[Kage Davies]

Aaand another question. I am not having much luck at the moment.

So, chinchilla doe. Has a litter of two and a bit week olds. Had the sniffles, was treated with antibiotics. Has seven babies, two are fosterlings. All of the babies have the sniffles. Today I checked in on them, and there was blood spots all over the nest. I did a head count, seven in tact babies. Picked them all up, and no body squealed or appeared to be injured. Checked the Nanny, nothing suspicious. The chin doe also appears to have to injuries, but the fur around her vent was a bit... gungy. It could have been a bit of squidged poop, or dried blood, it was impossible to tell. She looked a little sore in that area too, but nothing was apparently seeping or anything. She still looks very plump from the babies, but my last two does also put on weight from all of the lactol and treats.

Any ideas? I think the babies are coming up to weaning, so if she dies they might pull through... but they're all sick anyway. They're all staying here till they die, one way or another. I was kind of hoping to let them all go nuts in a cage full of toys first though.

 

[Cait]

It could be from the doe if as you describe she is wet at the back end, indicating a problem, but it could also be from the mice sneezing. Sometimes if they are unwell they will sneeze and the porphyrin makes it look as if there has been blood splatter in the cage. It's not of course, as porphyrin is a reddy brown secretion they produce when under stress (including illness) and when dried looks just like blood.

 

[julieszoo]

If she had pyometra she would probably look a lot more poorly, not sure how good mice are at hiding symptoms. Uterine myco perhaps? Hope your luck changes soon.