Urgent- Orphan Mouse Ear Infection?

Question
Hi Natasha! I really hope you can help me and my little Dice, an orphaned wild mouse. I found him (alone, no other babies) after finding his mama floating in our pool :( He already had a layer of gray fur but his eyes are still not open. I have been caring for him for the past three days: keeping him warm, feeding him kitten replacement milk through a dropper every few hours, stimulating his bowels, etc.
Now on the fourth day, he has become extremely vocal and extremely active. He eats a lot and has regular bowel movements, but he can't seem to walk or hold himself upright. He circles his little cage on his side and flops over on his back everytime I put him down. Like I said, he still eats regularly and has even started cleaning himself, but something is obviously wrong. I've noticed that sometimes he scratches at his ear...could these be signs of an ear infection that's throwing off his balance? If so, how should I treat it?

PLEASE help if possible. As you know, raising a baby orphan is a huge commitment and we've grown so close and come so far. If there is anything I can do...

Thank you so much!

Answer
Dear Kimberly,

Wow, that's a tough one. You're right that it could be an ear infection, though it could also be congenital-- his inner ear might just be formed wrong. The very best thing would be to contact a vet. I have no medical training.

If you really, really can't do that, you can try giving him some Tetracycline, but deciding the dose is very tough. It's hard enough for a little guy to survive like this at all, and giving him chemicals on top of it could be dangerous. But he's obviously not going to be a very happy mouse growing up with an ear infection, if he has one. It's a tough decision.

If I were to give him Tetracycline this is what I would do. You get it from the FISH section of the pet store. If you have the capsules, empty one capsule into a 12-oz glass (or half in a 6-8 oz glass.  8 oz is a cup)  Shake extremely well.  If you have the powder,  1/4 flat teaspoon measure is the same as 1 capsule.  If you have the tablets, completely crush them into fine powder with the back of a spoon and use as powder.

Then I would mix the formula 3-1 with this mixture. Remember, I'm  not a vet and so I am making an educated guess. It's better to call the vet.

Although he may well not have an ear infection, none of the other possibilities are treatable. If he survives, I would only give him this mixture for 5 days.

I wish him the very best of health.

squeaks,

Natasha