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Mice... eye problem...

18 15:00:16

Question

Little Mouse
Ok, I have two questions...

1. A family member picked up a couple of feeder mice (Sugar and Zazu) for me... originally intended to be snake food, but the little things were so darn cute I didn't have the heart to feed them to my snake. -- Anyways, one of the mice, Zazu... I think he's a boy, seems to have a problem with his eyes. for the past couple days (when I check on them in the evening) his eyes are like crusted over and he cannot open them. I have to take a warm cloth and wash his face and rub his eyes gently for a few minutes before it clears up and he can open them again.  Is this a serious problem that would require a vet help? Or is there something that I can do for Zazu at home to prevent this from happening on a regular basis?

2. I have two shih tzu's a 4yr old and a 3yr old and every several weeks they make this noise as if their choking... I sit and pat their backs as if they're coughing or something. Eventually they chew a couple times and then swallow really hard. Do they get fur balls? Or is this something I should be concerned about?

Thanks very much,
Mackenzie

Answer
I cannot tell you what is wrong with Zazu's eyes because he might have an infection in them. Sometimes antibiotic eye ointment might help.

Dogs sometimes do what is called reverse sneezing where they sound like they are coughing or sneezing but like they are trying to inhale. They don't get fur balls like cats because they don't groom the same way but long haired dogs that are not groomed regularly will get a lot of hair in their teeth and that can cause gagging.