Pulling out her hair?

Question
QUESTION: I have one female mouse at the moment, Krile. I've had her for about a month or so and up until this morning she has been perfectly healthy as far as I can tell. But a few days ago my cat toppled the cage and set both the mice I had at the time loose. The second mouse I had was caught by cat, but Krile escaped and she seemed fine when I tried to look at her. But this morning I noticed that there was a large patch of hair missing from her back. Before this morning, she had all of her fur and looked normal. The skin on her back also looks very red, shiny, and sensitive (I'm afraid to touch it at the risk of hurting her).

I don't know if maybe the cat did manage to hurt her and Krile is now over cleaning it or something, or if maybe this is completely unrelated. I clean the cage once a week and use carefresh bedding. She's still eating, drinking, and using the wheel like normal.

Any suggestions? : (

ANSWER: I'm sorry this happened. This must have been very stressful for you and the mice despite the fact you cat was his job!

It would be difficult to find a place where you cat can't reach the cage(they have way and means). Even if the cage was kept in a room the cat wasn't allowed in I'm sure he'd find a way in. If the cage was kept on the floor then at least you couldn't have a repeated incident of what happened before. Make sure the mice have plenty of hiding places in case you kitty comes to visit. I have 3 long haired cats who take a healthy interest in my mice but learned their lesson when they sat on top of the cage and the mice pulled their hair out for nesting material! Now they watch from a distance.

I think the hair loss is stress related. If the cat had hurt her physically then there would have been signs such as puncture wounds or bleeding when you found her. She has also lost her buddy which is adding to her stress. Mice are social creatures and will quickly become depressed if kept in solitary confinements. As she is so young (I'm guessing about 10 - 12 weeks) you need to find her at least 1 mouse friend. Try to find one around the same age and size, preferably from the same litter.

It's a very good sign that shes eating, drinking and that its coming out the other end. I'm confident she will recover but if you are still concerned take her to your vet.

I hope she gets better soon, please feel free to ask any more questions.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks again for answering my question. Stress could very well be a big part of the problem, since that very same cat enjoys watching the cage. I always put the cage up on a surface that the cat cannot reach when I'm not around to babysit them all, so hopefully the incident won't be repeated.

I've been trying a number of things in response to her hair problems. I took several types of food out of the mix bag type of food that I normally give her because I read that she could be allergic and thus scratching more. I also treated her with a spray that helps controls various parasitic things and thoroughly cleaned her cage. The treatment may have stressed her out some though, because she was very unhappy about it. But up until yesterday she seemed to have stopped pulling more hair out. Tonight when I looked though, it seems that she started scratching/biting again, only this time on the bald patch. And it looks like she broke the skin : (
So, it could just be that I freaked her out with the treatment and that maybe she was getting better. *shrug*

Again, she still seems to be doing normal things, but I haven't noticed her in the wheel yet. This could just be because I wasn't home most of today though. I also got her two new mouse friends today. I have them in a separate cage and I have placed the two cages next to each other to give them a chance to smell each other etc.

I think my point was to eventually ask what you think of Neosporin. Because I've heard of people using it treat wounds on their mice before, and I don't want her to get infected. Also, my vet is out of reach so I'm digging for anything that I can get at this point. Sorry, for the long drawn-out questions. i just wanted to be thorough. And like I said, I'll take any helpful information I can get.

So, thank you so much!

Answer
I am not familiar with Neosporin and have never used it. My main concern with using it on mice would be poisoning if it were ingested. I have done a quick search and found it on Amazon.co.uk. I noted it said Neosporin should not be taken internally and since mice cannot be sick it may do them some damage or possibly result in death.

One product I have found safe to use on mice is 'Sudocrem'. I have applied this to areas that need to be left alone to heal and have found it very effective. My mice don't lick it off as they don't like the taste though some will rub themselves against objects to get it off. Keep an eye on them as one may take a fancy to it (although I doubt it). Apply it for a few days and you should see some improvement.

You may want to change the type of materials you use in the cage as she find they irritate her skin. I use wood shavings and hay/toilet+kitchen roll for bedding. Some brands of hay may be dusty or carry parasites so be careful where you buy it from.

Try changing the cleaning product you use on the cage as well as where the cage is sited, it could be a high pitched noise causing her stress, a draft etc.

I hope she recovers soon. Please feel free to ask any more questions.