Please help me and Pocket!

Question
Hi, my name is Jade. I have a very old mouse who goes by the name... Pocket! She is adorable! She is almost a year and a half old! I bought her at a pet store for $2. I have no clue what kind of mouse she is, or even how she raised at the store. Pocket has not been cared for in the conventional way--at all. I understand this is very bad... But it made her happy. Plus, she's been alive for a long long time! She eats scraps, like potato chips, left overs from peanut butter sandwiches, cheese slices... Things like that. In June I noticed she had a lot of hair loss, and she'll get sores here and there ever so often. So far I haven't really been doing much. I moved her from her cage into a smaller area where I can see her better, and keep her quarters cleaner. She doesn't seem to mind. She has been losing a lot of hair from her side, and she keeps on scratching. The area is pink now, and last I checked her sores are few and also small. Her hair that is left seems to be really oily, and she's also lost some weight. I've been using benadryl spray on her to calm the itch down a bit, but the last time I tried it she really freaked out. So I've decided to stop using that. I believe I'd like to try neosporin on her, but I'm kind of scared about her reaction. I also just really am unsure what to do... I can't take her to a vet because I don't really have the money for it. I never expected any problems to occur with her, because I've had mice before, and they all died relatively quickly from age and they never had any sorts of problems before.

Questions:
Regarding the neosporin...
How will she react when I try to rub it in? Will she squeal? Bite?
Will I have to hold her down to apply it?
Is it bad for her?
Do you think it will help her?

Regarding the whole problem...
What do you think is going on with her?
I don't see any mites, is it still possible that she has them?
Why is she still alive? It's been a long time!
What do YOU think I should do about this? Other than going to a vet.


Thank you for your time and help!

Answer
Dear Jade,

She very likely has mites. You can't see mites with your eyes. She is absolutely miserable. She has to be treated right away, or she can die a very unpleasant death.

Here is a link to an answer I wrote about mites:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Mice-3824/2010/3/Itchy-Mouse-treating-mites.htm

You should have someone help you. It would be easy to drop a terrified, wet mouse. Do try to avoid the sores. That would hurt.

Benadryl is for allergies, so it won't help her. You can try neosporin plus. The plus part is a mild anesthetic, to make it hurt or itch less. I don't know if she will bite-- how tame is she? If it is hard to rub neosporin in, it is going to be very hard to treat for mites. Don't do it alone. Someone should hold the base of her tail with their left hand and have her on their right palm, while the other rubs the formula in.

A year and a half is NOT very long for a mouse.  The poor diet might be why your mice are dying young. Mice fairly often live to 2 years. She and any mice in the future need to eat a commercial mouse and rat food seed mix.

I really hope she feels better soon.

Squeaks,

Natasha