Pet mouse with ongoing eye infection

Hi, I hope somebody can make a suggestion. My daughters pet mouse has had an eye infection ion for around 2-3 months now. They will only give me steroids and baytril and a mild topical that it just kicks off. Is there anything broader spectrum I can request from them. They claim not to know much about mice because they are “Exotic Pet”. The tissue around the eye is red and swollen shut. No discharge and the eye itself seems fine. Please help,  many thanks, Justin

Hello Justin - only a small proportion of diseases of the human eye would respond to repeated doses of antibiotics and steroids and in fact, as wide and complex a range of diseases occurs in the mouse eye as in the human one - although of course, they are far more difficult to see. When your vets say that they are not experienced in treating mouse eyes, perhaps they offered a referal either to a rodent expert or an opthalmologist, although of course the relative cost of the treatment can far outweigh the monetary value of the patient, so such opportunities may be difficult to find and it is also common for owners to decline.  Batril (enrofloxacin) is actually a broad spectrum antibiotic with reasonable penetration, so I think that the primary question here should be whether there is an infection at all or whether a different disease process may be present.

I wondered about tumours, foreign bodies (eg grass seeds / sawdust), abscesses, glaucoma  etc.  Your vet does have a duty of care to animals extending across all the species they see and should be able to make enquireys and obtain advice as to how to start to diagnose the problem if they are unsure; I wonder whether it is worth gently reminding them of this and asking them to try to find the cause of the problem.  It is easy for a small animal vet to assume that you might not want further investigations and to overlook opportunities to investigate, due to the size of the patient.  Examining the eye in detail may be easier with a general anaesthetic, which carries its own risks.  I know of a Paul Flecknall who specialises in laboratory species and may be a good person for them to ask for a reccommendation as to where to start; there are also multiple vet-only forums online for case discussion.  I hope that something in all that waffle is useful s d wishing you the best of luck with your mouse's eye.