Fur loss, itching, even after mite treatment

Question
Hey Natasha.

I'm back with another question. I was the owner of Swiss who had scratched his ears off...don't know if you remember or not. I have another mouse, Jack, who hasn't had many previous issues. However I do worry about him occasionally. He had a bad case of mites a few months ago. I could see them crawling on him and he had a patch of eggs on his back. I used the bird spray and it seemed to work swimmingly. I treated him twice a week for several weeks like the directions specified. The mites went away but the eggs were left. The eggs came off with gentle grooming from both him and I. The hair actually came out and hasn't really grown back that well since then. Do you know why?

Also, since then I've noticed that he is grooming/scratching his ears frequently while trying to sleep. He's not tearing them up like Swiss was but still. He also is grooming himself constantly. In addition I've watched him sleep and his breathing rate seems to be very rapid. I don't know if that's normal and I just never noticed before or if there's a problem. There hasn't been any sneezing/squeaking so I don't suspect an upper respiratory infection like I'd experienced with Swiss before. I have tried to do some repeat treatments of the spray but it hasn't made a huge change. I don't want to try to put it on his ears since it might be damaging.

So I'm not sure if there's an actual problem and I should pursue medical attention, it's normal (I don't think it is), or if it's residual compulsions from the previous infestation. I didn't realize that he had mites for awhile so I think it was a pretty bad case and he'd been dealing with them for a prolonged amount of time. I'm hoping that this is solvable and he hasn't developed some sort of grooming OCD.

Thanks for your help as always.

Answer
Dear Becca,

If the parasites and eggs are visible, it isn't mites. Not that that really matters in how you treat it. You may, however, have killed the visible bugs (probably lice), but not his actual mites, which I guarantee he also had/has, with the lower dose bird spray.

I would rather see Jack go to the vet. Not only can the vet diagnose the problem if it is a skin problem, such as a fungus; also, much the best parasite treatment is Revolution, which just takes a tiny drop on the back of the neck and kills anything that bites him for a month. But you can only get Revolution from a vet. The vet can also decide if the heavy breathing might be a problem.

Otherwise I would use the rodent version of the 8 in 1 flea and tick spray. That you only have to use twice-- the second time 7-10 days later to kill the mites which were in egg form at the first spraying-- but it is a lot stronger. You have to be very careful not to get it on any raw skin, because it is strong stuff. Shake very well, and completely soak his fur and skin.

After he has been treated again, his fur may just grow back in. I had a mouse in a similar situation who had improved but not completely, after a weak mites treatment, and her fur didn't start growing in until after another stronger application.

Again, I would prefer he go to the vet and get either a better diagnosis, or a less traumatic and possibly less painful treatment. Some mice do experience skin pain with the spray, and his skin might be pretty delicate right now.

If you can't get to the vet; and you try this and it doesn't work; write back and we will work on it.

Best of luck to little Jack.

squeaks,

Natasha