Well….classes were cancelled due to snow, so I was able to make an earlier appointment. Unfortunately, our rodent-savvy veterinarian was out of town for a conference, so I had to schedule with visit with the cats’ vet (who is one of the greatest vets imaginable, and has experience with rodents, so that set my mind at ease a little).

Anyway, the diagnosis is airborne allergens.Most likely suspect being the field hay that they nest in, but it could also be their bedding (recycled paper pulp) or just dry winter air.

No discharge, no wheezing, absolutely no respiratory distress. The vet had a good listen to both mouth and lungs, and he said it’s kinda like “staccato” breathing. The fact that they don’t live together, yet both have the same symptoms, suggest an allergen vs. an infection.

And of course, both vet and techs thought they were the cutest lil’ things. And I was only charged $35 to see both of them.

So…the vet recommended we switch to commercial, pre-bagged hay, and change the bedding more frequently. He also said that an air purifier and/or humidifier might offer some relief.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  I had to stop by the pet store to pick up some litter, and while checking out I asked one of the employees if she had any recommendations for a rodent vet (this was after I found out that our regular exotics vet was out of town). She couldn’t think of anything, but the manager was standing nearby, and said that they used tetracycline on small animals with respiratory problems. Then she says, “It’s kind of expensive, I don’t know if you want to spend that much money on a mouse.”

Oh right, I forgot – they’re small and therefore completely worthless. Right? Would she have said that about a cat? Or, perhaps, a dog?

They’re both making on-and-off chattering noises. Funny thing is, if I hadn’t read a thread on the RMCA forum entitled: “My Male mouse is making sounds…”, I might not have known right away that it was a problem. In all my efforts to learn about these little guys, I had never once heard that mice aren’t supposed to make noise. So thanks, RMCA forum.Unfortunately, I have classes until mid-afternoon tomorrow. I’ll call the vet* as soon as I can, and pray that they can squeeze me in. Still need to figure out the best mode of transportation; it’s about a 40-minute drive.The upside is that mouse visits don’t cost a whole lot, which is a nice change from the cats’ vet bills as of late.

*our highly recommended rabbit-savvy vet, is also a highly recommended rodent-savvy vet – who knew?