Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

by zozzlezeb Sun 06 Dec 2020, 7:22 am

So last night one of my girls had a terrible accident in their cage. I recently upgraded them to a bigger bin cage(Sterilite 110qt)and I'm not sure how it happened but one of my girls, Zebra, got the front half of her body crushed under a heavy wood item in the cage. I heard a lot of noise so I went over and saw her under there. I got her out and picked her up and she was in shock for a few seconds. She started to move around but her front left paw was moved more inward towards her chest and she couldn't stand it up straight and was laying on that shoulder. I immediately put her in a smaller more simple cage with food and water at ground level. The arm and foot itself, she is able to move on, she can walk but with a wobble but that has gotten slightly better since last night. The shoulder seems to be more pushed in than the other so I'm worried maybe it's the shoulder? When I first put her in she was eating and drinking but this morning I haven't seen her eat yet. She has had a history of respiratory issues and is on medication for it in fact I was about to give her one of the daily meds before it happened. The respiratory issues haven't been that bad and she was doing better before the incident. But like half an hour to an hour after it happened she has been making the worst breathing noises I've ever heard for the longest I've ever heard. This is really worrying me because she only stops for a short period of time but is mainly making breathing noises that are pretty bad. She's going to the vet today and I am an absolute mess, I stayed up all night because I thought she was going to die. I tried researching broken or dislocated arms or shoulders for mice but I couldn't find much so I was hoping people could give me some info on it. I am a first-time mouse owner and I am really scared. I really hope the vet can help with something but from what I read online it seems like the arm would heal itself but it might not heal properly. This devastates me. I am so worried about her I am not ready to lose her yet I love her so much she's my little girl Crying or Very sad

by River Sun 06 Dec 2020, 12:25 pm

Oh no! How did things go at the vet's?

URI's can be triggered by stress so I wouldn't be surprised that her symptoms got worse after such a frightening ordeal. I do hope she'll be fine. It's true that they can't put a cast on a mouse, but they can give her pain medication while she heals up.

Best of luck. I'm sorry I don't have much else to offer you. <3

by zozzlezeb Sun 06 Dec 2020, 1:01 pm

Thank you! I haven't gone to the vet yet but I am in a couple of hours. I am really nervous. I realized that her back and front leg on that side are both messed up and she can not balance that well. Sad

by MerciToujoursMaPetiteBoop Sun 06 Dec 2020, 1:37 pm

Mousies have very flexible, bendy skeletal frames. That's how they can squeeze themselves through very small holes and gaps. A dislocation should just be able to move back into place without any damage to the bones or tendons at the joint.

It is possible, however, that if your little one was pinned in an awkward position for long enough there could be muscle, circulatory, or nerve damage in that area. Sore muscles may be able to recover fairly quickly, and the circulatory system is remarkable in its ability to regenerate and populate areas to ensure proper delivery of nutrients and removal of waste.

Nerve regeneration takes longer. Been there; done that -- a couple of times. My joints are highly mobile, and in the winter of 2014-15, I think, I had a stretch injury to the right arm that seemed like my arm was about twice its length for a split second. I was clearing brush around the swamp, and I let up my attention to a tree limb I was holding bent out of the way. I sort of released the pressure I was putting on it, but did not release my grip, and -- ka-BOING! There went the tree limb in this wide arc up and away from me, with my hand still holding on and my feet firmly planted where they were Everything in the shoulder and elbow snapped back into place just fine, structurally, but the muscles were all ripped apart. They took a long time to "un-sore".

Then in the spring of 2018 I laid down one night on the sofa on top of the same shoulder, thinking "That's not a good position. I better fix that ....... zzzzzzzzzzzz ...". Unfortunately, the next thing I did was wake up to the insistent beeping of my alarm clock 4½ hours later. I couldn't move to shut off the alarm. I was flailing my left arm and both legs around, trying to get some leverage somehow to sit up, but the top of the right arm was so far out of its socket that I couldn't move it and the pain was searing whenever I tried to. Again, everything returned to proper position on its own pretty quickly, but the torn-up muscles and overstretched nerves took months to stop hurting and get back motion, strength, and flexibility. There were still remnant damage symptoms a year later.

If your mousie has avoided internal organ damage, then she just may need to be babied a little bit to help her while everything heals up. Maybe you'll have to have "mousie massage" appointments with her. Fingers crossed that's all it is.

by zozzlezeb Sun 06 Dec 2020, 5:16 pm

Just got back from the vet! The vet said it could be a fracture or soft tissue issue. He gave me pain medication and some emeraid Omnivore powder since my girl isn't really eating or drinking. The pain medication I might have to give to her for the rest of her life if it is a fracture since it won't fully heal but I'm praying it's the skin tissue problem. The emeraid powder that I'm supposed to mix with water and syringe feed to her I'm a little wary of. I looked at the nutrition facts and it said it had a 20.7% protein 12.7% fat and 3.9% fiber per 3:2 ratio. The protein worries me since my girls are pet store mice and I heard that when pet store mice eat food high in protein they can get allergic which I am trying to avoid. Any tips on other ways to hydrate and give food to my girl if the powder doesn't work out? I really hope my girl can fully recover tho!

by zozzlezeb Sun 06 Dec 2020, 5:23 pm

I'm sorry to hear about your accident! I really hope there is no internal organ damage or anything too serious. The vet didn't mention anything about internal organ damage but I don't think he would be able to see that from an examination. I really hope she can recover back to her crazy curious self again because her absolute favorite thing to do is run on wheels.

by River Sun 06 Dec 2020, 8:58 pm

The protein thing won't impact all pet store mice, so especially considering that it's only temporary, I think she'll be just fine. She needs to get her energy up to heal anyway.
You could also mix with baby food or apple sauce. A little scrambled egg is always nice. Soft foods that she can eat easily will probably be appreciated.

by chiroptera Sun 06 Dec 2020, 10:27 pm

@zozzlezeb

At this point, it's much more important to make sure she's getting nutrients than to worry too much about protein content. Mice have very fast metabolisms so not eating can become dangerous very quickly.

You might try offering the medicine in the syringe to her and see if she likes it - certain flavors of medicine are readily accepted by mice. If not,you can try mixing it in with something tasty (applesauce or baby food like River suggested are good choices!) and see if she'll take that. If she won't, then you may have to scruff her and force the syringe into her mouth - tough at first, but it gets easier with practice.

I hope your sweet little girl recovers fully! But if not, I can personally attest to the fact that special needs mousies are some of the most incredible, loving little critters out there. My dear Trouble had special needs, and while she was a bit different and needed some extra TLC, she paid me back tenfold in love.

Also, because I think you may need to hear this - it's not your fault. It was just an accident, and there's no way to avoid every accident in life. You're doing your best to give your mice the best of lives, and you're doing a great job. As scary as it is, try not to blame yourself. Rest easy knowing your sweet girls will know they're loved.

by River Sun 06 Dec 2020, 10:52 pm

Another thing I had success with -- a bit of watered-down peanut butter on the tip of the syringe. She'd go for a lick and you could get it all in before she knew what was happening. I did have to hold her but I got quite used to it. <3

by zozzlezeb Mon 07 Dec 2020, 12:55 pm

Good to know the protein thing isn't really serious. I will be giving her the powder with the nutrients and hydration she needs. She is eating on her own but she only goes it when I put her back in after I take her out to give her meds. But the only thing she eats is her favorite treats lol. She also still isn't drinking on her own so I realize how important it is for her to get the powder.

I have been giving her on and off uri medication since the summer through oral intake. At first, I tried mixing the medication with all different types of things like some smashed banana and fruits but she would not touch it. I also tried putting a tiny bit of peanut butter on the syringe but she wasn't interested in it. I'll try the peanut butter again and ill try mixing the medication with applesauce and more things that I just found out I can mix it with. When I was first giving her medication I tried to scruff her but it was not a present experience at all. I watched a lot of videos and did a lot of research on how to do it but it just didn't work out for us, and she was very upset. I do the glove method where I put her in my hand with a warm glove and kind of wrap my hand around her lightly and put the syringe in her mouth that way. She's pretty cooperative and doesn't fidget much usually.

Also thank you for telling me about the soft foods! I think that would help a lot as she's only really eating a tiny bit of her food, even her favorite treats! And thank you everyone for all your advice and kind words you have helped so much you have no idea this whole situation is very stressful and I don't have much experience with really sick mice, so I was really nervous about what to do. But I feel better now and I think my girl is too she looks like she's in less pain and can balance herself better. I really hope she makes a full recovery! Thanks again, everyone!

by Sponsored content

Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

Re: Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

Re: Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

Re: Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

Vet Update

Re: Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

Re: Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

Re: Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

Re: Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

Re: Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder

Re: Mouse with broken or dislocated arm/shoulder