My little Mouse

Question
Dear Tamarah,
             
           OK so it all started out on a rainy day. It was cold and it just stopped raining. And my dad and little sister were outside letting our Chickens out of their cage. When they were walking back to the house they noticed a small little wet mouse just laying in the grass so my dad picked it up (with gloves) and brought it inside. As we made a cozy home for the mouse with wash rags and put a heat lamp over the cage. As the mouse dried it began to eat the bread and the cheese we put in the cage for him. Soon after we took the rags out of his cage and put some cozy bedding so he could dig under it. Weeks later he was doing great and then just today I noticed that he wasnt moving so i picked him up and he had the grass that we put in his cage wrapped around his front foot. So i took it off and he seems different. He wont eat or drink and all he will do is lay under the bedding I really dont know what to do (Is he dying?). I want the best for him but I dont know what to do. I really dont know how long the grass was around his foot but my mom said he couldnt have had it long cause she say him running around just friday. Is there anything I can do! What are the signs that I will know that he's dying? Please help!!!!!

                    Jamie  

Answer
Hi Jamie,

Wild mice are a bit of a toss of the dice.  I don't know how long you've had him, so he may have had a disease before that is just now showing up depending on the length of time.  He also could be behaving differently because he isn't used to being in a cage, or because something in his environment or diet isn't right.  Without more symptoms or being able to see him, it's just hard to say.  Is there a vet near you who works with pocket pets that you might be able to call and ask for him to be seen?

If the grass around his foot had to do with his new behavior, it would either be a result of pain (how does the foot look now?  Are there open wounds?  Can he put weight on it?), less activity because of an internal injury (is he favoring it at all?  Has it swollen or is it a different color than the other feet?  An injury would make him not want to run around as much and may need a vet's attention), or he could simply be weak from not being able to access food or water during the time he was stuck - assuming he was stuck.  The first thing you should do is make sure he is eating, drinking, and going to the bathroom normally.  Make sure you witness him eat and drink, and help him out if you need to.  Don't force anything down his throat, but consider apple sauce or banana baby food if he won't eat his usual diet.  If you think anything is wrong with the foot, call a vet and see if you can schedule him an appointment.  If a vet simply isn't possible, write me back with some more details and we'll figure out where to go from there.

The most important thing in the meantime is to keep him well-fed, hydrated, and at a comfortable temperature.  In the wild he probably used a nest to maintain temperature, so make sure now that he's indoors you give him plenty of options for keeping warm/cool.

Best of luck!
-Tam