very sick mouse, on one side, flipping

Question
Hey Natasha,

How's you?

All my mice are doing fine at the moment except for one!
I opened the lid to his cage this morning to find that he was staying only on the left side of his body with his head tilted slightly. He was kind of flipping over (rolling) and his heart was beating extremely fast.
I have taken him out of his enclosure where he was with his 3 brothers. He is now resting on a heat pad with some corn flakes and some bread dipped in water.
I was wondering what usually causes this and what i should do?
When this kind of thing happens do they usually recover from it or can it often lead to death?

My Mum seems to htink it could be a stroke but i thought i'd ask the expert!

Thanks Natasha.

Mart.

Answer
Dear Matt,

Your mom is right that it could be a stroke. Remember I'm not a vet but I do know that a stroke can affect just one side of the body. Other reasons for that kind of behavior could be a severe ear infection or a brain tumor.  I don't think he is going to be okay (though I would love to be wrong). There is no reason not to leave him with his brothers (wow you have 3 boys living together? great!), unless they hassle him. Being alone is stressful for a sociable mouse. Another thing you can do is just hold him.  Even if he is near the end, he will like that.  As difficult as it is, I always hold a dying mouse if I can.  Many of my mice have waited for me to hold them before they died (they ask to be picked up then die within 5 minutes). They usually know before it happens. It's emotionally hard but if you can handle it, it's nice for the mouse. Mice do twitch or even jump violently as they die, so be prepared for that.

He may also survive for a while but remain disabled. It's very important that he be able to drink and eat. If he has trouble with this, you may want to feed him by hand. For calories, he will probably lick butter from your hand even if he will take nothing else. For liquid you can see if he will eat some yogurt. The bread dipped in water is a good idea too.

I'm sorry he is sick. I wish him the best, whatever happens to him.

squeaks

Natasha