Tumor in abdomen???

by Lfullone Mon 23 Aug 2021, 9:48 am

Hello friends of mice!
My 3yo house mouse, Petunia, is extremely swollen. Condition worsening over about 6 weeks. I want to do anything I can to keep her comfortable of course, but is there something more I can try that might help her get better?

She still eats, drinks, poops and pees. Poop looks shriveled and dry. Pee looks darker yellow.
Doesn't come out much and looks very uncomfortable balancing that huge body on her little feet. I searched for common stomach tumors in mice but everything is lab research related. Should I try antibiotics?

I lost a dog once to a burst tumor on her spleen, and can't help but wonder if this is blood accumulated in Petunia's abdomen that's causing this extreme swelling.

Haven't been able to get a picture yet, but I estimate she has tripled in size in 2 months. No visible lumps - just lower body swelling.

Anyone have knowledge of common issues in mice with these symptoms?

Btw, Petunia is an actual house mouse found as a pinkie on my basement floor over 3 years ago.

by mouse mama Thu 26 Aug 2021, 9:29 pm

My mouse has this issue at 1 year old, but he hasn't tripled in size. Is he drinking enough water? Maybe constipated? Mine will eat the occasionally cucumber, it has a nice water content to it

by cerial Mon 30 Aug 2021, 6:52 am

What does she eat?

This is fatty she just loves to eat.

Even as a pink she would drink and drink having mom constantly doing the belly thing.

But shes super active and absolutely is tamed by my hand feeding her treats.

If your deer mouse is acting slow try a wet treat like a 2" spaghetti noodle with a bit of sauce on it. Or a bit of banana. Just something to give her system a change.

Also place a water dish in the cage for a few hours(it will get dirty fast) . She may just be in pain.

One of my fancy mice named Munk(not so smart) will do anything the deer mice will often do often failing. She will also do things like jump off a 3 foot high desk to play on the floor or climb 4 feet of the curtains to sit on the top. I put up shorter curtains just because of Munk.
Munk will also keep moving when a mouse is in a defensive pose. Nothing really bothers her and she calls the bluff being ok with a bop on the head.
Munk has landed on her head several times and her neck is a bit crooked. It has been like that over a year and there is nothing I can do about it. But she does need to drink a bit diffrent from the others so I angle one of my 2 waters to make it easier.

If your mouse is sick or you got some bad food changing the food(wet treats) and making the water easier to drink (in case she is in pain) for a few days may help her get better.

by Lfullone Mon 30 Aug 2021, 11:01 am

Finally got a picture of my Petunia so you can see her big bottom. She's still eating and drinking well but poop is very shriveled and dry. She gets seed mix plus a few squash seeds, small piece almond or peanut, and tiny bit of fruit or soft veggie for treat - blueberry is her favorite.

by Lfullone Mon 30 Aug 2021, 1:16 pm

Here's Petunia. Sorry having trouble with the picture upload

by cerial Mon 30 Aug 2021, 5:30 pm

I have had a seed/nut/dry fruit diet in the past. I had two tumor deaths and then read up on seeds and mice and have not used seeds since.

I had several bird all over they yard for several days and fixed some bare grass spots. Lesson learned.

Seed mixes can be tricky in the amounts of whats in the mix. Generally there is a lot of filler of corn meal and sunflower seeds which birds love. But these things can be horrible for mice.

I currently have a mix of Grains, rolled oats, mixed in some no corn added organic dog food, with a few bad treats like a "puff" food, or chips. The dog food helps lessen the sugar "built in" with the other things. Just make sure it is the organic stuff that does not have corn meal, and such mixed in.

I would feed Patunia wet treats over the next few days. Just 1/4 teaspoon of smashed cucumber, smashed seedless watermelon, wet pasta(cool to the touch), mashed potatoes(cool to the touch). Feeding her these 2 times a day as well as giving any other mice some so they are not fighting over her new smells.

I would mix in some more grains/oats with the seed diet eventually getting away from seed/nuts all together over a month.

She may not like the new diet. Mice love sunflower seeds. But they also love rolled oats. You just need to put a mixture of stuff in so that they can eat what agrees with there system.

They may still overeat. But they are over eating on food that is good for them.

by michelelaforte9@gmail.com Wed 08 Sep 2021, 12:38 am

My mouse of 6 months old started to gain weight and I thought it was because I was feeding her too many nuts. At 8 months old she suddenly became immobile like she was in pain. The night before this happened I thought it very strange that she kept licking my arm. The vet told me she had a massive abdominal tumor and was in terrible pain. They said she could have surgery, however it would be very hard on her so I had to euthanize her because I could not stand to see her suffer like that. Tumor in abdomen??? 1f62a