# Last attempt for any answers



## crispysnack (Oct 15, 2018)

We have been taking our little mouse to the vet for a while now, she has had steroids, antibiotics, xeno 50 mini, anti fungal, immune boosters and she gets a bit better and then gets worse.

she is now the worst she has been and we are at the point of having to book an appointment to have her put to sleep. I suppose this is my last attempt at looking for some bit of hope to keep her going.

any ideas what this could be? her sister is fine! it hasnt spread and its been a few months now. it sort of looked like ringworm at first but both I and my partner are fine and as i said her sister is fine also and its been months now.

there was a glimpse of hope when she had a dose of steroids, antibiotics and xeno, all her fur but one small patch grew back but then it rocketed back to a bad situation.


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## WoodWitch (Oct 18, 2009)

Looks to me like sister is responsible! Sister is chewing her or has in the past and your evidence supports this. Separate them.


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## crispysnack (Oct 15, 2018)

We have explored the idea of that but her sister(Nibbler) is super docile and Flik here is the dominant one of the two. 
We can try separating them to be sure but I've never seen Nibbler chase or bite at Flik. Flik does sometimes hold down Nibbler and groom her head? But there's no vicious biting and no fur being removed so we let them be. 
When we got Nibbler she got a bit ill and has never been as active as Flik because of it. Maybe she is secretly a terror to Flik but we have seen no signs of it being that way round. 
Right now Flik can't go 5 minutes without biting at her wounds which is making it worse. It looks self inflicted from whatever is causing the irritation and it's so out of control the vet is suggesting we put her to sleep before her quality of life gets any worse.


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## Cheshire Gleam (Aug 15, 2016)

You should still absolutely separate them. Just because you don't see it, definitely does not mean it isn't happening. Even if her sister isn't the culprit, a mouse that ill should be alone to lower her stress levels and give her a better chance of survival. Paper towels along the bottom of a sterile cage with only a hide, water bottle and food will possibly help her recover. The situation sounds awful, best wishes.


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## Amtma Mousery (Jan 29, 2015)

Looks like some nasty stuff, poor mouse. :/


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## crispysnack (Oct 15, 2018)

Cheshire Gleam said:


> You should still absolutely separate them. Just because you don't see it, definitely does not mean it isn't happening. Even if her sister isn't the culprit, a mouse that ill should be alone to lower her stress levels and give her a better chance of survival. Paper towels along the bottom of a sterile cage with only a hide, water bottle and food will possibly help her recover. The situation sounds awful, best wishes.


Thanks, we will try and set her up with something by herself! we hadn't been recommended to separate them because Nibbler was fine. We have 1 more week of treatment before its suggested we do the final option which is something we really don't want 

Can anyone suggest anything to help calm her skin so its less irritating for her? We will get her in a bare minimum cage to see how she gets on.


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## crispysnack (Oct 15, 2018)

Lake Mousery said:


> Looks like some nasty stuff, poor mouse. :/


yes it looks horrible now  it started as pretty small area and we feel really bad for it getting like this but we have been to vets constantly since it started hoping to help her.


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## WoodWitch (Oct 18, 2009)

Just because you don't witness it doesn't mean it didn't happen. The fact that sister is fine says a lot. Separate and use a mild tea tree cream on the wound. Mouse wounds heal up pretty quickly if allowed to dry and settle.


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## Agoutigoo (Nov 8, 2013)

maybe a staph infection?


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## crispysnack (Oct 15, 2018)

We have got them separated now, fresh cage for Flik. She seems ok with it.

The current treatment for the skin from the vet is Surolan, which are ear drops I believe but we were told work well for fungal skin problems on mice. When applying this though Flik absolutely hates it, hates it. She really lives up to her name after its on, throws her bedding about and gives us evils for a bit.

Time will tell if we can get her healthy again while separated I suppose. She still has some personality but she is getting limpy and agitated more as it has got worse.


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## meromar (Aug 27, 2016)

So sorry that your little friend is going through this -- it looks absolutely terrible, I wish the best for her  Has her condition improved at all since your last update?


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## crispysnack (Oct 15, 2018)

meromar said:


> So sorry that your little friend is going through this -- it looks absolutely terrible, I wish the best for her  Has her condition improved at all since your last update?


She has been biting at herself less but the skin is still in bad shape. She has also developed a bit of a hunch this past day, hobbles around the cage now. Still eating and drinking. we put a spare saucer wheel in the cage with her to try and break boredom, she still uses this in the evenings. hopefully its still ok to allow her to run?

Right now though its still a pretty worrying situation for her. I cant get back to the vet till saturday, so we are hoping to get some improvement before then, if not then we think it may be in her best interest to be put to sleep rather than allow it to get any worse.

It's very frustrating as there was a moment where everything had healed but one small wound and she was doing so good. We don't know what changed but it got so much worse so much faster.


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## WoodWitch (Oct 18, 2009)

It's a shame if you lose the battle, but you did your very best for her. Good luck.


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