My mouse jess, sick?

[rebelliousjedi]

Hi everyone, I've just recently joined this forum to seek some advice from the general 'mice' community =]

I am the owner of two mice, both female, around four months old now. One of them, a white coat mouse, is looking a bit ill at the moment, and I am unsure on what is wrong, and whether or not it is serious enough to go to the vet.

http://www.paw-talk.net/forums/f16/i...-do-44920.html

I came across this thread while looking help, and the signs seem the same. A quick summary:

-> She is not very active anymore, compared to her usual state. She is the more timid one of the two, but now she just sits in her nest most of the night. I rarely see her come out, even for food.
-> When I pick her up, she just walks around slowly, whereas usually she would be quite curious on trying to get down.
-> She is getting a bit fat, especially compared to the other one (Pol)
-> I've also noticed her poo is watery and liquid state like. Is this indigestion or something?

In the other thread, the result was lice, so I've given them both and their nest a spray of erm, anti-lice haha that I bought at the pet store, last night. She still seems very low on energy though and I'm worried.

I'm only giving them staple food, just the usual mouse mixture and water. Any advice, including whether or not I should separate them, would be much appreciate,

rj.

[clairebee1]

Aww Poor jess
i'm sorry i don't know anything about mice
but i hope you get some help.
Maybe you should try ringing the vets for advice or even visting them .

Hope she feels better soon x

[mulder]

i suggest (its what i'd do) separating them in case it's contagious. definitely call your vet even just for an over the phone consult. may i ask which bedding you're using? only because my mouse acted the same way when i had her on cedar bedding. pine and cedar are toxic to little animals.

[rebelliousjedi]

thanks clairebee!

I'm using sawwood dust for flooring, bought from the pet shop so I'd hope it's safe, as well as some bedding material like plain tissues and some soft paper bedding I also bought from the pet store.

Is there any chance it's a digestion problem? I was out for a few days, so I got my parents to feed them..and knowing them, they might've given too much bread or fruit?

She's still very non-active, and her breathing seems a bit heavy and fast. Sometimes she just sits at a random spot in the cage and does nothing..=[

I shall take her to the vet sometime tomorrow ><

[Angelnstuff]

Do you still have the packaging for the sawdust bedding? Does it say what type of wood its made out of.. Cedar/pine/aspen?

[mulder]

yes i do fear it's the sawdust being used. may i recommend switching to shreded aspen, it's cheap and wood so it smells nice BUT it's the only safe wood i've seen offered at stores. may i also add that i understand your trust in petstores....however human stores sell cigarettes and it's dangerous, just like petstores selling certain woods and claimed to be 'safe'. i'm totally not getting down on you. i understand and i've made the same error before. but please know that your knowledge is better than what any petstore will say to you, trust what you know and never be afraid to learn more

[rebelliousjedi]

Well, jess passed away today..I couldn't get her to the vet in time. I think she just simply ran out of energy from the sickness, and couldn't make it back into her bed.

I will check out the saw dust, thank you for the advice. Pol still seems energetic and normal, but I will still let the vet look at her tonight. Thank you both for replying to me.

rj,

[mulder]

awww im sorry!! poor thing. *hugs*