# White Mouse Breathing Heavily - PLEASE HELP



## mrintech (Sep 8, 2012)

Hello Sir/Madam

I have a MALE White Mouse who is 2 years and 3 months old. I am from India

My mouse is breathing heavily from past 3-4 days. I think he also suffered weight loss. He was eating food normally, but today he ate very less!

I am changing his bedding everyday, but he wants to sleep alone (there are 4 more male mice and they are absolutely fine) and on bit cold floor. I keep him on bedding, but soon he will lie on floor and keeps on lying there with eyes opened.

Here the climate is hot and humid. Sometimes it rains, but we are still using ceiling Fan.

From yesterday, I think he has slept very little too.

I consulted one vet in my area and he suggested to give following medicines in small dosage 2 times a day:

* Ciprofloxacin
* Dexamethasone

I will be very grateful, if you want to suggest me anything else. If you need more information please ask

Thanks and Regards

Mrinmay


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## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

If your mouse isnt any better I would suggest going back to the vet. He may just be getting old though. :-(


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

I have not heard of either of those medicines, but I do know that when my mice display the symptoms your male has that they are prescribed baytril (also known as enrofloxacin) as that is a very good general antibiotic and should help to get rid of most infections. Keep your mouse cool, try to tempt your mouse to eat with things like processed baby food (a basic one like chicken and vegetables), chicken, a little warm porridge, scrambled egg (made with just the egg, no milk as that could upset your mouse's stomach.) If you can get something like a decongestant to put outside his cage it might help a little, or try holding him above a bowl of hot water with a towel over him for just a moment to see if that helps clear his lungs and makes it easier for him to breath. I do thing though that he needs to go back to the vet, I hope he gets better.


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## mrintech (Sep 8, 2012)

Thanks a lot to both of you for your response 

Ciprofloxacin is an anti-biotic and Dexamethasone is an anti-inflammatory medicine - I gathered this information from Wikipedia.

*But I would like to know how to give these medicines to him?*

Both of these medicines are in tablet form and the doctor asked me to make powder of these medicines >> Mix very small amount with water >> Give my mouse the medicine

But, because of bitter taste, he just don't want to take the solution. I mixed it with Oats + Milk and he ate very less.

How do you give medicines to your mice, especially when it's very very bitter? Can I give with Honey or something sweet?

Please help


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## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

Are these human medicines?You really should get some proper medicines from the vet-they will come in liquid form, so much easier to give than trying to make a powder and mix with water.And less likely to give too much too.


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## elmthesofties (Aug 8, 2011)

Yeah, if they aren't animal antibiotics they really aren't suitable. I'm not a huge expert on this sort of thing but I'm pretty sure there's a common human medication which basically acts as poison in guinea pigs. Not sure about any other examples.
As for other things, the concentration will be on a human dose. A heavy mouse will weigh 50 grams or so, but a light person would probably weigh about 60kg.


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

polishrose said:


> Are these human medicines?You really should get some proper medicines from the vet-they will come in liquid form, so much easier to give than trying to make a powder and mix with water.And less likely to give too much too.





elmthesofties said:


> Yeah, if they aren't animal antibiotics they really aren't suitable. I'm not a huge expert on this sort of thing but I'm pretty sure there's a common human medication which basically acts as poison in guinea pigs. Not sure about any other examples.
> As for other things, the concentration will be on a human dose. A heavy mouse will weigh 50 grams or so, but a light person would probably weigh about 60kg.


OP says he has consulted a vet  :



mrintech said:


> I *consulted one vet* in my area and he suggested to give following medicines in small dosage 2 times a day:
> 
> * Ciprofloxacin
> * Dexamethasone





mrintech said:


> Thanks a lot to both of you for your response
> 
> Ciprofloxacin is an anti-biotic and Dexamethasone is an anti-inflammatory medicine - I gathered this information from Wikipedia.
> 
> ...


First, before deciding on a method to give the medicine to your mouse, I would check something with your vet - does he mean that the tablets are too strong and need crushed in a water bottle so that the mouse only gets a tiny bit at a time? Or does he mean crush the tablet and use only a tiny bit of water to make it easier for the mouse to eat (and does he mean to give them the full tablet or just part of it?)- I only ask this as I've only once been prescribed a full tablet to give my mice and the full tablet was to be used in 75ml of water as opposed to being eaten in one go (hope that makes sense.)

Oh - don't use milk, the oats were a good idea but a lot of mice are lactose intolerant so it could give your poorly boy the runs and make him feel even worse 

If it has to be given in the water bottle and the tablet has a bitter taste:
crush the tablet into a fine powder, add it to a tiny amount of hot water and add a tiny amount of sugar, honey or glucose syrup. Shake it up to mix it well and then add cold water to fill the bottle.

If the tablet is to be eaten in one sitting, crush it up into a powder and do one of the following:
1. use a small piece (about a half cm square) of a nice tasting biscuit (mine love digestives.) Put a drop of cold water on the biscuit to make the top surface soggy and use the wet part to hold the powdered tablet in place
2. Sprinkle the crushed tablet over a very, very tiny amount of strawberry,raspberry jam, honey or even a tiny amount of baby food and mix it in.

Those methods should work as I have found that my mice will take them. If you have been told by your vet to give two tablets (one of each type of medicine) you may need to give one tablet early in the day and the other one later just to make sure that your mouse eats them all. If you can, ask your vet if he can get you 2.5% concentration of baytril and a 1mg tablet of prednisone - it will mean that you only have one tablet to give as the baytril can be diluted and is often far easier to dose than a tablet form of antibiotic. If your vet has them it's normally only 1/4 of a 1mg prednisone tablet that mine prescribes for a mouse and with the baytril you dilute 1ml baytril in 2ml water and give 1 drop twice per day. My mice have always taken it and actually seem to like the taste so it might be a lot easier for you than the two tablets.

ETA - not sure if you can get malt paste? Malt paste is sold here as a treat for ferrets, cats etc. I use a tiny spot of it sometimes for mice that are difficult to treat and they eat their medicine really quickly! It also helps to keep their strength up and build their weight up as well because it is full of good things for poorly meeces 

I hope that your mouse is feeling a little better.


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## elmthesofties (Aug 8, 2011)

zany_toon said:


> OP says he has consulted a vet


Ohmygoodness - how did I miss that? I must have skimmed over that bit and just focused on when the op talked about going to the doctor and getting the info from wikipedia. *facepalm*


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## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

I saw that too but the wording made me think the vet hadn't actually prescribed the tablets, just suggested that he gave these. No mention of dosages or anything. That's why I asked if they were human medicines.


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## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

And actually from googling ... Dexamethasone is a human drug but also used for dogs and horses and the other one is also a human one and no mention of veterinary use. I've taken the second one for urine infections. It's quite strong.


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

polishrose said:


> I saw that too but the wording made me think the vet hadn't actually prescribed the tablets, just suggested that he gave these. No mention of dosages or anything. That's why I asked if they were human medicines.





polishrose said:


> And actually from googling ... Dexamethasone is a human drug but also used for dogs and horses and the other one is also a human one and no mention of veterinary use. I've taken the second one for urine infections. It's quite strong.


Bear in mind OP is from India, we don't actually know if English is his/her first language so wording may not be correct, but if they say they have consulted a vet then we can only go by that 
I also googled it just now, although not normally prescribed for pets ciprofloxacin has "Limited uses" as a veterinary drug:
Ciprofloxacin : Cipro®, Ciloxan® for Cats and Dogs | Drugs & Medications for Cats and Dogs : PetsMD Pet Health
Presentation Recap: Ciprofloxacin urolithiasis - Veterinary Medicine
Feline Practitioner Information Briefs

It's also worth bearing in mind that there are very, very few medicines licensed for the use in pet rodents and that a number of medicines are used in both humans and animals but at different dosages - the only medicine that my vet has ever prescribed me that isn't marked as being for just cats and dogs is baytril!! And I'll admit to being very lax when I post about medicines - I never mention doses when I'm posting about my own mice, I normally just put names the same way the OP has done 



elmthesofties said:


> Ohmygoodness - how did I miss that? I must have skimmed over that bit and just focused on when the op talked about going to the doctor and getting the info from wikipedia. *facepalm*


I think OP mentioned wikipedia because I asked what they were  I think some vets qualify as a doctor of veterinary medicine, only thinking that because on another forum I'm on they refer to their vet as doctor too. Tis easy done, if I'd only skimmed it I probably would have had alarm bells ringing at those same bits


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## Guest (Sep 10, 2012)

zany_toon said:


> Bear in mind OP is from India, we don't actually know if English is his/her first language so wording may not be correct, but if they say they have consulted a vet then we can only go by that
> I also googled it just now, although not normally prescribed for pets ciprofloxacin has "Limited uses" as a veterinary drug:
> Ciprofloxacin : Cipro®, Ciloxan® for Cats and Dogs | Drugs & Medications for Cats and Dogs : PetsMD Pet Health
> Presentation Recap: Ciprofloxacin urolithiasis - Veterinary Medicine
> ...


I agree with Zany, also from what I gather vets don't tend to treat small animals in India they are more cat/dog vets.


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## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

Fair enough  tbh it didn't occur to me that animals could use human medicines apart from pain relief. Hope the mouse is feeling better anyway.


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## zany_toon (Jan 30, 2009)

polishrose said:


> Fair enough  tbh it didn't occur to me that animals could use human medicines apart from pain relief. Hope the mouse is feeling better anyway.


 It does, unfortunately seem to happen a lot - meeces and rats are fine to experiment on according to scientists, but they seem to forget that they are kept as pets and need treatments as well  Mine have as a last resort and under vet instructions been on human circulatory medicines, cough medicine and even athlete's foot powder. I keep hoping that they will finally realise that small rodents are just as important, but it seems that most of the veterinary medicine manufacturers don't think there is enough of a profit margin in medicines for rodents


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## polishrose (Oct 26, 2011)

No it seems mice and other small animals are more the disposable type of Pet here and anywhere else for that matter.:-(


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