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Post by heather27 on Dec 7, 2014 0:45:57 GMT
Hi all, my degu developed cataracts almost overnight, has anyone else known this to happen so quickly? He's not loosing weight and is fine in himself.
The vet is unsure whether it's diabetes, Jerry is only about 18th old and has a healthy diet. He said though it's unusual for diabetic cataracts to come on so quick. Has any one else found this?
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 7, 2014 6:44:57 GMT
Yeah, this has happened with a couple of our degus. It can be related to diet, and it can be a hereditary condition as well.
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Post by brydyslass on Dec 7, 2014 7:13:16 GMT
Snap. Jakes cataracts appeared within a week! That was 3 years ago and they gave never stopped him. Sadly he is poorly this weekend but not because of them.
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Post by heather27 on Dec 7, 2014 9:45:37 GMT
This literally in a day, they weren't there Wednesday night, and were Thursday afternoon. The vet said he would expect a week or a couple of days but not that quick.
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Post by yasmin on Dec 8, 2014 22:47:42 GMT
One of my degus, Makoto, developed a cataract when he was around 2 years old. It seemed to come on suddenly, but I suspect that I just couldn't tell that he had one until I looked at him under the right light. (Before that I thought the white in his eye was just a reflection of the overhead lights.) That was a year or so ago and, so far, he's the only one of his 2 brothers, 4 sisters that have it. Because they get the same diet, my vet thinks it is a genetic issue – that he is just an unlucky one to have inherited this condition prematurely.
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Post by klbishop on Jan 8, 2015 0:19:50 GMT
The baby of the guys Diego looked a little different Monday and yesterday I noticed a reflective dot in his eye, today looks a bit white. Absolutely panicking he was 2 yesterday, we are so careful with food. I really really hope I am being paranoid and over worrying and not diabetes or cataracts
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Post by ntg on Jan 8, 2015 9:52:45 GMT
Yasmin is probably right on this one, they're likely to have been there for a while but not been highly visible. Two of my lads have cataracts which I believe is genetic and one of them had the hint of a cataract in one eye and a bad one in his other. Overnight the hint went to completely cloudy and I did panic a little. However he gets along perfectly fine and is highly unlikely to have diabetes as he has none of the other symptoms to go along with it.
Osmotic cataracts are much more likely to occur in degus than diabetes, they can be exacerbated by grains and sugar in the diet as it's caused by an enzyme found in the eye that requires glucose to drive it. If you have any grains in the diet then it would be worth cutting them out to see if it can help to maintain or even reverse the cataract.
But overall, I'd say don't overly worry, diabetes is highly unlikely - it's thought to be far more common an issue than it actually is these days - plus all you can do for it is to give them a low sugar, grainless diet, which most of us do anyway. And osmotic cataracts aren't going to give him many problems other than the lack of sight, which they overcome pretty well if you keep the cage layout the same.
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Cataracts
Jan 8, 2015 12:00:38 GMT
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Post by klbishop on Jan 8, 2015 12:00:38 GMT
Thank you
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Post by klbishop on Jan 11, 2015 22:50:18 GMT
Ok, looks like there is a second cataracts in diegos other eye. I am really upset that I've given him something wrong.mi want to cut out grains in his diet but everything seems to have some form of grain !ll can anyone advise a grain free food as both the pets at home nuggets that the trio have and strait all have cereal. Any help greatly appreciated
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Cataracts
Jan 11, 2015 23:42:08 GMT
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Post by ntg on Jan 11, 2015 23:42:08 GMT
The grainless feeds available are mostly from zooplus - Versele Laga chinchilla and degu crispy, JR Farm grainless chinchilla mix (best to take the apple and rosehips out, I gave the rosehips as treats), and JR Farm grainless guinea pig.
It's a shame it's hard to find anything in the shops as it would be much more convenient if you find yourself short.
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Post by moletteuk on Jan 13, 2015 12:01:56 GMT
Also Pre Alpin (mail order from Tortoiselady), but this doesn't have any vit D added, so best used as partial feed unless you want to feed vit D on its own.
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Post by klbishop on Jan 15, 2015 19:57:02 GMT
ive found a grain free from zooplus - he seems to like it and some sparse treats for diego specifically and some the trio and loki can have. He seems to be running into things outside of his cage so the cataracts are really hindering his sight, fine in his cage so far
I am really hoping that the diet change will relieve some of the cataracts
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Cataracts
Jan 15, 2015 20:39:31 GMT
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Post by ntg on Jan 15, 2015 20:39:31 GMT
He seems to be running into things outside of his cage so the cataracts are really hindering his sight, fine in his cage so far Smeggle sometimes runs into things, particularly if it's an object that's not normally there. He's also slowed down a lot to compensate for the lack of sight, so don't be too worried if you don't see him zipping around as much. It all comes with time but if the cataracts don't reverse he will be fine. They're bright little critters.
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Post by saddlers on Jan 16, 2015 21:40:39 GMT
ive found a grain free from zooplus - he seems to like it and some sparse treats for diego specifically and some the trio and loki can have. He seems to be running into things outside of his cage so the cataracts are really hindering his sight, fine in his cage so far I am really hoping that the diet change will relieve some of the cataracts What food did you go for in the end?
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Post by klbishop on Jan 17, 2015 18:25:09 GMT
jr farm degu adults (grainless) thank you for the reassurance
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Cataracts
Jan 18, 2015 10:01:10 GMT
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Post by ntg on Jan 18, 2015 10:01:10 GMT
I didn't think the degu adults was grain-free; you'll need to double check the ingredients for wheat, corn and the likes just to make sure.
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