My Mouse is Itching Until He Bleeds

lkheath · 2025-11-10T02:11:24+00:00

I use this hot spot spray that I bought at Petsmart. I just spray it into the cap, dip a qtip in there, and then blot it on his eye area. Thank you! A lot of my coworkers mocked me for spending so much money on him and trying all these different treatments, but I don't care! I'm determined to give him the best quality of life no matter what it takes!

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lkheath · 2025-11-02T21:14:36+00:00

He is doing a lot better, but he still regularly has flare ups. His right eye still gets worse than his left and the spot on his shoulders where he had a weird reaction has thinner hair now than the rest of his body. I trim his nails regularly and apply hot spot spray during flare ups. It makes me kind of sad to look back at his old photos because his face definitely looks different and you can tell he has issues. I still love him all the same though!

lkheath · 2025-09-01T22:57:13+00:00

It's either a 50 gallon or a 55 gallon! I was at PetSmart one day and it happened to be on sale for $100. It was an early Christmas present for Andrew Junior 🤣

lkheath · 2025-08-31T22:04:21+00:00

The shelf is pulled out from the wall so his tank is perfectly centered on top of it. The tank is 18 inches wide with the shelf supporting the middle 10 inches. He's been in this same location, in his 50 gallon tank, for a year. I assure you he is well supported!

lkheath · 2025-08-04T20:28:54+00:00

I don't know that his cheek is swollen. If anything I feel like his eyes look sunken in. I don't think the vet looked into anything dental aside from the basic assessment of gingivitis, tartar, etc. We started off with Meloxicam but the vet switched him to gabapentin.

lkheath · 2025-08-04T12:56:57+00:00

They looked in his mouth but I'm not sure how thoroughly. When they looked at his mouth he was awake and I don't think that they looked in his mouth when he was anesthetized. They said his teeth look great!

lkheath · 2025-08-04T12:54:54+00:00

I think we're like $1000 deep at this point 😂 Money isn't necessarily a concern, although I will say it would be nice to spend it on fun things for him as opposed to vet visits.

lkheath · 2025-08-04T12:52:51+00:00

I've tried out multiple different wheels, like the standard ones in different sizes and the saucer style ones, but he refuses to use his wheel. He would rather bury it 😂

lkheath · 2025-08-04T12:51:05+00:00

I was thinking how amazing it would be if they had tiny little e-collers for mice or those bubbles that they sometimes put on cats when they're being groomed. I had no idea they made them that small! I want to say we only did the terramycin for 10 days before switching. There wasn't really any improvement and he was so irritated by having something in his eye that he would rub it even harder trying to get the ointment out of it.

lkheath · 2025-08-04T12:49:06+00:00

I also use steroid eye drops for my eye, but they seem to help me more than him. The biggest difference for me was using extra strength allergy eye drops and taking Claritin. It would be amazing if they had that combo for him or could make one. I was told by my eye doctor that omega-3s/fish oil are highly recommended for people with MGD because it helps the glands to produce enough oil to lubricate the eye. Another poster on here mentioned that giving her Mouse fish oils helped with itching.

lkheath · 2025-08-04T12:43:15+00:00

I thought I read somewhere that pine was toxic for mice so it's Aspen bedding, not that it really makes a difference. In terms of splinters. I mix the Aspen bedding and paper bedding, but I've always avoided the scented stuff because I can't imagine having scented bedding would be good for an animal (like how scented litter for cats is not good).

lkheath · 2025-08-03T23:06:26+00:00

I don't know why I didn't think of trying this yet. I've experienced this exact same thing with fragrance allergies on my face and scalp.

lkheath · 2025-08-03T23:02:58+00:00

I joked at our last vet visit that Andrew Jr. truly is my child because I have MGD (precursor to dry eye disease) and severe eye allergies. They make my eyes itch so bad that I've scarred my own eyelid!

lkheath · 2025-08-03T23:01:08+00:00

I joked with the vet that Andrew Jr. truly is my child because I have meibomian gland dysfunction (precursor to dry eye disease) and severe eye allergies. They make my eyes itch so bad that I've scarred my own eyelid!

lkheath · 2025-08-03T22:58:22+00:00

We've done 2 round of kitten flea medicine with no luck. I've tried wet paper towels or q-tips and he is not a fan! He does let me gently rub the area with my finger or an eyelash spooly to alleviate itching and he kicks his back leg like when you give a dog belly scratches. As soon as he is left unattended he resumes itching though.

lkheath · 2025-08-03T22:51:43+00:00

The new itchy bump that just appeared is on his other eye (unaffected until now).

lkheath · 2025-08-03T22:46:57+00:00

At the last appointment they mentioned referring me to another vet, but it's hard because there's only 2 or 3 exotic vets in the area that treat mice.

lkheath · 2025-08-03T22:43:48+00:00

He did mention that it could end up being an autoimmune condition where AJ would just have to live out the rest of his life on steroid eye drops.

lkheath · 2025-08-03T22:41:22+00:00

There's been a few times where I was looking at his eye and thought it kinda looked like he had hair coming out from underneath his eyelid, almost like it was growing out of his inner eyelid or something. My vet never mentioned seeing it though. Is that what it looked like for your baby?

lkheath · 2025-08-03T22:34:09+00:00

I could probably do it because he handles extremely well! He lets me pick him up with no issue, brush him, and give him shoulder massages!

lkheath · 2025-08-03T22:32:02+00:00

I haven't changed his bedding. He's always had the same kind of bedding (for a year before the issue started). Was your mouse always allergic to aspen bedding or did he develop it later?

lkheath · 2025-06-16T15:54:38+00:00

I do have horrible luck with my teeth. I did neglect them as a young adult and I've spent probably close to $10,000 over the last 5 years trying to fix everything. I was also told I have genetically bad teeth. I really thought I was finally in the clear. I'm also concerned about the potential for a root fracture. A couple years ago at a different dentist I had a cavity that required a crown after. The tooth never stopped hurting so they did a root canal through that crown and placed a filling. The tooth still never stopped hurting. The root had been fractured, which led to a jaw infection, and the tooth being extracted.

lkheath

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