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Post by lornanmichael on Aug 18, 2014 18:59:47 GMT
Hi all I'm really hoping you guys can help me. I have 3 boy degus all 3 are brothers and I rescued them about 6 mths ago. Generally they are in good health, all 3 eat, sleep and play really well and they seem really happy. About 2 mths ago I noticed the smallest of the 3 sneezed a few times. He wasn't to bothered at the time but now his breathing has changed and he seems to have problems with his nose. He ticks when he breathes. We took out their wood chip bedding, all of the hay except the hay in their bowl and have kept them on news paper to rule out allergies. We went to the vets today and he listened to his chest and said it was clear and it seems the problem is in his nose. He has prescribed baytril antibio's. Now having a propper read I'm now worried about the roots of his teeth growing into his naisal passages. Anyone have any ideas please!!! Really worried he is so lovely has a wonderful nature it's breaking my heart thinking he is going to get worse. So worried
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Post by Maravilla on Aug 18, 2014 20:35:49 GMT
A friend of mine just had the same problem: a degu sneezing (has been doing it for a long time) but without other signs of infection. X-rays showed overgrown roots which cause the sneezing. I am right now in the same situation. A degu sneezing, not all the time but every now and then. First time at the vet he heart some lung sounds and gave a long time antibiotics. It doesn't help so end of the week we will go to the vet again to have some x-rays.
BTW, allergies can also occur due to things not inside the cage but things on your skin (body cream, perfume, etc.) or which you use for cleaning.
Do you see any other signs? Is he eating well? What about his weight?
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Post by yasmin on Aug 19, 2014 4:16:58 GMT
My degu Lilac is 6.5 years old and has roots growing into her nasal passages. Her body lurches with each breath. The painkiller/anti-inflammatory Metacam does help her. How old is your degu? And, as Maravilla has asked, is he eating normally and how is his weight? Is he being selective about what he eats – only eating flat bits of food? If you are very worried about this, have your vet take an X-ray to check his molars. However, if his weight is good/stable and he is eating normally, I would first complete the course of antibiotics and see if he improves before doing the x-ray. (The x-ray will require anesthesia which is risky especially if he has breathing issues.)
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Post by lornanmichael on Aug 19, 2014 6:54:50 GMT
The boys are 1year to 18 months old. They are rescued from the RSPCA and they were not sure. I will weigh them tonight. He is eating fine and seems happy in him self. I'll check exactly what food he is eating and I'll also stop wearing perfume for now just in case. Thank you for helping me guys, I feel much better knowing that you are there to help. I'll update you tonight.
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Post by lornanmichael on Aug 19, 2014 20:47:46 GMT
Right I weighed all 3 of them. He is slightly lighter than the others but this has always been case as he is slightly smaller. He weighs 205 grams. The other two are 237 and 214. Do u think this weight is about right? He seems roughly the same tonight as yesterday still feisty when he has his meds, running round with his bros and is eating everything offered. His breathing at times does sound terrible and is still sneezing.
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Post by Maravilla on Aug 20, 2014 7:40:41 GMT
Impossible to say if this weight is ok or not. It strongly depends on his size. And it is more important to see it over time, not only a single number but a longer row. How does he generally look like? Do you see bones, rips?
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Post by lornanmichael on Aug 23, 2014 7:26:00 GMT
He looks good, all 3 are quite small but round and fluffy, no ribs or bones visable. They are greys. It's 5 days on now and his breathing through his nose is no better. Still laboured. Let's assume it is his molars roots that are the cause of this, is there a cure or will he just go down hill? Would inflamitries help. It's all really unthinkable but need to know the prognosis. I will continue to weigh him every couple of days just to keep an eye on it.
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Post by Maravilla on Aug 23, 2014 16:28:22 GMT
If it was really a molars' root that is overgrown, there is no cure.
We went to the vet on Thursday as the degu wasn't better. She was still eating fine, has not lost any weight, was active as always. So apart from the sneezing everything was just fine. We asked to have an x-ray. Unfortunately, she did not survive the anaesthesia. X-rays showed one overgrown molars root which already reached the brain. She was a strong, apparently healthy degu, probably 4-5 years old. No other health issues so far. But nevertheless this was too much for her. We are very sad, but it was probably best like this as nobody knows how things would have developed over the next couple of days or weeks. How much would she have suffered? Of course, without this x-rays she still would be alive, but we would always do this again as it is the only way to know what is wrong.
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Post by lornanmichael on Aug 24, 2014 16:59:16 GMT
Oh I am so sorry for your loss! That's a horrible thing to have happened. Such a shock! I think you are right she was obviously not suffering at the moment but sooner or later you would have had to make the same decision. This of course makes me very nervous about my next trip to the vets. Poor Dylan is only 18 months old and his breathing still sounds terrible. Wish me luck for next week!
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Post by ilikedegus on Aug 24, 2014 17:25:19 GMT
Maravilla - sorry for your loss, I have lost a degu in similar circumstances, it was so sudden we were devastated.
Lornanmichael, I thought perhaps the same as Maravilla, as I had a degu with severe molar root overgrowth that was slowly pushing into his eye-socket. He was kept comfortable for a long time with metacam painkiller (it's a "non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug" (NSAID). But eventually we had to euthanise him when he just seemed to have given up.
I am wondering if your vet is degu-experienced? X-rays are horribly expensive but the only way to tell for sure.
Take some small comfort from the fact that you are a caring owner who is making his life the best it can be under the circumstances. We had to remind ourselves that Mr P had had the best life we could give him, with a huge cage, running wheels and all the veterinary care he needed.
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Post by yasmin on Aug 25, 2014 3:02:54 GMT
Maravilla – My sincerest condolences. loranmichael – Wishing you and your degu the best of luck next week.
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Post by lornanmichael on Aug 26, 2014 6:27:52 GMT
I would say my vet is knowledgable on rodents he seems to know what he's talking about. We are off to the vets tonight, Dylan has gone down hill this weekend so hopefully going to resolve it all tonight. It's a very sad day in this degu household as I think we know that he won't be coming home with us
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Post by ilikedegus on Aug 26, 2014 16:34:01 GMT
I hope things went calmly, at least. What happened?
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Post by lornanmichael on Aug 27, 2014 8:16:40 GMT
So i turned up at the vets last night and the had another little look at him. The want to have a look in his mouth and do an X-ray but couldn't last night as they were to busy!!!! Grrrrr so p****d off. Any way they gave him a steroid injection which actually perked him up a bit and asked me to bring him back this morning. so off I went again with all 3 (safety in numbers! ) and have had to leave them there. Starting to feel uneasy about the vets and if they were going to have them all day I asked to to move them into a bigger cage as they can't be in there carrier all day. They looked at me a bit weird but fingers crossed. So yeah I'm stressed and panicked now and starting to not trust the vet. Praying they will look after my boys properly!
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Post by lornanmichael on Aug 27, 2014 21:00:13 GMT
Good news Dylan survived the trauma of today! He went in and was sedated and had an exam and X-ray. Anyway £167 quid later he doesn't have over grown molar roots apparently and they 'think' he has a chest infection as his chest rattled a little when he was sedated. I collected him and his bros this evening and he looked terrible! I have been given a nebuliser and some antibiotics which we need to put in the nebuliser over the next 2 days. He's home but is seriously struggling. I think he's going to go either way at the mo. I can't help but feel the vet is wrong though even though they showed us the X-ray. We took a cheeky picture of it to get a second opinion. Anyone good with X-rays?
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Post by yasmin on Aug 27, 2014 21:37:47 GMT
Not good with X-rays but can't think of a reason why they would be wrong about it. Still post it if you can.
You say he looks terrible – how terrible? He should be back to how he was before the X-ray very soon. Please update us again soon. I sit here on pins and needles.
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Post by yasmin on Aug 28, 2014 15:04:01 GMT
How is Dylan doing?
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Post by lornanmichael on Aug 28, 2014 16:45:51 GMT
Not good , struggling to breath, doesn't move a lot looks terrible. We have just done our second steam with antibio's treatment. If I'm honest I can't see him getting better and it makes me cry every time I see him. If he's the same tomorrow I am having him put to sleep because I have done everything I can for him. Noticed a sneeze out of one of the others today so I am on maximum red alert. Tomorrow the cage is being disinfected new water bottle, new bed box. There is no way we can go through this again! You never know though Dylan may improve tomorrow.....
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Post by Maravilla on Aug 28, 2014 18:35:11 GMT
Thank you all for your nice words! It is really hard to lose an animal but for her it was probably better like this.
I am surprised that they sedated him with this problem. Our vet wouldn't have done it. Did they do the x-rays only of the head or the whole body?
If it was an bacterial infection it should be better with the antibiotics. Did they check for lung tumours? It seems that tumours become more frequently in degus so this is always a possibility, even though a horrible one.
Hope he is finally better tomorrow!!
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Post by yasmin on Aug 30, 2014 0:40:15 GMT
If it was an bacterial infection it should be better with the antibiotics. Did they check for lung tumours? It seems that tumours become more frequently in degus so this is always a possibility, even though a horrible one. I agree, it might be a tumor. I hope Dylan has improved. Otherwise, you have done all you can. Sigh.
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