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Old July 7th, 2007, 10:08 AM
Radish Radish is offline
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Baby mouse - what happened?

Well, those of you who have read my other mouse thread know that I just can't say "no" when it comes to saving these little critters (and pretty much any critter, in fact). :love:

Thursday evening I was at the barn riding my house when my friend (who owns the place) came running out carrying a Tupperware container with paper towel in it, hands it to me and says, "You're the mouse lady, it's yours!"

So I took the little one home (about one and a half weeks, I think - a week older than my last mousie rescue), warmed "him" up, got some half 'n' half cream in him, and he perked right up! I was feeding him every 2 hours that evening, left him for 4 hours that night (boy was he hungry when I woke up to feed him! ), and went to every 3 hours the next day. He seemed to be doing so well.

That "next day" was yesterday and I had to pick a friend up at the airport in Buffalo (I'm in Toronto so it's about 2 hours away and across the border) so I had to leave the little one at home. I figured he'd be all right. When I got back (7 hours later - took longer than expected), he didn't look very good but once I got some food into him, he perked right back up again and was running around like normal. I was checking on him every hour and giving him a little drink (and some rice cereal which is what I fed my other mouse rescue) until about 3am when I finally fell asleep.

I had set my alarm to 6am and when I checked on him, he didn't seem to be breathing and wouldn't move at all. Every 10 seconds or so his body would tense up and his mouth would open up - it looked like he was trying to throw up or suck in a breath or something. ??? Within about 5 minutes, he was gone.

What could've happened in those 3 hours??? I know baby rodents are hard to raise but since I managed with a younger one and he'd made it through the first night that he'd be okay. Could he have had internal damage that happened before I got him that just took that long to take effect?

Sorry for the novel, I'm just sad for the little guy and he'll be buried next to my other mouse rescue who lived for a full 2.5 years.

Thanks everyone.
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Old July 7th, 2007, 11:06 AM
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BMDLuver BMDLuver is offline
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Did you have him on a heat source all the time? I'm sorry he didn't make it.
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Old July 7th, 2007, 11:37 AM
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jiorji jiorji is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Radish View Post

Every 10 seconds or so his body would tense up and his mouth would open up - it looked like he was trying to throw up or suck in a breath or something. ??? Within about 5 minutes, he was gone.
sigh...that's how they die. My hamster died in my hand doing the same thing. Gasping for air and then nothing...:sad:

Sorry the little guy didn't make it. He was probably too weak or he might've been sick. They're very fragile at that age.
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Old July 7th, 2007, 10:56 PM
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MyBirdIsEvil MyBirdIsEvil is offline
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Here's an article on raising orphaned baby mice and rats.

http://www.rmca.org/Articles/orphans.htm

You should never feed cow milk, it's way too hard to digest for most baby animals. I obviously can't say for sure but that may have had something to do with it (or nothing, he may just have gotten sick or had other problems).
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Old July 7th, 2007, 11:57 PM
Radish Radish is offline
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He did have a heat source at all times so I don't think that was it.

It could've been the cows milk but I fed it to my other rescue mouse (didn't know it was bad but will remember that in the future) and she was fine on it for almost a week until I bought "proper" food.

It was just so strange that I did everything the same as with the last baby (and this one was a week older) and he seemed perfect but was dead 3 hours later. It makes me think he had something else wrong with him.

I thought to myself as I was falling asleep, "Should I check on him every hour?" but since he'd been fine the night before and fine for the 4 hours previous, I thought he'd be okay. I know I shouldn't feel guilty but seeing him die in my hand is something I wish I never had to see. Poor thing. At least he died somewhere he liked and not on the top of the mulch pile where we found him, I guess.

Thanks for letting me rant and your suggestions, keep them coming.
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Old July 8th, 2007, 12:12 AM
Jim Hall Jim Hall is offline
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It happens hon I recently had a cat that passed his vet with flying colors and she keeled over a wwek later from a heart attack
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  #7  
Old July 8th, 2007, 10:48 AM
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babybreau babybreau is offline
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The best thing that you can have on hand and feed them is Kitten Milk Replacement. It can be found at any local pet shop.
Then when they get a little older, you mix that with rice cereal or oatmeal cereal (baby cereal), make sure it's lukewarm, and they lap that right up. It's the best thing for any sick mousie.
Unfortunately, cow's milk/cream is the worst thing you could give them. But he also could have had internal damage from before, or been sick and that's why the mother abandoned him and your friend found him all alone.
I'm sorry for your loss.

I've found MUCH information and support on thefunmouseforum. they are VERY informative and it is specifically ONLY for mice.
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Old July 8th, 2007, 02:37 PM
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Melinda Melinda is offline
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sounds like maybe he was choking, if you feed them too much they will asphiate (sp?) themselves, do you stimulate then to go pee? They can't do it on their own till they are about 3 weeks.
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Old July 9th, 2007, 12:36 AM
Radish Radish is offline
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Good to know not to feed cows milk/cream to any future rescues (although my first lived on it for almost 2 weeks and then lived a healthy 2.5 years so I'm pretty sure it's not the worst thing I could've given her ).

I doubt it was choking as I fed him and then played with him for quite a while and he was perfect. Yes, I was stimulating him to pee/poo, although he was also doing it on his own also.

I got some great advice on how to raise baby rodents with my first one and followed it with this one (minus the cow's milk thing - that was my own idea... :sad: ) so I think it just had to be that he was sick or injured already.

At least he spent his last day warm, full, and safe.

Thanks everyone!
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  #10  
Old July 9th, 2007, 08:49 AM
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MyBirdIsEvil MyBirdIsEvil is offline
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I wouldn't worry about it, it sometimes happens and was probably no fault of your own *shrug*.
I've had no luck with orphaned baby mice, even following all the guidelines for caring for them, babies are fragile so sometimes they just don't make it. He could have easily caught something and that's what did him in. It's so hard to tell at that age if they're sick, they go downhill so quickly.
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  #11  
Old February 12th, 2014, 10:30 PM
leesh leesh is offline
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i resently took in 5 2 week old baby mice who i had die between 2 days and 2 weeks of me having them, they were taken from their mother who ditched them when my bfs sister found them, i think they might have had a birth defect or something cause i did do everything right and I was told by vets that newborn baby formula is good for raising rodents if you cant afford the kitten one and had baby formula around
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Old February 13th, 2014, 12:23 PM
Barkingdog Barkingdog is offline
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I had never heard of people riding their house, is this a new sport or something?
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  #13  
Old February 13th, 2014, 12:47 PM
Lynne&Co. Lynne&Co. is offline
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LOL
Gave me a much needed laugh
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  #14  
Old February 22nd, 2014, 08:48 PM
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pbpatti pbpatti is offline
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Quote:
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I had never heard of people riding their house, is this a new sport or something?
hee hee, I think she meant horse Barkingdog. I read that post also and had to laugh imagining a person on the roof of the house riding about town....
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