Bad URI very sick

by peas Fri 29 Jul 2016, 8:01 pm

My mouse Wormy is very sick.

2 days ago, when i was petting her, i thought she was just bruxing louder than usual. I am normally paranoid about my mice so the fact i didn't put two and two together right away has to mean that the clicking must of just started 2 days ago.

Yesterday afternoon, is when i noticed the clicking was for sure clicking. She was so loud i thought she was eating. I called the vet and he said to give her baytril, as another mouse of mine recently had a URI about a month ago.

I have been told that it takes antibiotics 24-72 hours to really have an affect and this was always my understanding. However, Wormy really looks in bad shape. I have had quite a few mice have URIs and i've never seen a mouse click that loud, that often and shake when she walks around.

She had her first dose of baytril 24 hours ago and seems as bad as she was yesterday. No worse, no better. She just had a bit of a cracker and tiny bit of egg and poo'ed. I made her two new beds and a ramp to get up to her water bottle, where she loves to sleep and is now, trying to sleep.

There are basically no vets with mouse experience around here. The vet i am currently seeing, i am his mouse experience.

So my basic question is, has anyone had a mouse with a severe URI, shaking and trembling, loud clicking for what seems like hours at a time, recover? How long did it take for the mouse to go from death's door to improvement?
As i mentioned, i have had mice recover from URIs pretty quickly, usually in about 24 hours but those were all mild compared to this, which seems to have just suddenly been bad.

As my vet has no mouse experience, i was wondering how long have any of you waited before switching to a more powerful antibiotic? Did upgrading to the most powerful antibiotic work where baytril didn't?

Wormy is young. She's doing chin ups right now, switching beds so she's still feeling strong but her head is still bobbing like a chicken.

She's going to the vet tomorrow to get doxycycline or doxy something, to be added to her baytril. I just read about something called clindamycin that hopefully i will get incase the doxy-treatment doesn't work.

I have edited this about 40 minutes later i think? And she's now on top her water bottle eyeballing me and itching. Still shaking but no clicking. She's grooming and the fact she's trying to be sleeping perched on top of her water bottle, is very normal.

by MouseLover Sat 30 Jul 2016, 7:12 am

Sorry to hear about your Wormy Sad

I don't have much to say other than just keep on with the antibiotics and fingers crossed she pulls through. I have had a very sick mouse, who I thought was going to die, recover from a URI - it took about 3 or 4 days for me to start to see an improvement though.

Good luck!

by CinnamonPearl Sat 30 Jul 2016, 8:28 am

So sorry to hear this! Poor little Wormy. What I would do is wait a couple of days, and if she doesn't seem any better, call your vet and convince him to also give you doxycycline. That's the usual treatment for bad URIs and pneumonia. The double team of antibiotics is very effective.

by peas Sat 30 Jul 2016, 9:42 am

Wormy is dead.

Warning: (stop reading if this kind of thing bothers you)

I was just giving her her baytril by the glove method for the first time, since it seemed like she wasn't eating or drinking anymore since last night.

After giving her her baytril which went fine, i tried to give her a tiny bit of water. This time she struggled more and then she stopped.

So i don't know if I crushed her to death. If i got water down her lungs or if the stress of it all plus her already laboured breathing was just too much.

I don't know. She didn't yelp or anything so i doubt i crushed her, i feel like there is no way a healthy mouse would of just died like that. Maybe i shot too much water down her lungs? I didn't do it fast that doesn't seem likely. Maybe it was a combination of all three things at once. Nice that i get to wonder forever if i crushed her to death.

Pretty terrible way to die i guess. She wasn't any better this morning and looked worse, i was on my way to the vet in 2 hours to get the doxy or something else as it was clear she was not better.
I figured she was going to die, she just all of a sudden was in terrible shape yesterday or the day before or whenever it all started. She got baytril right away and still.
I guess that helps. I feel like if i did crush her to death trying to hold her down, she likely was about to die anyways. Maybe i saved her another day of sitting still struggling to breathe.

Well i have had an endless string of mouse deaths the last year. Seems like all my mice were living until old age, now they are all dying way too young.

Wormy was 8 months old.

On the positive side, she had a lot of good treats. Spent most of her life sparking around like mad, atleast the parts where her cage mates weren't terrorizing her.

On a comical note, i walked in the room after having possibly crushed Wormy and told an onlooking Thutty and Nutty that "you're next" and they went scattering too their wheels!
Of course they understood nothing and always go scattering to their wheels when they are energized in the morning, they want me to chase them, but it was still kind of funny.

I hate how fast they die. 3 Days ago, Wormy was bouncing around. Now she's in a plastic bag in the freezer because i am worried she'll magically come back to life in the garbage bin.
(i am not a burial person, they can toss me in the garbage bin when i am done)

Seems like yesterday i was posting about the time she escaped. I guess that was one of the highlights of her life.
She liked her massages. She was getting some good ones lately.

I am glad she got those new treats a few weeks ago. Those were a big big big hit.

by AnonONIagent Sat 30 Jul 2016, 10:09 am

So sorry to hear about poor Wormy. I've learned on two occasions now that mice are such fragile creatures; when there's something wrong with them, it can be difficult if not impossible to get them better.

And don't beat yourself up over maybe having crushed her. Trust me when I say I for sure did much worse to my poor Molly.

It's a sad thing, but the good thing now is that you have an opportunity to give a new mouse a loving home.

by CinnamonPearl Sat 30 Jul 2016, 10:38 am

I'm so sorry to hear that. The way she went sounds similar to how my parrot went, once upon a time. It sounds to me like the stress of being restrained and given medication while being so sick was too much for her. I doubt you crushed her; it was just the stress of it all.

It can be shocking how fast they go downhill, isn't it? The sad thing is that when mice get like how Wormy was, they rarely manage to come back. They're such delicate little creatures. But at least she's in peace now, and her struggle is over.

by Peachy Sat 30 Jul 2016, 10:46 am

It doesn't really sound like you crushed her to me, but what an awful feeling that must be. Sad

One of my boys had a similar timeline, he actually passed a few hours after we got back from the vet. He had stopped drinking and was obviously dehydrated. It's scary how fast they can get so sick. I'm sorry to hear about Wormy and hope that you're doing alright.

by CallaLily Sat 30 Jul 2016, 12:24 pm

I'm so sorry to hear about Wormy. hugs

by Rodents rock! Sat 30 Jul 2016, 1:04 pm

I'm so sorry for your loss, but she is at peace now. You did everything you could. Sending hugs your way.

by MouseLover Sat 30 Jul 2016, 7:10 pm

So sorry peas Sad

The thing to remember is that you were trying to help her, and that's what matters. I really doubt you crushed her. From her behaviour it sounds like she was on her way to the rainbow bridge anyway Sad

rest in peace little Wormy.

by CAPSLOCK Sat 30 Jul 2016, 7:37 pm

Poor little Wormy. It sounds like you did everything that could be done for her. Mice are so good at hiding their sickness that by the time they're looking sick, often they're REALLY sick.

by scaredymouse Sun 31 Jul 2016, 5:50 pm

I'm very sorry to hear about Wormy. For what it's worth, it doesn't sound like you crushed her. Most likely she aspirated fluid into her lungs. It's a possibility for any of us that have to medicate small animals, especially when that animal is already in a weakened state. Try not to beat yourself up over it... which is hard, I know. But she was already gravely ill, and you were trying to help. I'm so sorry that happened to you, it must have been awful.

I liked your comical note, though. I've said goofy stuff to my critters before and then they responded as if they understood. It's always funny.

by peas Wed 03 Aug 2016, 12:06 am

Thanks everyone.

I was driving the other day, and i was thinking about why i named her Wormy. Because she squirmed so much in my hand....I burst out laughing!

It sucks, but i still have Nutty and Thutty. One less tank to clean, one less wheel, bottle etc. And she had a good life, she was a very happy mouse. One of the happiest i have had, sparking around quite a bit just randomly without me even interacting with her.

Such is mouse ownership. She had fun and she had a lot of yummy treats.

by Brynne Thu 04 Aug 2016, 3:49 pm

My condolences!
She may have simply died from the stress of that moment combined with already being very ill. I've learned over the years that picking up a mouse who is dying and causing some mild physical stimulation for a few minutes (petting, grooming, talking to) is sometimes enough to cause the mouse to die right then.

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