Hurt Mouse

Thank you so much for the quick response ... debra appreciates as well.

I had posted here earlier about having captured wild mice. After
about a month of having them they were all very relaxed without
a hint of fighting. A roomate of mine broke their cage and so I
put them into the cage with my domestic mice ... rather nervously.
It went well for about a month without any fighting, they seemed
to enjoy eachother.

I heard some mouse yelling and ran in, and most of the wild mice
had my domestic mouse in the back of a tin can beating the hell
out of her. I dont think there were any resource scarcities ...
as I had just fed them their favorite meal of fresh corn. As for
mating, I had been under the impression that the wild mice were
all females ... from no noticable testicles, and a total lack of
fighting (till them of course) - it seems I could well have been
wrong. I've since let the wild mice loose in an abandoned house
a few doors down. I think survival will be difficult for them
in the winter, but it's the best I felt like doing for them after
their attack (imposing my human sense of justice on them).

Her two largest wounds are to her ear and one eye. I'll dab some
ointment around the areas, but I am not sure that it would be
safe for me to put ointment in her eye and ear.

Thanks again for the info.


On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 04:47:37 +0000, Heather M. Fieldhouse wrote:

> If she can feed herself and get around all right and her wounds don't get
> infected, then I don't think she'll have to be euthanized. When you get her
> to the vet, I suspect the vet will give antibiotics to prevent infection.
> You could also put some antibiotics on her in the meantime. Get some
> antibiotic ointment from the pharmacy or supermarket and dab it on her
> gently. That is what I do when my mice get bites or cuts. Be careful not to
> reopen the wounds, though.
>
> As for the blindness, mice do use their eyes to navigate but they also get
> around by feeling with their whiskers. Once she relearns the layout of her
> cage, she will probably be fine. I'd try not to move stuff around on her too
> much.
>
> I'm surprised at the extent of her injuries. In my experience female mice
> rarely fight to the point of injury. And even when male mice fight, they
> usually go for the tail or haunches rather than the face.
>
>
> Heather
 >> Stay informed about: Hurt Mouse 

Andrew Morrison wrote:
: Thank you so much for the quick response ... debra appreciates as
: well.
:
: I had posted here earlier about having captured wild mice. After
: about a month of having them they were all very relaxed without
: a hint of fighting. A roomate of mine broke their cage and so I
: put them into the cage with my domestic mice ... rather nervously.
: It went well for about a month without any fighting, they seemed
: to enjoy eachother.
:
: I heard some mouse yelling and ran in, and most of the wild mice
: had my domestic mouse in the back of a tin can beating the hell
: out of her. I dont think there were any resource scarcities ...
: as I had just fed them their favorite meal of fresh corn. As for
: mating, I had been under the impression that the wild mice were
: all females ... from no noticable testicles, and a total lack of
: fighting (till them of course) - it seems I could well have been
: wrong. I've since let the wild mice loose in an abandoned house
: a few doors down. I think survival will be difficult for them
: in the winter, but it's the best I felt like doing for them after
: their attack (imposing my human sense of justice on them).
:
: Her two largest wounds are to her ear and one eye. I'll dab some
: ointment around the areas, but I am not sure that it would be
: safe for me to put ointment in her eye and ear.
:
: Thanks again for the info.

Wild mice dont mix too well with tame mice, the wild ones will mnage
perfectly well in the wild where they belong, especially since you've given
them enough fat resources to make it through the winter even with slim
pickings from now on....
Your tame mouse should be fine - the eye is the biggest worry - ears/tails
etc are very often chewed off during fights and it's pretty much like a
human losing a finger or an earlobe - a bit painful but not life threatening
in itself - th threat is from secondary infection, so Heathre's excellent
advice regarding antibiotics should be followed (and finish the course if
the vet prescribes ABs), as far as the eye is concerned, she should manage
fine ith one eye, and if she's completely blind, even this is manageable as
mice cant see too well with two good eyes! - she'll still be able to find
her food and water and her nest as they use the sense of smell a lot more
than us and if you didnt *know* she was blind, you'd be hard pushed to
diagnose it in a mouse.


HTH
 >> Stay informed about: Hurt Mouse 

In article <pan.2004.01.11.06.07.55.732853 RemoveThis @organix.tv>, news RemoveThis @organix.tv
(Andrew Morrison) wrote:

>
> I heard some mouse yelling and ran in, and most of the wild mice
> had my domestic mouse in the back of a tin can beating the hell
> out of her.

If this tin can is one that has contained food or drink, then I would
avoid using it. They are very sharp (especially the ones used for food)
and can injure mice.

Chloe <:3>>---
 >> Stay informed about: Hurt Mouse 

On Sun, 11 Jan 2004 1:07:46 -0500, Andrew Morrison wrote
(in message <pan.2004.01.11.06.07.55.732853 RemoveThis @organix.tv>):

> I heard some mouse yelling and ran in, and most of the wild mice
> had my domestic mouse in the back of a tin can beating the hell
> out of her.

I think part of why it was inadvisable for you to put your mice together, is
that (based on your previous post) they are not the same species. Deer mice
(if that's what you have) and domestic mice are superficially similar, but
are not closely related. It's entirely possible that they can't read each
other's body language very well which could cause misunderstandings.

You might want to leave some mouse food near the spot where you released the
wild mice to help them with their winter stores. They're at a disadvantage
because they don't have a hoard to help them through the winter.

I understand how you feel. I got angry at my mouse too when he attacked his
cagemate and bit half of his tail off. But please don't judge your erstwhile
friends too harshly. They were only doing what they thought they were
supposed to do.


Heather
 >> Stay informed about: Hurt Mouse 

Wow, the mouse I had been concerned with is just about fully recovered and
doing very well. What I thought was a broken eye turned out to be just a
puffy eyebrow which temporarily sealed her eye, so I'm happy to say she
isn't blind. About two-thirds of one ear is completely missing ... but she
really didn't need that anyway. She has a scar on the back of her head
from where she had been bleeding, but nothing seems to be infected ( I had
followed the advice to give her some antibiotics ). Shes active, healthy
and is always on the move.

Thanks alot everyone.
 >> Stay informed about: Hurt Mouse 

On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 2:46:54 -0500, Andrew Morrison wrote
(in message <pan.2004.01.15.07.47.05.576708.TakeThisOut@organix.tv>):

>
> Wow, the mouse I had been concerned with is just about fully recovered and
> doing very well.

I'm glad to hear it. Mice have amazing healing abilities -- thanks to their
fast metabolism, I assume. I have had mice heal from ghastly wounds, and do
it quickly. (The one exception is that they are prone to develop abscesses
for some reason, even from minor nicks. Hence I always clean any cuts and
apply antibiotic ointment.)

Heather
 >> Stay informed about: Hurt Mouse