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Post by animalmadchloe on Apr 27, 2014 13:16:18 GMT
Sounds like the vet is a decent one sorry to hear that they couldn't pinpoint an actual problem but least they have given him painkillers and that and I agree you need to send p@h the bill ! Useless people
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floss
Foraging Degu
Posts: 86
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Post by floss on Apr 27, 2014 21:19:04 GMT
Hello everyone, thanks for rooting for Wilfred, he really does seem to have come out of his shell this last 24hours and he is now like his friend wanting to constantly get out of the cage for a play soon as I go near it.
Weirdly today the wetness is hardly there - he looks almost normal. Although I'm well aware there is no way his antibiotics have worked already - he only had his first dose last night. The vets also rang this morning and explained she thinks the dosage of the painkillers is too high that was initially prescribed by the original vet, she is concerned about long term damage as he is so young and had asked me to only give him 0.05ml twice a day.
ilikedegus - there is no need to be sorry, I can feel sorry for myself lol. My husband loves them as much as do and it's just unlucky that he is ill, I'm sort of glad I've got him as I wonder if they would have even spotted it in the shop by now? He could have gone to a home that didn't bother with him/notice or care, I'm glad he's with me as I know he's safe and will be as happy as he could possibly be. Thank you though.
P@h Barnsley did reiterate on Friday they would pay the bill - I got a bit annoyed and upset Friday morning as I rang the vet @ p@h (Huddersfield) friday morning and asked how it would work as he had been to the vet once and she had just sent him away with painkillers, I explained I wanted to take him to a degu experienced vet (I said all this very nicely) and she explained all the vets had Degu experience there, when I asked her the direct question if she had done dental work on Degus? she wouldn't answer me and then told me that Barnsley p@h would not pay the bill if I went some where else as they get a discount from them!! I then went to P@H Barnsley and to be fair they didn't look impressed he had just been sent away with painkillers and said I can go to any vets I choose. I will never take any animal to companion care Hudd again.
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Post by ilikedegus on Apr 27, 2014 22:03:06 GMT
Floss - I think my other half has softened me up...the degus are his little babies and he's so cut up if they're suffering, so I'm overdoing the sympathy with you now ;-)
Plus that photo of Wilfred is so sweet!
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floss
Foraging Degu
Posts: 86
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Post by floss on May 2, 2014 18:24:37 GMT
Just so everyone knows Wilfred aka Wilfreda (turns out they are girls) seems much better from Sunday, there has been no drooling at all and his mouth seems much less red, it's weird as Sat night I could see blood on his lips. I rang the vet yesterday and explained as I'm puzzled as surly the antibiotics haven't worked so fast? Anyway the vet said she couldn't give me a reason why, but was really happy and said it could possibly be the anti-inflammatory drugs and/or the antibiotics. He continues to really come out of his shell too and seems really happy Fingers crossed he stays well!! **touching wood**
P@h also paid the bill cash - no questions asked!
Thank you everyone!
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Post by ilikedegus on May 2, 2014 18:39:04 GMT
I do hope Wilfie (?) continues to improve, and glad that it's not cost you anything.
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floss
Foraging Degu
Posts: 86
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Post by floss on May 2, 2014 18:47:41 GMT
I do hope Wilfie (?) continues to improve, and glad that it's not cost you anything. hehe any ideas for "Derek" are welcomed - we can only think of Deirdre or DeDe!
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Post by ilikedegus on May 2, 2014 19:31:45 GMT
Desdemona.
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Post by anita on May 3, 2014 7:05:21 GMT
Hi floss glad to here that Wifreda is doing well what did p@h say about not sexing them correctly? What about Delores for Dereek?
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floss
Foraging Degu
Posts: 86
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Post by floss on May 3, 2014 16:16:57 GMT
Thanks for the ideas.
I haven't told P@H about their mistake, should I? It doesn't matter to me as long as they are the same, it doesn't surprise me though as they didn't notice him/her drenched in salvia! I am however concerned one/they may be pregnant as I was told by the assistant there were another two degus in the cage previously with my two but they had been sold ....hoping they were also girls!
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Post by rmazeds on May 3, 2014 18:14:45 GMT
They hopefully all had the same genitals. Mine were girls but sold as boys and when I mentioned it to them they said "oh..." and that was it!
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Post by anita on May 4, 2014 8:47:35 GMT
Thanks for the ideas. I haven't told P@H about their mistake, should I? It doesn't matter to me as long as they are the same, it doesn't surprise me though as they didn't notice him/her drenched in salvia! I am however concerned one/they may be pregnant as I was told by the assistant there were another two degus in the cage previously with my two but they had been sold ....hoping they were also girls! I think you should tell them as not sexing them correctly could lead to more unwanted pups or the degus themselves needing to be rehomed and with rescues full of degus needing to be homed they should not add to this problem. They shouldn't make money from selling animals when they can't even sex them correctly maybe trading standards could give them a kick up the bum to encourage them to sex the animals correctly!
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Post by ilikedegus on May 6, 2014 20:27:24 GMT
Anita - I fear that 90% of the staff won't give a stuff :-(
Floss it's a bit soon to ask for an update on Wilfreda but when you see this post I'm sure several people would love to know. Perhaps the cause will be a mystery if it's cleared up with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories.
I like the new avatar, demonstrates a friendly degu who trusts you.
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floss
Foraging Degu
Posts: 86
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Post by floss on Jun 7, 2014 22:57:50 GMT
Anita - I fear that 90% of the staff won't give a stuff :-( Floss it's a bit soon to ask for an update on Wilfreda but when you see this post I'm sure several people would love to know. Perhaps the cause will be a mystery if it's cleared up with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories. I like the new avatar, demonstrates a friendly degu who trusts you. ilikedegus - sorry I didn't see this message until today! Yes Wilfred seems absolutely fine now, no discomforting behaviours or saliva. His friend is now ill but hopefully I've caught it quick enough, I really don't know what I'm doing wrong.
Thank you for thinking about "him" (I really should start saying "her"), both Degus are very trusting now and will basically do anything for an oat! - have them standing up on command! They are amazing animals.
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floss
Foraging Degu
Posts: 86
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Post by floss on Jul 26, 2014 16:42:06 GMT
If anyone would like to know I had another relapse with the Degus mid June, Wilfred began with his wet around the mouth symptoms and a sore mouth! I didn't have the heart to put in on here as I felt like it was never ending.
I took them both back to the exotic vets again and it was awful - I felt like I was on trial. It was a male vet (not the original vet Sarah I saw) He cross questioned me saying that it MUST be something they came into contact with as both their tongues were red and swollen. He suggested I may be exposing them to solvents/smoke/fumes/live wires/cooking fumes etc etc. I understand why he was asking me but it was the way he asked. He also said he didn't understand how the symptoms kept "miraculously" disappearing and re-appearing and refered to me as "crazy" haha. He admitted he didn't know what to do and asked me what I think he should do?! - needless to say I won't be going there again.
I had already cross examined myself regarding my Degus illness and explained to the vet the Degus (well one of them) ALREADY had the symptoms when I bought them from pets at home so unless PAH were exposing them to what ever I am supposed to be exposing them too then this couldn't be the case. The only thing that remained the same was the type of cage (a thickets one) which was brand new and so were all the toys I bought along with the Degus. He then said he thought it was a zinc coating on the cage, I explained the cage was used up and down the country by PAH and I would be contacting them to check. He then said that the only other thing he can think of was a bacteria that caused "wooden tongue" in cows. He said a culture will probably not work, so I asked about a biopsy, he said it was too invasive and I would probably have to "sacrifice" one of them to do this!
He suggested the bacteria was living in the wooden toys/shelves and I needed to clean them and leave them dry for 7 days so the bacteria died- easier said than done when you only have one cage. He sent me away with anti-biotics.
I then visited the PAH I originally bought them from (once again)and explained the whole situation. They explained that a few Degus from their supplier seemed to have ulcers but these usually cleared up with antibiotics and it seemed common. The store manager rang a vets they used and the vets were bemused by the bacteria name that was given to me but said that thee certainly could be something going on regarding bacteria/infection and then getting re-infected from the bars/toys etc.
The store manager said the course of action he would like to take was give me a new cage and some other items and I threw all of my original stuff away - everything!(apart from the pot bowels and plastic wheel and water bottle - that were disinfected with disinfectant they gave me). I gave both Degus a 7 day course of antibiotics and then transferred them into their new home.
This appears to have worked!! They have been symptom free 5 weeks now. I still have no idea what the cause was apart from a good guess it was some kind of bacteria (possibly). PAH also paid the vets bills again! Can't fault the Barnsley store as they have helped me in every way they could and were a lot friendlier than the vet!
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Post by anita on Jul 26, 2014 17:20:42 GMT
Floss thats great news that you seem to have got to the root of the problem and great to hear P@H helped with resolving the issue as we hear so many horror stories about them! What was the name of the bacteria it might be useful for someone in the future if the same issue arises with other degus in the future!
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Post by yasmin on Jul 26, 2014 21:12:54 GMT
Very interesting indeed. Totally new to me – will file this away in my head for future reference. (Don't know how I completely missed this thread since April.) And, your Pets at Home store goes above and beyond; that is impressive. Glad that the treatment works and that your goos are doing well.
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Post by ilikedegus on Jul 27, 2014 10:17:10 GMT
It's great that you updated this as it could help someone in the future.
Sorry the vet you saw the second time was so rude - I hope you can find another locally!
A thought - keep the goos immune systems in the best condition you can, I suppose by making sure their diet is great. I don't doubt you are already doing this.
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floss
Foraging Degu
Posts: 86
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Post by floss on Jul 29, 2014 19:02:38 GMT
Floss thats great news that you seem to have got to the root of the problem and great to hear P@H helped with resolving the issue as we hear so many horror stories about them! What was the name of the bacteria it might be useful for someone in the future if the same issue arises with other degus in the future! Yeh sure I updated it for peoples future reference, the weird and wonderful bacteria's the vet thought of were actinomycosis or actinobacillosis ??
I have searched the internet and found no reference to the bacteria and Degus, although I have found little reference to ulcers in Degus in general, the only thread I could find was when Degus had a form of Cancer - squamous carcinoma (if that's spelt correctly) -
I have been thinking, the only other thing I have changed since the decontamination and move is the bed box! (square wooden nest thing from PAH for chinchillas) they had as a bed, I threw their old one away and didn't replace it with the same one as it doesn't look like kiln dried pine. If anyone has one they will know what I mean!
Thanks everyone, yes i'm looking after their immune system, they eat much better than me, love them to bits
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