Mouse scratching wound - help! ????

by Hillarygarrett7 Tue 01 Sep 2020, 7:15 pm

Hello all! I am brand new here, so bear with me! My daughter has a pet mouse that originally had a small open wound on its back. Took it to the vet, no big deal, was told to put some antibiotic ointment on occasionally and call it a day. But, as soon as the wound scabs over, the mouse starts scratching at it and further opens the wound. I’ve taken her back to the vet and he wasn’t any help, also called every other small animal vet in the area and they’re booked for weeks. I tried switching to an antibiotic ointment that also had a mild numbing agent (found the recommendation on a veterinary forum), didn’t help. I tried treating for mites with Ivermectin paste just incase mites was a factor, still didn’t help. At this point I’m starting to feel like I should be considering putting her down, because of how low her quality of life has to be getting, but I just wanted to throw one last Hail Mary out there incase anyone else had any new ideas. I’d very much appreciate the input!

by MerciToujoursMaPetiteBoop Tue 01 Sep 2020, 7:50 pm

There was a study done on lab mice some years ago that found that the single most important thing that kept mice from scratching themselves into hamburger was to keep their little claw nails trimmed. I only have a few minutes before the building I'm in has to be locked down for the night, so I hope somebody else can come along and complete this topic for you. But there are existing discussions of this problem on this site; I hope you browse through them while you are waiting for the next reply here.

If nothing else comes up, I will have computer access again in about 14 hours and will check back here. Don't give up. Wounds heal, and moist wounds heal better than scabbed over wounds. That's probably one reason why animals lick at their booboos so much. The trick is to keep it from becoming an obsession.

Nighty-night.

by bumble Tue 01 Sep 2020, 8:03 pm

I used to work in a lab as an animal care technician, and I can confirm that the most common treatment is usually clipping the back nails of the mouse and providing them with more enrichment in order to distract from the itching. Any nail clippers will work, though the smaller the better. We had a specialized tube that was just big enough for the mouse to enter head first without being able to turn around an escape (one side was closed). Then, you could hold on to their back feet and clip their nails. Perhaps something like a toilet paper tube with one side closed off would work for you? Or you may be able to get away without one if your mouse is friendly/you have two people. If you do this, please be careful and not clip the quick! This will cause lots of scary bleeding, and you may want to have KwikStop powder on hand (you can dab it on the toe if it does start bleeding, which will stop the bleeding fairly quickly). I would also continue using the ointment that your vet gave you as well Smile

I hope this is helpful and wish you luck!

by AmyLynn Thu 03 Sep 2020, 5:03 pm

Hello there I had the same issue with one of my mice. My poor vet tried everything. Then just when we thought all hope was lost my vet called me and said he wanted to try something unusual that some of other vets her knew tried with success. It is usually an ear drop for dogs or cats. It is called Baytril Otic it comes in a little 15 ml bottle. The vet simply had me place it on the wound twice a day. With in days we started seeing improvement. You can get it online and at most pet stores without a scripts. It is water based so it is a little runny but soaks in great.

by Hillarygarrett7 Thu 03 Sep 2020, 6:31 pm

Thank you all so much for your recommendations! I’ve ordered both the otic drops and the KwikStop powder, I’m going to very pensively attempt trimming her nails, after watching a looot of YouTube videos Laughing

I’ll keep you posted on her progress!

Thank you all again for your help!

by AmyLynn Sun 06 Sep 2020, 2:31 pm

I hope your mouse improves. Let us know how they do.

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Mouse scratching wound - help! ????

Mouse scratching wound - help! ????

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Re: Mouse scratching wound - help! ????

Re: Mouse scratching wound - help! ????

Re: Mouse scratching wound - help! ????

Re: Mouse scratching wound - help! ????