mouse has blood tainted urine?

Question
Hi Natasha

My pet mouse that I have had for a year has always been very happy, healthy and active. However, this morning when I went to feed them (she has 2 sisters that are with her in the cage), the bedding she was lying on looked like it had blood tainted urine in it. She was absoloutely fine just a day ago. I gave her a drop of antibiotic (baytril) left over from another one of my little mice that I took to the vet a few months ago. Im really worried about this- Ive havent had any luck so far in finding an exotic pets vet in my area. Any idea of what could be wrong would be very appreciated.Thanks.

Answer
Dear Kristal,

You don't mention how she is acting. If she is still acting fine, I would wait to see if it happens again. I'm also not sure how much there was- if it was a wee bit, you should know that their natural mucus, for instance from nose and eyes, is red. However, if it is a lot, it happens again, or her peeing habits change (such as dribbling), it is time to worry. The only thing that could cause this that I would even think of treating at home would be a bladder infection (UTI).

Remember, I have no medical training....

Although the Baytril is always a very good antibiotic for myco, the usual respiratory infection in mice, it is not a broad spectrum antibiotic and does not target bladder infection. If I were treating a mouse at home I would use amoxicillin, as a common antibiotic for mice and rats, and also the only broad spectrum antibiotic you can get without a prescription. It does target bladder infections.

Your best bet is to call the vet you got the Baytril from and ask if they can call in a prescription for amoxicillin to a pharmacy over the phone.

Otherwise you will have to go to/order from a pigeon supply store. I don't know if Jedd's (a good source) will mail overseas, but hopefully you can find a source where you are.

As a non vet, my prescription is to make sure it is 50g/ml and give her a small drop (from a 1.0, 0.5, or 0.3 ml syringe, no needle), twice a day.

Here is more info, including more specific dosing:

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/dchart.htm

http://ratfanclub.org/resp.html

Ignore the fact that the second link is specific to URIs (Upper Respiratory Infections). It is the antibiotic information which is relevant.

Let me know what happens. As far as I know I only had a mouse with a UTI once, and this was in Germany. She was dribbling. I talked a pharmacist into giving me pills for humans and I guess I must have just given her a tiny bit. She did get better. The pharmacist didn't want to give me the pills without a prescription, but it was a woman and I asked her to imagine having a bladder infection for the rest of her life. I guess she had experienced one, because that made her give in!!

Anyway I hope it just doesn't happen again. But you should order the amoxicillin anyway. It is best to keep some on hand if you have mice.

squeaks,

Natasha