Post by greydawnbreaking on Jul 23, 2013 20:55:42 GMT 10
My black and white pet store mouse, Lady Dragonfly Go, has developed a distended abdomen over the last couple weeks. I tried to take pictures of it, but she's very active and inquisitive, running all over my hands and arm, so most of them turned out really blurry. I got some, posted here, and the red marks are to emphasize the curve.
Basically, from her midline back she looks like she's eaten a very small ping pong ball. The bulge starts just in front of her haunches, and from underneath she looks like there's a ^ running down the middle of her belly, where it looks as though the midline is taut but the skin on either side is bulging downward slightly.
She looks and acts perfectly healthy otherwise, she climbs all over the place and has superb balance. She's the first to investigate any new thing in the cage, eats like a horse, coat is shiny, eyes clear, and no respiratory issues that I can see. She's the more friendly of the two, stands at the very top of the cage and waves her front paws to demand my hand, and will willingly let me pick her up almost every day. She's gotten a bit nippy lately, but it seems more like high spirits and sass rather than aggression. Runs on the wheel just as fast as she used to when she wasn't pear-shaped.
My thoughts as to what it might be:
* pregnancy (although to the best of my knowledge she's never been near a male mouse, and I've never seen any sign that I have wild mice in my apartment that might have mated with her through the cage bars. She's had a new cagemate in the last few weeks, but Cherry seems to be pretty unambiguously a girl. Unless Lady's starting her own religion, I don't think it's that.)
* overeating/obesity (she and her sisters were raised on lab blocks, but I've moved her onto a mixed-seed-plus-lab-blocks-plus-misc diet and she's taken to it with exceptional enthusiasm. Her belly seems slightly smaller before she comes out for the nightly refresh of the food tray, and slightly larger after she's stuffed herself. But she's still noticeably a different shape than her cagemate.)
* cancer/tumors (I don't want it to be this, but her sister developed a huge tumor between her front legs so I've got to consider it)
Can anyone suggest a diagnosis?
First pic: lump as seen from right side, you can clearly see the crease where the front half of her body swells out.
The view of the top of her hips, she's head-down and her tail is that pinkish smudge at the very very top.
View from the left.
Another view, showing her belly a bit clearer.
Basically, from her midline back she looks like she's eaten a very small ping pong ball. The bulge starts just in front of her haunches, and from underneath she looks like there's a ^ running down the middle of her belly, where it looks as though the midline is taut but the skin on either side is bulging downward slightly.
She looks and acts perfectly healthy otherwise, she climbs all over the place and has superb balance. She's the first to investigate any new thing in the cage, eats like a horse, coat is shiny, eyes clear, and no respiratory issues that I can see. She's the more friendly of the two, stands at the very top of the cage and waves her front paws to demand my hand, and will willingly let me pick her up almost every day. She's gotten a bit nippy lately, but it seems more like high spirits and sass rather than aggression. Runs on the wheel just as fast as she used to when she wasn't pear-shaped.
My thoughts as to what it might be:
* pregnancy (although to the best of my knowledge she's never been near a male mouse, and I've never seen any sign that I have wild mice in my apartment that might have mated with her through the cage bars. She's had a new cagemate in the last few weeks, but Cherry seems to be pretty unambiguously a girl. Unless Lady's starting her own religion, I don't think it's that.)
* overeating/obesity (she and her sisters were raised on lab blocks, but I've moved her onto a mixed-seed-plus-lab-blocks-plus-misc diet and she's taken to it with exceptional enthusiasm. Her belly seems slightly smaller before she comes out for the nightly refresh of the food tray, and slightly larger after she's stuffed herself. But she's still noticeably a different shape than her cagemate.)
* cancer/tumors (I don't want it to be this, but her sister developed a huge tumor between her front legs so I've got to consider it)
Can anyone suggest a diagnosis?
First pic: lump as seen from right side, you can clearly see the crease where the front half of her body swells out.
The view of the top of her hips, she's head-down and her tail is that pinkish smudge at the very very top.
View from the left.
Another view, showing her belly a bit clearer.
(( In my secret heart of hearts I'm almost sure that's what this is, but I'm going to try changing up the mix they're getting, see if that helps anything. 
Or something really plain, like cooked rice, for a few days? I'm not really sure 