Urinary tract infection

by macho mouse Thu 14 Oct 2021, 7:09 am

Hello. I'm a new mouse mom. I rescued a male baby mouse just a few days old from a hay bale that I was feeding our horses with. I'm guessing Macho Man is not quite 4 weeks old now. He's still on kmr formula. I've introduced dry quick oats about 2 weeks ago. More recently I've added ground up dry Mazuri rodent blocks to his diet. He has an abundance of energy (popcorn stage?). He's a meticulous groomer and eating well, although Macho prefers formula over everything else. I've introduced water, but he dosen't seem interested. He wants his formula. I use Kaytee white, unscented paper bedding in his aquarium which is heated by a heating pad. I also use flannels which are changed and washed daily with an unscented dish soap. I clean his aquarium weekly with this same soap along with an occasional unscented baby wipe. Here's where I'm starting to panic: I noticed couple days ago that there was one shred of paper bedding that was light pink. Now today when I watched him squat, there was a second shred of bedding that was a darker pink. Help! Has anyone had an UTI experience with their mouse? I don't know if I can find a vet in this area who knows that much about mice. Can I buy antibiotics online? I think Macho would take the antibiotic if it was sweetened. What would be the dosage? Macho is so small and wiggly I don't know if I can weigh him. I don't know anything about a mouse's timeline for genital maturation, but I'll try to get a better view of his underside. I'll try to wrap him burrito style in a Kleenex. Any health advice would be greatly appreciated, along with feeding/weaning advice. This is my first mouse and already we've bonded. That might have something to do with only getting 2 or 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep at a time to feed this little Macho Man. Thanks for listening and trying to talk me off the ledge!

by LioMeis Sat 16 Oct 2021, 5:41 pm

Oh my! Well I want to start by saying that's definitely vet worthy, and I wouldn't try treating it yourself since it's hard to know what's actually causing it. It could be something other that a UTI especially since he was wild.

If he'll take it you could try giving him a little diluted 1 to 1 Pedialyte-water and see if he'll take it to keep him from getting too dehydrated while you search for a vet.

by macho mouse Sun 17 Oct 2021, 1:04 am

Thanks LioMeis! I spoke with a vet yesterday and she said, "A pink orange to rust color urine can be actually very normal for rodents. They excrete a pigment called porphyrin in their bodily fluids, urine, tears, saliva. That can cause a discoloration from what we typically expect to be clear or yellow fluid." So far I haven't seen any signs of discoloration since.

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Urinary tract infection

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