The mouse is generally a hardy pet and does not often become ill, but close, cramped quarters, soiled bedding, drafts, excessive noise and lights, and poor food are all factors that cause stress. Stress is in itself a kind of illness, and as with humans, it attacks the immune system, making mice more susceptible to illness, and this will make them distressed and unhappy. The way to keep your pet healthy is to give them lots of room, clean them out regularly, feed them a proper diet and keep them stimulated and happy.

Symptoms

· Dull, listless behaviour - This can be depression, but this behaviour is exhibited in virtually every illness, so look for other symptoms. This could also be a lack of carbohydrates.

· Red discharge from the nose – This is not blood, it is a substance called porphorin, and could be either a respiratory problem or a sign that the mouse is too cold. It is also brought on by stress. Coupled with glazed eyes, lack of balance and inactivity, it could mean an ear infection, which is very serious and must have veterinary treatment immediately. If your mouse is exhibiting no other symptoms except the nasal discharge, try putting a few drops of eucalyptus oil in very hot water and place it near enough the cage so the mouse can breathe the fumes. This should clear the problem up. Also, wood shavings have dust and phenols that can aggravate a sensitive mouse's nose and lungs. If your mouse is bedded on shavings, move to paper based.

· Hair loss - coupled with age, hair loss is quite normal and nothing to worry about. When coupled with scratching and/or greasiness of the fur, this is more serious. Your mouse probably has a case of lice or mites. Signs that a mouse has a mite infestation include white eggs stuck to the ends of the hair, tiny dark brown or black adult mites moving slowly around the coat, intense scratching and eventually scaly or flaky areas of skin or open sores. Mites feed on dead skin and can transferred from other species to mice. To treat mites you can buy sprays and powders from any pet shop. Remember that if one mouse has mites you must treat them all and thoroughly disinfect all of the cages. It needs to be sorted quickly as if this problem gets worse it turns into mange. To keep mites at bay after treatment, try rubbing tea-tree and lavender oil into the fur. Remember a tiny drop goes a long way. Lice feed on the blood of mice, so veterinary help must be sought if a louse infection is suspected as lice can carry diseases from mouse to mouse by drinking the blood. Patchy hair loss and sometimes scaley skin can be signs of ringworm, in which case isolate that mouse immediately and begin treatment as possible - ringworm is contagious throughout all species. Tea tree oil is very effective at treating ringworm, but it takes a few weeks for the problem to clear up up totally. Hair loss on it’s own could mean a poor diet or a hormone imbalance.

· Scratching - Mice do scratch a lot as part of their everyday grooming routine. If you suspect the mouse is scrtaching more than usual it could mean that the mouse is getting too many nuts and seeds that can cause skin irritations. Try reducing the protein intake and feed things like potatoes and bread soaked in milk. Otherwise it is more than likely mites (see also hair loss).

· Sores on feet - These are most often caused by wire flooring in the cage. Bathe the sores in a very diluted antiseptic and then put something like lino over the wire floor immediately.

· Tilting of the head, circling or loss of balance - This could either be a stroke, brain tumour or middle ear infection. All of these are very serious and veterinary help should be sought as soon as possible.

· Not eating - If there are no other symptoms present except weightloss, this is most likely due to overgrown teeth. A good diet should keep the teeth down, but some mice have teeth that grow faster than they can wear them down. If this is the case, the only solution is to have the teeth clipped regularly by the vet. Fortunately, this is rare. If it occurs in normal teeth, get them clipped then make sure the mouse is getting a proper diet and also things to chew. Dog biscuits help a great deal. If this problem is left, the mouse will die of starvation.

· Large lumps on the body - These are tumours. Consult the vet to find out if it is malignant or not. If the answer is it is, then euthanasia should be considered very carefully. If the mouse has a malignant tumour removed, chances are that it will grow back. Mice can live quite happily for the rest of their lives with a benign tumour, so the expense and risk of an operation is usually unnecessary, but a malignant tumour will grow and spread very quickly.

· Change in colour or consistency of the faeces - This is diarrhoea. Usually this is caused by a sudden change in diet, stress or too much green food. Try feeding cereals and dry biscuits and no greens or wet food for a few days. In these cases it is easy to sort out. If the diarrhoea is persistent and is accompanied by listlessness consult the vet as it could be tapeworm. Remember to take a fresh sample with you.

· Walking hunched up - This is usually constipation, which is helped the opposite way to diarrhoea - feed lots of fresh green food and make sure the mouse is getting plenty of water.

· Thin and out of condition, with a round belly - If the mouse is not pregnant this is more than likely roundworm. Sometimes roundworms can be seen in the faeces. This is treated with a puppy wormer bought from your vet. You will need to treat all of your mice and thoroughly disinfect their cages.

· Favouring a limb or suspected break - If a mouse has broken a limb there is not an awful lot you can do. The limb will heal in time. It may not end up straight but this does not seem to bother the mouse at all. All you can do is put the mouse in a cage or aquarium with only one floor and don’t let her be acrobatic in the least until she is healed. If the limb is hideously broken and infected, it may have to be removed.

· Sneezing - Wood based bedding can cause sneezing and if this is the case, the bedding should be changed. If the sneezing is accompanied by symptoms such as nasal discharge and a hunched and generally ill-looking demeanor, it's probably a respiratory infection. The mouse should be kept somewhere warm and quiet and veterinary teatment should be sought. Again, try placing a bowl of eucalyptus oil in hot water near the cage to ease the breathing.

· Continually running in small circles - This is a brain tumour and is untreatable, so any mouse suffering from it should humanely euthanised.

· Lack of co-ordination and balance - This could be either a stroke or middle ear infection. Veterinary help will be needed to tell. If it is middle ear infection, a course of antibiotics will be needed, but bear in mind that middle ear infection is very serious and difficult to treat, and if the condition worsens euthanasia will have to be seriously considered. If it is a stroke, she will recover but you will have to feed her by hand (sweet tinned or jarred baby food like caramel pudding through a needleless syringe is best) and give her water this way too. The mouse should be fed and watered regularly (every couple of hours) throughout the day and night. Never, when syringe feeding, squirt the liquid down her throat, always in her cheek, as mice have a poor gag reflex and may choke. After about a week, she should recover enough to feed herself, and it’s all uphill from there. However, if the stroke is very serious, she may need to be euthanised.

· Blood and/or a red lump appearing in/just outside the vulva – This is a prolapse, where the lining of the womb pops out of the body. Surgery is very simple and just involves sedation, popping the prolapse back in, and applying a stitch to hold it, but the mouse would need to go to the vets as soon as humanly possible, as the longer the prolapse is exposed to air, the greater the risk of infection. It is very harmful to the mouse to breed her if she has had a prolapse.

Basic nursing care

Useful things to keep around the house include mite spray, tea tree oil, wound powder, mild antiseptic cream, cage disinfectant and a hospital tank for your mouse while it recovers. Hydrogen peroxide is a useful disinfectant to keep around and can be bought from any chemist. It should be diluted in water before use. Lactol (a puppy milk subsitute) is useful to have around to get fluids and nutrition into a poorly mouse by way of syringe feeding.

If the mouse is suffering trauma from an accident or fright, the best thing to do is confine her to her cage and observe her closely. She should recover in a matter of hours, but if symptoms persist, take her to the vets. If she is wounded, apply pressure to the cut to stop the bleeding. If the cut seems more serious than this treatment can deal with, again, take her to the vets as soon as possible, for she may need stitches. Never attempt to apply bandages as the mouse will be intolerant of these and will become even more distressed.

If your mouse has an illness (apart from heat-stroke) she will need to be kept warm and quiet. She will recover much more slowly if she has to put all her energy into keeping warm. She will need plenty of fluids as well.

If she does have heatstroke, do not immerse her in cold water, as she will go in to shock. Instead, take her to a cool, quiet, shady place and let her recover on her own. Place some room temperature water in an easily accessible position and watch her carefully. Mice can die very, very quickly of heatstroke and the best thing to do is make sure they never get too hot.

It is always useful to keep a syringe without a needle for feeding food, medicine and fluids, both for sick adults and orphaned babies. When syringe feeding, always enter the mouth from the side and squirt the food gently into the other cheek. Never project the food down the throat or you may choke your pet.
If your mouse is ill to the point of not eating, then try something sweet and easy to eat, like rice pudding (boil the rice, drain then mix with semi or skimmed milk, heat up gently, sweeten with honey (not sugar) and let it cool down. Make up a few days’ worth and refrigerate it. Even if your mouse recovers she will enjoy eating it), tinned baby puddings (like caramel pudding and banana surprise) or plain cake soaked in milk. Always leave her normal food out though, in case she feels better enough to tackle it and this way you’ll know about her improvement too. If your pet is not drinking then add some honey or ribena to the water. If medicine is to be given through the water, this is a great way of masking the horrible taste.

The Elderly Mouse

Elderly mice need much the same as an elderly person. They need to be kept warm for example. Once a mouse is old she will get sore and stiff joints like a human would, and therefore she needs to be put in a single floor cage with plenty of toys still, but nothing to climb on. She will spend most of her time sleeping, and may be not so eager to be picked up, as her body will feel more fragile to her. Because of this, young children should be supervised when handling an elderly mouse. The diet should be changed to contain more fat and carbohydrates to protect against weight loss and help the immune system.