Im Stumped!

[iamlina]

Hi Guys!

I haven't been on the forum in a while!

Our Degu, Sandy, has been having a few issues. On Saturday we noticed she had a little discharge in her eye and she looked a bit 'stuffy' on that side of her face. We have also been noticing that she has been scratching that ear a lot and sneezing (they don't sound snotty just cute!) On Sunday she looked better and on Monday you could just tell if you stared at her that her right eye was slightly squinted. She was still sneezing a little and scratching.

I took her to the vets on Monday and they didn't seem to have a clue. He gave me some eye drops as he thought it might be related to her eyes. (I'd much rather get antibiotics into their mouths ANY day of the week than eyedrops twice a day but I'm managing.) She's eating and drinking just fine and seems to be her normal self.

We have recently moved house and I changed their food a couple of month ago. Are they usually prone to allergies? and if so can they cause discharge in the eye and cause scratching and sneezing? Our other degu Boo has had teeth problems (Spurs) recently and I don't think it's the same thing. The symptoms are different, although we are keeping a close eye on her feeding habits. She is pretty much bang on 5 year old and has had no previous problems.

Thanks in advance and I hope you and your goos are all doing okay!
Lina

[yasmin]

The biggest concern is that she might be having issues with her molars growing into her nasal cavities. Is she directly related to Boo?

An X-ray would show whether or not this is the case but, if she's eating and drinking fine, then there is a good chance that it is allergies. They can have allergies that can affect the eyes and cause them to sneeze. Is the hay or their food very dusty?

It could also be an upper respiratory infection. (Why did the vet think it wasn't that?) Is it only one eye that is affected? Is the discharge clear?

I have a three-year-old that often has one of her eyes half-closed, sneezes occasionally, and wipes her nose and face quite often, but when I took her to the vet he did a thorough examination on her and found her to be in tiptop shape. He didn't think an X-ray would be needed and also did not prescribe antibiotics. In her case, she never seems to have a discharge from the eye. The three goos in that cage are very messy; they always remove the paper and strawmat from their plastic ledge, and then pee and poo right on the plastic. Also, they pee alot – out of the cage, and in one corner of the main part of the cage. There the paper bedding gets soaked and it smells very musty. She could be sensitive to the mustiness or the pee fumes, so I clean them very often. (I am still concerned because I would expect both eyes would be affected then, not just one.)

[iamlina]

I think it's allergies then as they have started weeing on their bedding since getting the new cage. I'll leave her for a bit and see if changing bedding more regularly helps. Her food is stick like nuggets so no dust. I have however, been mixing sawdust with finnacard so ill just change to finnacard. And I got a new air freshner so I've taken that out of the room too.

Her eye was a creamy discharge...not clear but it hasn't happened since Saturday and again, she seems fine in herself. We are not sure about the full sister as they were adopted but we assume so.

I'll take her back in end of next week to double check her. Jeez they don't half cost a bomb!

Thank you for the reply!