# Is Amoxicillin safe for mice?



## Autumn2005

I know the usual antibiotic people use is tetracycline, but I don't have any available. But I do have some amoxicillin, left over from my dog's surgery. Is it safe for mice, and what is the dosage? It's in a white liquid form. I bought a mouse from the store, but when I brought him home, I realized he was whistling when he breathed, and now he has diarrhea and a hunched back. He looked healthy in the store, if I'd known he was this ill I wouldn't have got him.

Any help appreciated, thanks!


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## Stina

Amoxi is safe, but generally inefective with resp infections


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## Autumn2005

Would respiratory illness also cause the diarrhea he has? And would it be better to give it to him anyway, even though it's probably ineffective, or not give him anything at all?


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## SarahY

I have found that respiratory illness tends to come with other diseases, so whatever is causing his diarrhea has probably brought on the respiratory distress. A friend of mine dissected some mice they had culled because of respiratory distress and found other organ problems such as large sacks of pus on the kidneys. I suspect that whenever we cull/treat for respiratory illness, the wheezing is actually caused by something somewhere else in the body. So try it, it may well clear up the underlying problem and take the respiratory distress with it!


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## Autumn2005

Thanks! Now here's the bigger question: what dose is safe for a mouse, and how do I get him to drink it?


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## SarahY

That I don't know, sorry!


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## SarahY

I know people use it for rats so if you can find the dose per 100g of rat, you can divide that by ten and dose per 10g of mouse.

I suggest doing it that way because there's tons of rat info on the web, but very little on mice.

Edit: Found a useful rat dosage chart, just remember to divide the dose/weight by 10:
http://www.rmca.org/Articles/dchart.htm


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## BlackCat99

when I had to give my rat meds once I mixed the stuff in with a little baby food he liked to get him to take it, maybe mixing the stuff with something your mouse likes or something? otherwise I have heard of people putting stuff on their mouses body they will clean it off eventually and ingest it of course the mouse would have to be isolated for the second on to work well wouldn't want to dose the wrong mouse


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## MoonfallTheFox

Mice have teeny tummies so mixing with food isn't reliable.

When I medicate mine, I use a syringe, and hold them gently in one hand. Then I put the medicine, drop by drop, into the mouse's mouth so they can swallow. I wait until they either swallow it or groom before giving another drop. All but one of my does gulp it down quickly, it seems instinctive to them to swallow, so I have very little trouble.

You have to be very careful with the nose so as not to aspirate them- they are SO small.


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