Mouse Hurt

Question
Hello,
I recently bought two white mice and my little daughter tried to hold one of them by its tail. That got about one-fourth of its tail skin torn right off. He is constantly licking the bleeding tail and every time he does it, he squeaks in pain. What can I do to help here?

Answer
Hi Anurag,

I am so sorry to hear that!  Unfortunately, this is a complex injury that can be difficult to heal or to keep clean.  Depending on the severity of the damage there may not be much you can do.  Either the skin will grow back, if it is simply torn in several places, or the tail tip may necrotize and fall off (it would turn black as this happened, but the remaining tail will heal into a nub and be fine).  Unfortunately this also opens the body up to a potentially serious infection, so if at all possible, I would recommend starting him immediately on an antibiotic.

Your very best course of action if possible is to take him in as soon as you can to a veterinarian who works with pocket pets like mice.  A vet can get you the most appropriate medication much faster and can give you a one-on-one evaluation of the injury and how best to handle it.  Of course, sometimes a vet is simply not possible, in which case I would recommend tetracycline.  You should be able to find this at your local pet shop in the fish section.  Instructions on how to use it can be found here:  http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2012/12/mice-sneezing-making-weird.htm

Unfortunately, without a vet's help, there is nothing I can recommend for pain or to calm him and reduce licking.  I am again very sorry for what happened - it must have been very scary to all involved!  Hopefully his tail heals up well and quickly, but if you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to ask!

-Tam