# Tail infection?



## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

I was cleaning our one of my does cages and noticed she has an infection in her tail. She is kept alone as there were fights when they were all younger and she had gotten some abuse, she is quite old now but I don't know what I'm supposed to do. It's painful and very tender, it burst after I got the first picture and is now an open wound


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

Ouch, that doesn't look good. Maybe a bite wound from fighting could have gotten infected. As for a treatment, I don't know.


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## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

She hasn't been in with any other mice for months though, my thought was that she got it jammed, my partner suggested docking her tail but I don't think that's a good idea, will hijack the ays vet appointment with her on Monday, hopefully they can suggest something


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

Yeah, don't cut off her tail, that would probably end badly... and painfully. Vet sounds like the best option then. Good luck.


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## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

I'd never try it. I think he was just suggesting as a last option, it's all cleaned out just now and iv put her on tissue instead of shavings to prevent further irritation. Poor little girl must be really hurting but at least she is a good patient and sat perfectly still while I cleaned her tail.


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

That's nice. Fingers crossed for her.


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## Cait (Oct 3, 2008)

I've had a doe with something that looked similar from what I can see in those photos. All it took was the application of some tea tree skin cream every couple of days for a week or two and it cleared up. Tea tree is a natural antiseptic, so whether that just killed off anything nasty and let her heal naturally I don't know. The mouse was fine though.


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## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

Great idea! Thank you. I will give the tea tree cream a try. She seems to be a bit better today. Not as painful by the looks of the way she is acting. My partner had a good check over her cage and found bits of tail stuck in mesh on the side so we think she has had it jammed between the mesh and the shelf. If it had been any of the other mice I wouldn't have been so worried but she's a special old girl to me. My friend that owned her died in a car crash so I took her and have spoiled her.


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## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

So it's been a while since I have been able to come on and update on this! We took her to the vet and they amputated her tail, turned out to be a tumor. She was doing great all healed up and putting weight back on and actually moving about her cage, then sadly she suddenly died during the night. We could only assume that there were further tumors within her or it was just old age but I think we did everything we could to help. It's been a bit of an emotional couple of weeks. I knew we would have to say goodbye to her at some point but I was hoping It wouldn't hit me that bad. I'm sure that my friend would have understood that I tried. So we put her in a little box and took her down to his grave. I know I sound crazy but it's what he had asked me to do. I think in some ways he knew what was going to happen when I last saw him. I will never forget that sweet little mouse or her owner.


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## TwitchingWhiskers (Feb 2, 2013)

You don't sound one bit crazy to me. You loved your mouse, and I'm so sorry you lost her.  You did the right thing, and you tried your best to help her. RIP little mousie.


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## Sizzlea89 (Jan 19, 2013)

Thanks  I still feel really bad for the poor girl but at least we tried to help her


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