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Post by degualot on Jan 4, 2012 20:36:04 GMT
Hi, Victor is not doing well, he's in good health in the sense he's energetic, eats his food and is relatively healthy other than that. However he is suffering from a problem with his sinuses. ok Victor, has always sneezed, always, not due to allergies, first vet thought it was just a nervous response like a twitch. his teeth are also V shaped as I explained ages ago, I think he was inbred. My Vet Sarah, an excellent small animal certified vet, had a look at him, and recommend x-rays and other tests. The results were not good. I took a look at the X-ray as Sarah guided me through it. Basically his teeth are not growing normally, they are pushing up on the top of his skull. The X-ray also revealed a small mass of something blocking his nasal passages and sinuses. she doesn't know what it is but knows it is causing him problems. Apart from Sneezing constantly, his nose pops, like like air bubbles popping, he also wipes it constantly and his eyes have goo in them all the time. Sarah says all these symptoms are caused by what ever is in his sinuses which is probably a direct result of his teeth pushing up into his skull. So that's where I am. Basically she has to take a sample from his sinuses which involves surgery, getting in removing it, and testing it to find out what it's made of. Now this is really my only viable option. He must have what is there removed. The more drastic approach is she removes his teeth, but she admits, she's never done it to a Degu before, she's done it to lot's of rabbits, but never to a Degu, however if I was going to trust anyone to do this, it would be her. This is an option I never want to consider, she also advised me it's not something she wants to do but it's an option. He's on med which is not clearing it up so what ever is in him could be quite solid. so that's it. The only other option if it comes to it is to put him down but I'm not ready to give up that easy on him. he may suffer a little but life is suffering, humans and animals alike. He's too fit to put down if it wasn't for his sinus problem he would otherwise be 100%.. anyone got and positive advice?  |
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 5, 2012 3:32:05 GMT
I SO WISH I did, Degualot!! This sounds very serious for Victor. I am so sorry and so concerned for you both. Please keep us updated on how he is doing and what is being done? I'll be thinking of you.
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Post by Kins on Jan 5, 2012 10:25:45 GMT
Oh dear, poor Victor, what a worry!
Definitely keep us updated, everything crossed for Victor and you.
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Post by blossombrooks on Jan 5, 2012 17:33:32 GMT
Really hope he pulls through this, it sounds like you've got a really great vet there who will obviously give him the best care. All the best!
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Post by degualot on Jan 5, 2012 21:05:54 GMT
Thanks everyone, Yeah Sarah is a great vet, I'm lucky in the fact she's only a 20 minute drive away. She's even kept Degus herself so knows about their needs which I think is a bonus. When I went to see Victors X-rays in the surgery room, I could see the amount of Medical books she has on small animal anatomy, I saw the book on Degus. So at least I know it's an active subject for her. I took a look at the book and rubbed my head, didn't understand a word of it, haha all in Vet talk. Yeah I'm worried about Victor, I feel so sorry for him, when i'm on the computer all I can hear is this popping sound from the behind me. Poor guy, when I bring him some wetabix as a treat, he tries to smell it which only increases the pops in his nose. My heart sinks when that happens. He's going back on wednesday to see if the med has helped but I don't think it has as I can still hear him being uncomfortable. After that I will arrange another X-ray and then I'll arrange the surgery to test the lump and remove what's there I hope. This will be painful I imagine but they'll give him pain killers. I hate putting him under this much, every time he get's an X-ray he has to be put under. so that will be 2 more times, meaning he's been under three times. I realise every time you put such a small animal down you run the risk of them dying but the way I see it, it's worth the risk, because if it helps the problem then that's great, if he does pass away, he's no longer in pain, although I will be for a long time if that happens. I just love the little guy. I'll keep you updated  |
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Post by moletteuk on Jan 7, 2012 19:09:35 GMT
Just wanted to wish you and Victor all the best with this. If the root cause is dodgy teeth and everything else is a knock on effect than it sounds really tricky to know what to do. thank goodness you have a vet you can trust. Could they do the second xray and the surgery under the same anasthetic?
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Post by degualot on Jan 7, 2012 22:55:39 GMT
I managed to get Victor an appointment today because he's not getting any better in regards to his nose. Sarah did notice he had lost a little weight which I already knew about but it wasn't enough to get concenerned over. She told me, he's try active so that's a good sign it's not effecting his enjoyment of life. The fact he still chases casper around the cage and he still is eating and likes treats and is always digging. So she also said despite oh irritating it is to him, his spirits are far from low. one thing she did say is to prepare for it possibly being a tumour of a specific type which she has seen only in a couple of cases regarding Degus and they were often in the nose area, however she told me not to jump to it being that until she had done some more tests. So at the moment i'm waiting on her calling me around tuesday, she told me she needed to do more research and to discuss with another surgeon what a good approach would be to get into Victor, she said it's not easy so she's making sure this un-routine surgery has been well planned. Poor guy, he hates the vets as well. moletteuk, i'm not sure to be honest. I'll just have to wait and see. They may end up not even doing surgery. |
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Post by Bexi87 on Jan 7, 2012 23:19:02 GMT
Oh bless him. I hope he is feeling ok and you are coping ok? x
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Post by bijett on Jan 8, 2012 15:32:34 GMT
Poor little Victor. I hope t's no a tumour.
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Post by degualot on Jan 10, 2012 18:41:20 GMT
one of the secretaries at the animal clinic rang to tell me sarah was still researching the best approach and was consulting specialists in the US to see what she wants to do. This makes me feel very happy I have such a great vet  |
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Post by dianah on Jan 13, 2012 16:28:47 GMT
my best wishes to victor! i have all my fingers crossed your vet will come up with a solution that will fix the problem, she sounds great!
my rescue chinchilla has problems with her sinuses, nothing like what you're describing but she always has a little wheeze. she gets respiratory infections very often and sounds like a geiger counter because she can't breathe properly. it's heartbreaking!
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Post by degualot on Jan 13, 2012 18:22:37 GMT
Ok Sarah got back to me, she has been discussing the matter with other surgeons and doing a lot of research into the matter. She came across a case similar to victor but was done on a post mortem Degu. Who had a tumour in his sinuses. She told me there were other Degus reported with this but it's very rare. Now the difference between Victor which makes him a good candidate for surgery is that is very healthy otherwise. She says basically the condition will eventually get worse, the question she put to me, was if I wanted Victor to just live his life now while he's still happy or go with the surgery now while he's still healthy and will have more of a chance to pull through. She says the whole procedure, involves removing the infected molar at the back which is pushing up on his nasal passages. while making a hole up into the nasal passage, then removing the lump if she can get to it, or sucking it out if it's gooy liquid. She would then place a tiny specially designed tube to hold his nasal passage open. However she warned me, it's never been done before and it's very high disk. Meaning there is quite a high chance he will not pull through, not hopeless, but a hight chance. I guess she just wanted me to get prepared for the worst. I'm so scared for Victor but this surgery has done some pretty amazing things and I trust in their skill to get it done. But I could end up cutting poor Victors life very short. He's so happy and pay full, but in the back of my mind, I think, for how long, I would just be delaying what will eventually most likely kill him. She told me she's back in the surgery on Monday so I can decide what to do and let her know. I'm just lost, really I am. If he dies in surgery that would kill me.  |
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Post by fred on Jan 13, 2012 19:17:24 GMT
I really feel for you and Victor; what a difficult decision to make This is something which seems indeed very rare (I found hardly anything about problems around sinuses when I searched deguforum and nothing relevant at all). Since your vet seems to know what she is doing and you have a good understanding with her, I wonder whether there is a kind of half way op that could be another option. I assume that the infected molar needs to be removed anyway which should be more of a routine operation. Maybe your vet can use this to have a closer look and make a decision based on a better risk assessment? Just a thought. |
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Post by dianah on Jan 14, 2012 15:03:16 GMT
what a difficult decision to make. the very positive thing is that you've got a great vet who's going into great length to find all possible solutions and that you have a great relationship with her.
i think the factor to consider is that while he is healthy and playful at the moment, you have no idea how long this is going to last and as you have said, the advantage victor has at the moment is that he is indeed healthy otherwise. if his health deteriorates, his chances of getting through the surgery will rapidly go down.
my first chinchilla died a year and a half ago when he had a reaction to the anaesthetic. he was neutered, suffered complications and was very sick for two months. he then seemed to be recovered but unfortunately had a puss capsule that was rapidly getting larger and he simply had to have it removed. i did feel very strongly about not putting him through another surgery as he had lost a lot of weight during the two months and had an awful time but in the end got to the decision that this is the only way to go. It was supposed to be a quick surgery - incision, take capsule out, wash out with antibiotics, stitch up. When they opened him up, it turned out that the capsule was a lot bigger than we had though and it was growing into his leg. This meant the surgery was a lot more extensive than anticipated and he had crashed twice after waking up after his anaesthetic, they didn't manage to bring him back the second time.
i was absolutely devastated. i felt that it was my fault - i'm sure you can imagine what i went through. i cried and cried and cried for months. now, looking back, it's still awful. but i know it was the only thing i could have done.
of course, this situation is different, the surgery was absolutely urgent in my case. but i think, no matter what happens, if you wait and it starts affecting him and he suffers, you'll feel awful. if he has the surgery and the outcome isn't good, you'll feel awful. if you take yourself and your feelings out of the equation (not an easy thing to do), what course of action seems the best?
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Post by bijett on Jan 14, 2012 17:28:55 GMT
Oh I'm so sorry. What a difficult decision to face.
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Post by degualot on Jan 14, 2012 18:40:54 GMT
I know feelings aside, getting the surgery is his best option. I just have to pray he makes it. I think it's hard no matter what option I choose. I've talked it over with my wife chloe, and we have agreed to go ahead with the surgery and will be letting sarah know on Monday. I feel awful, absoloutely awful having to make this choice. I'm trying to tell myself if he dies, at least he was peacefully asleep and not suffering later on down the road.
@fred, yes this is something I had thought of and will ask sarah that question on monday.
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Post by degualot on Jan 17, 2012 4:50:18 GMT
Victor goes into surgery on Wednesday, fingers crossed.  |
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 17, 2012 5:39:26 GMT
I'll be thinking of you!!
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Post by Ady on Jan 17, 2012 8:06:03 GMT
Hope everything goes well!
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Post by Bexi87 on Jan 17, 2012 8:09:18 GMT
I'll have everything crossed for you & Victor!
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