Mouse scratching ear off, treated for mites.

Question
First it thought my mouse had mites so Vet gave me drops to treat it, my mouse is still scratching like mad, I've tried bathing him, Using this Skin cream stuff for cuts and itchy skin for mice. nothing is working. his cage has loads of toys for him to play in. I only use Paper on the cage floor. His ear has a hole in it now. Cant bandage it up because hes to fidgety. Vets are also not open for another 4 days.

Answer
Hi,

Three thoughts:

1.) Did the vet test for mange or ringworm?

2.) Did you clean and change the entire cage, throw away everything wooden or paper, and boil everything else (or wash with a very mild bleach and water solution, which you can also use on the cage), exactly when the mouse was treated?

3.) Have you addressed the possibility of allergies? It's Christmas and late so I am just going to cut and paste what I wrote to two other people; all the info is there:

one quote:

"*Have you thought about allergies?* I suggest you completely change her situation. For just a few days put her in a cage with only paper towels and cloth and only feed her oatmeal. Make sure you use no chemicals near the cage-- no air freshener or cleaning products. Even though doing this while you treat her might make it hard to tell what the problem is, it's important to relieve her suffering. When she is better you can reintroduce a different bedding and various bits of her food. Especially give her no peanuts, corn, or sunflower seeds, as these are common allergies. Also no mouse blocks, because these contain corn. "

other quote:

"Let's examine the allergy component, which is something you can deal with at home.  An allergy could be to a new substance or the sudden development of a reaction to a familiar one.  Has anything changed in or near the cage recently? New food, new bedding, hair spray, air freshener, furniture polish, anything?

Second, you might think the mouse wouldn't suddenly develop allergies at this late age. In people, however, this can happen. The following is from my knowledge of people allergies-- since mice are used to study people health, they are likely very similar.  First, allergies can be developed by overexposure to a substance. This is why so many cat lovers are allergic to cats. Growing up with cats exposes them to cats enough that they develop the allergy. Thus I am now allergic to mice and cats (a couple of 24-hour Loratadine a day make it possible for me to continue to enjoy my pets). This goes for foods too. I developed allergies to both garlic and rosemary from overexposure, one over a period of time and one from overexposure within one rosemary-packed week(!)  The second way an allergy can be developed is simply due to age.  There are ages at which allergies are likely to appear and disappear. With people it is about around ages 5-7, 10-12, 18-21, mid-thirties, and probably later too.  I developed very severe hay fever very suddenly at age 21. And my cat allergy suddenly became manageable in my late 30s. You can tell why I know about allergies!!  So mice may have cycles during their lives as well.

So, what to do about allergies? You need to identify the substance that is causing the problem.  The most obvious is the bedding. Simply try another type of bedding.  More complicated would be a food allergy. The most common food allergies in mice are to corn and sunflower seeds.  Try removing these.  If after two days the problem doesn't improve at all, you can be more drastic and choose one food to give the mouse alone. If the allergy remains, try a different one. It's unlikely the mouse will happen to be allergic to both substances, so if that doesn't work, it's probably not an allergy.  If the allergy does disappear, however, then you can introduce each food separately one by one every two days, until you find the culprit. If the symptoms don't disappear, it's very likely not an allergy."

Forgive me for not rewriting it for you. Please let me know what you try and what happens.

Merry Christmas (and other holidays) and squeaks,

Natasha