Nose bleeding

by prips Wed 15 Aug 2018, 3:10 pm

Hey everyone,

last night I noticed what looked like fresh blood on my mice's habitat. Obviously I was in shock! I don't believe they've been fighting, they are all females and love each other very much.

As I looked further, I found Mary had blood (porphyrin??) coming out of her nose. She ate a bit but then started looking very lethargic, looks like she's in pain. My other mouse Lilly had an URI (mycoplasma) not long ago and she looked like this for a while, but now she's recovered!

I let Mary rest for a bit but this morning she looked the same. I will bring her to the vet but just wondering if anyone had dealt with this.. I'm very scared of coming back home and finding her dead Worry

by CallaLily Wed 15 Aug 2018, 6:45 pm

It’s probably porphyrin, which can be a sign of stress and/or illness. A vet trip is a very good idea. Good luck!

by prips Fri 17 Aug 2018, 12:39 pm

Hey everyone.. it is with a heavy heart that I report that my poor Mary has passed away... it was shocking, she seemed perfectly healthy before.. I don't know why she passed away so suddenly.. could it simply have been old age?
When I got home, I thought for a while she had recovered, but later I found her lifeless on her warm cozy hammock.. Sad

I was going to bring her to the vet that night.. now I'm blaming myself thinking I should have brought her earlier... I guess we all have guilt feelings like these, even with people, thinking we should have done more..

We buried her yesterday, it was so difficult.. Crying or Very sad

Unfortunately these amazing little creatures don't live very long, and this is something we all have to accept.. My other mice are all the same age, so I wonder when I'll have to deal with this again soon..

Looking for any words of support if anyone has it.. Heart

by CallaLily Fri 17 Aug 2018, 2:23 pm

I’m so sorry for your loss. Sudden illness/death with mice unfortunately isn’t uncommon. As prey animals they hide sickness very well, so usually by the time we’re seeing symptoms they’re already very sick.

How old are/were your mice?

by prips Fri 17 Aug 2018, 3:50 pm

She was almost 2 years old, so are the others.. Heart

by CallaLily Fri 17 Aug 2018, 4:00 pm

Ok. It could definitely have been age related too. Average lifespan for pet shop mice is around 1.5-2 years. Again I’m sorry for your loss. I hope your other mice have many many more healthy happy days left.

by AmyLynn Fri 17 Aug 2018, 5:00 pm

I am so sorry to hear about your mouse. It is easy to feel as if there is something more you could have done. I can assure you that you did the best you could. 2 years old is old of a mouse. You must have cared for her well for her to have lived so long.