I don't want to specifically point out the person who recently sent me a mouse question, because I don't want anyone to be afraid to ask for my help with any animal situation, big or small. I'm upset about it, though. Not just it, of course, but it's one of the things getting under my skin tonight (it seems like everything I write about lately is dark - but it's a bad economy, and that means neglect and surrendering is at a huge high).
The person who wrote me told me she had one mouse returned to her after traveling with them, who began to show signs of extreme illness. She dropped weight drastically, hunched, and refused food and water. Eventually the questioner took her to the vet to be euthanized.
The questioner wrote that the mouse had Sendai virus, one of many things that can cause an upper respiratory tract infection (URI) in rodents. One of MANY, MANY THINGS. The Merck Vet Manual has this to say about Sendai:
"Sendai virus is an RNA paramyxovirus of the Parainfluenza family. It is highly contagious in mice and rats and causes an acute respiratory infection with no carrier state in immunocompetent animals. Sendai virus is transmitted by aerosols and direct contact with infected animals. Infection is usually subclinical, although sick animals may show signs of stunted growth and respiratory involvement with secondary bacterial pathogens. Gross lesions may include patchy lung consolidation and mild interstitial pneumonia. Perivascular lymphocytic cuffing is often observed on microscopic lung sections. Diagnosis is by ELISA, IFA, or PCR. Infection is generally self-limiting."
From that information, one might be more than a little curious how the questioner knew the exact cause of the URI. It came on quickly, and I don't believe they saw a vet before putting her down, so I'd be surprised if any of the diagnostic tests had been performed. If one were very, very curious what KIND of URI caused a mouse's decline in health, one could theoretically run a post-mortem histopathology, but I doubt she found a vet willing to do that and paid the upwards of $100 after euthanasia to discover which virus or bacteria made the mouse sick.
And on top of that - URIs are not that simple. There doesn't HAVE to be just one thing causing the symptoms. When an immune system is preoccupied, whether with traveling, stress, or a primary, subclinical infection, it's very easy to pick up a secondary infection that may or may not be the actual cause of the symptoms and damage.
There were other mice sharing the cage and travel with the mouse that got sick, so I strongly recommended treating the surviving mice with an antibiotic, just to be on the safe side. I then discovered that not only were they already showing symptoms of infection, but she had "already tried that" to no effect. Mmkay. First of all, there isn't just one antibiotic. There's one, MAYBE two you can get OTC, and then there are a few others to try via prescription pad. Second, what did she try? Did she try it for long enough, or did she cause resistance? How long have those symptoms have been showing if she's already given them meds AND given up on them? At this point, I'm getting more concerned.
The questioner has resigned to let the surviving mice "live out their lives" without more meds.
Look, that's not how it works in mice with URIs. They might fight it off, or they might die horribly and slowly. URIs can wipe out ENTIRE COLONIES. With a long incubation period in most of them, right on up to three weeks, you can cross contaminate once and lose every mouse in your home. That's why everyone pushes isolation so strongly - it's very serious. Why take a chance with a loved pet?
I want to tell the questioner they cannot possibly know which URI(s) could be affecting the remaining mice, but I don't want to offend her or imply she may have unnecessarily put down her pet. It's kind of delicate. But it pisses me off.
If you aren't going to listen to my advice, and you're going to tell me you already know what's wrong with them and what you will do...why did you come to me in the first place?
Then there's this. BEWARE - these photographs pull no punches. Her camera goes behind the scenes of animal overpopulation and overcrowded kill shelters. I love and hate these.
I was going to put up a pet of the day, but I'm so nauseated right now, so...horrified? Grateful? Miserable? That I just can't. I go to the Pawsitively page and all I see is album after album. There are so many pets emotionlessly posted as a last ditch effort at adoption. Instead of a photo and a story, now it's an album of 80 nameless dogs and cats with strict rules on tagging and pulling. Be prompt, or the animal is destroyed. I just....it's so sickening, I can't handle it right now. I go home and I see my fosters, my rescues, my babies, and I don't know why they got to be lucky. I don't know if they ARE lucky.
When the person who helped you rescue six tiny lives tells you if they have to go back to that drooling, miserable, horrible woman who would have let them die in her front yard and scooped them into a trash bag like dead leaves then "so be it"...you know shit is bad. You know it's the end of the rope. You know there is no more help left to offer, and you know you won't say no if asked.
I hope finding my soul was worth it to them, their people, and the ones I can't save.
-Mouse
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