reaction.

by despereaux Wed 01 Jun 2016, 5:52 pm

Alright that makes me feel a bit better. I'm pretty good about always washing my hands before and after handling my critters and not sharing toys back and forth so I'll hold off treating her unless I notice any signs. I doubt she's been infected or that anything would bad happen to her if I did treat her, but you know, fur moms worry Wink

by MinniesMom Tue 14 Jun 2016, 9:27 am

despereaux wrote:So for maybe a week or two now I've noticed that one of my girls seems to be itching her ears quite a bit. At first I didn't think much of it. I thought maybe she just happened to itch while I was watching or that I was making a big deal out of nothing. But today both ears are very red and a little bloody, so she really is itching as much as I worried she was. My first thought was ear mites but none of the other mice she lives with are itching that I've noticed nor do they have red/bloody ears. Any thoughts or experience with this? Either way, I'm calling the vet tomorrow and hopefully they can get her in ASAP.

I opened a new block of carefresh unscented 2 weeks ago. My Minnie has been miserable scratching! It started 2 weesk ago with the new block of carefresh. I put it in the freezer to kill what might be in it. I have used carefresh right along and got the same kind of package this last time.

I took Minnie to the vet yesterday and he took 2 scrapings. No mites no fungus. He is pretty certain it is the bedding and had me clean everything out and just put paper towels in the aquarium for a while. Vet had me clean out her aquarium with diluted bleach or white vinegar. Dry it well.

Minnie was trying desperately to get out of the bedding, which she loves to burrow in, and was dumping her food dish and then crawling into it to sleep!

The vet had me buy childrens benedryl liquid. I got the bubble gum flavor. Only cherry or Bubble available. Wish they had unflavored. Vet said to put it on a small piece of food...that is hard because she doesn't want to eat. I am going to try to put a dose in a tiny bit of apple juice and see if she will take it that way.

I wanted to post because I thought it was mites on Minnie. And I didn't think it was an allergy to the bedding since I have used the same since I got her. But the vet said things can get into the bedding in a warehouse or production if it is in the same area as other bedding production. Cross contamination kind of.

I am going to use shredded corn cob to replace the paper towels when she is feeling better. The vet said the cob would be good.

by CinnamonPearl Tue 14 Jun 2016, 4:43 pm

The thing about Carefresh is that some of the bags include the new formula that is made with baking soda. Seeing as baking soda is a common ingredient in rodenticides, this could be the cause. It could also be parasites in the bedding, and unless you have a subzero freezer, freezing it does pretty much nothing.

I wouldn't use corn cob as bedding. I'm pretty sure that it also has a high chance of carrying parasites. Until you know for certain what's causing this, go with shredded newspaper. It's the most hypoallergenic of the common mouse beddings.

by despereaux Tue 14 Jun 2016, 5:01 pm

I was actually about to update this thread today because if anything Clover is worse even after 2 treatments of ivermectin. How long after starting treating for mites should I expect to see improvement? Surely by now she shouldn't be scratching so much. Would using aspen instead help at all? Or should I just spend the extra time to shred newspaper to be safe? And should I continue to treat for mites even after I switch beddings?

by CallaLily Tue 14 Jun 2016, 5:11 pm

Definitely follow through with the mite treatment, if for nothing else but to completely rule that out. It's possible the scratching has now become an OCD problem, for which you'll want to distract her as much as possible with playtime and changing up toys often.

Edit: Here's the link to the article on scratching, if you haven't read it: https://petmousefanciers.forumotion.com/t17-hair-loss-and-itching.

by Brynne Tue 14 Jun 2016, 9:22 pm

Using any type of wood is not a good idea for an already itchy mouse. Newspaper is safe.

by despereaux Fri 17 Jun 2016, 9:59 pm

So I've made the switch to newspaper bedding a few days ago and so far so good although I know it can be a week or two before you see a noticeable improvement. Would you guys recommend using a bit of liquid children's benadryl in the mean time? Does anyone have any experience with how to go about doing that?

by CinnamonPearl Fri 17 Jun 2016, 10:01 pm

I wouldn't use any sort of medication without consulting a vet first. It's just unsafe.

by Sponsored content