Please help!

Question
Hi Tamarah,

I have been asking some questions to Natasha, the other expert here, however since she is on vacation I was wondering if you could help me...

My female mouse, 11 month old is having the weird episodes ( is what I call it) since about 3 weeks ago.

The first time she had this episode was about 3 weeks ago, she was playing with me on the counch and eating some sunflower seeds just as wshe does daily since she first came to our home. She was active, no sign of any illness, she then started to make noise like sneezing or coughing, her breathing was audible like mucus sound and she was breathign with her mouth open. She looked like she was struggling to breath. She just sat in the one place and looking weak and sad. I thought, at first she was choking on her treats or having hiccoughs.
I gave her some water using a small syrlinge and then the episode stopped. The episode was about 30 min long.

Next day, she had the same episode for about 30 min and before and after the episode, she was just perfectly fine and no sign of any kind of illness.

The 3rd day, she had the episode for an hour.

Becasue it was on the weekend, I was aunble to take her to doctor until Monday which was 5th day since the first episode. I thought she has respiratory infection, however vet told me that is unlikely since her symptoms are not consistant and comes and goes. She was sneezing a little in the vet office but no episode. Vet prescribed benedril.

I gave her the benedril on Monday night after her episode, but I was not sure if it realloy went in to her nose as I was instructed to do so, but her episode lasted only about an hour then she was totally normal. She continued to have the sneezing and small episode for a few days.

I changed her diet to only oat meal ( I didn't think the bedding was the issue since she has the same bedding for almost 9 month and never had this problem), trying to see if the food was the allergen.
She seemed to get better and after a few days of sneezing, she was completely normal and no sneezing, mucus sound or the episode.

Yesterday, right when i thought she is all better, she had the episode for about 15 min. She was ion her cage and started to have the episode for no appearant reason, so I took her out and gave her massage to comfort her. The episode went away within 5 min.
We gave her the benedril again.

Today, she is having the episode for nearly 2 hours. She looks weak, and sad. She just sits in on the wheel and breath hard with her breathing has mucus like sound. I gave her benedril and massage her but did not stop the episode.

I am just pazzled with this weird episode. She does not have any sign of respiratory problem when she is not having the episode. I hold her to my ear and no sound at all, she is very active and eats well.

She seems to have lost some weight since I changed her diet to all oatmeal to find allergen, but not in the unhealthy way.

I also should mention that her right eye has little red around the rim and has some discharge sometimes.

I thought of what has been different the past 2 days and only things I can think of is 1: My husband and I played with her before shower ( I always wash my hand with fragrance free natural soap before playing with her though) and may have had some left over perfume on my skin.
2: I started to add some flax seeds in her oatmeal diet.

Have you had any experience like this before?? Vet is saying that this is not likely respiratory infection, but when she has the episode, sounds like it is respiratory related problem..... But then again, after the episode pass, she is breathing fine and super active.

Can mice be allergic to left over fragrance on the skin? Or allergic to human like some human are allergic to some animal???

I am completely lost and worried for she is very important part of my family...

Please give me some advice!
Thank you in advance!

** by the way, I took her to vet in November for her sneezing for she was sneezing a little in November and was prescribed anti-biotic but anti- biotic did not work. Her sneezing was not regularly and eventually went away on own.

Kiwi

Answer
Hi Kiwi,

I checked out the response Natasha sent you and I really agree with everything she said.  Think about an allergic reaction like a person who goes out on a day with a high pollen count - they get the sniffles, red, itchy eyes, have a harder time breathing, and sneeze/cough a lot.  That doesn't mean they have a cold, though!  Allergens can cause swelling in the respiratory tract, so antibiotics would not help if that was her problem, because there simply isn't anything there to kill.  It would be prudent, though, to talk to your vet about trying a different antibiotic, if you and your vet determine there to not be a allergic cause.  Some bacteria are resistant to some antibiotics, so you must try a few before deciding that antibiotics don't help.  I'm not yet convinced it's not allergies, though.

You mention that you did not change the bedding, as she has used the same kind for nine months.  I really, really would advise switching (Aspen is an inexpensive, excellent choice).  Sometimes, both in mice AND in people, allergies can be caused by something you have been over-exposed to.  These are called acquired allergies, and can be from food, bedding, or yes, even fragrances.  In addition to swapping the bedding, I would only handle the mouse with clean, unscented hands, just until you figure out what's going wrong.

Your vet prescribed Benadryl, and that works by reducing swelling caused by allergic reactions, giving temporary relief.  This does not, however, fix the problem, and because it's reducing swelling, may cause you to miss when she has a reaction.  That would set you back quite a bit in trying to find the cause of her episodes, and will suppress future episodes for several hours after giving it to her.  Because of this, until you know what the cause is, I would not give her any Benadryl unless you are concerned her life is in danger.  If that becomes the case I would schedule a new vet appointment ASAP.

One last thing - make sure the oatmeal you give her doesn't contain extras - sugar, spices, anything like that should be avoided.  Each thing besides oats that goes into the oatmeal can be a potential allergen (a thing that causes the reaction).  You can also find rolled oats in your supermarket, if that's easier.  Remember not to add in extras unless she doesn't have any episodes - episodes may mean the cause is still present, assuming she isn't sick and would need different antibiotics.  Also check the air in her environment - is she near anything that could give off a smell, such as near the kitchen or a litter box or anything like that, near drafts that could affect her, or could there be a lot of dust (including from the bedding)?  Is her cage changed at least once a week?  These are things that might be missed but could affect her breathing.

I especially agree with what Natasha said about different antibiotics, and would take that information with you to the vet the next time you need to bring her in.

Best of luck and let me know if you have anymore questions!
-Tam