confused

Question
I've had my white mouse for one and a half years now. She eats a regular diet of mouse pellets daily with some treats weekly. Water is readily available and she lives by herself. Yesterday she escaped from her cage for about 10 or so minutes before we put her back. I checked on her before I went to work and she was fine. When I got home, her tail and her right back foot were tangled in some bedding. I untangled her and she has been turning over rapidly and breathing excessively ever since. I thought at first that she was exhibiting this behavior due to lack of circulation in her hind quarters, but now I think that my mousey friend may be at the brink of death. Its the next day now and she looks exhausted. Is there anything that I can maybe do to help her, or comfort her? I am 16 years of age with very little experience with mice and I don't know what to do. Please help

Answer
Hi Corinne,

It sounds like she needs to see a vet to figure out what is causing her distress, as this sounds pretty sudden.  Is there anything she could have been exposed to outside of her cage that would have hurt her - any pest poisons or predators?  As far as comforting her, make sure she is somewhere she won't get cold, away from drafts, predators, strong smells and electronic sounds.  Make sure she has lots of easy-to-eat food near enough to her, and fresh water that she can also reach.  Keep a close eye on her and watch for her symptoms getting worse - if they do you may need to see an emergency vet.

There's no telling what's causing her problems since she disappeared for ten minutes, and it may or may not be linked with getting tangled up, too.  You might want to temporarily switch her bedding to something more tangle free, like Yesterday's News, Carefresh, or aspen.

Best of luck to her!
-Tam