cloudy eye 6yo degu

[fidget]

hey guys, i know its been posted before (and ive read them, very informative) but im just looking for some advice / reassurance.
Tonight i went to feed my 6 year old degu fidget (she's on her own now because her sister died suddenly last year, curled up in bed peaceful looking)
i noticed right away one of her eyes is white over the lens, the other one maybe has a glimmer of white coming. this has happened over night. she's eating, drinking, running, making up her bed (gave her fresh bedding) and seems to see me.

from what ive read there's no treatment if she has diabetes, or if its old age / genetic cataracts they cant fix that either. with her age i dont want to stress her with a trip to a vets. shes been in good health since ive had her.


she eats pets at home nuggets, timothy hay, recently a dandelion and marigold wheel, woodlands twig mix, and always some aromatic crunchies, chinchilla sticks, the odd sunflower seed. all from pets at home. always safe for degus.

ive read that diet shouldn't be changed suddenly, but is there anything i should stop or add in? 


sorry for the epic splurge of info but she's my baby! 

[yasmin]

This might be cataracts which would not be unusual considering her age. (As long as you are not seeing pus or gooey-ness on/from the eye.) If it is cataracts and she is doing well otherwise, then there is not much you can do. Just keep an eye on her – make sure she isn't banging into things or falling from high places. If she is, then adjustments should be made to her cage setup. I have a goo with cataracts and he is living a full and normal life.

And... Welcome to the forum, fidget.

[fidget]

Apr 22, 2015 20:50:47 GMT yasmin said:

This might be cataracts which would not be unusual considering her age. (As long as you are not seeing pus or gooey-ness on/from the eye.) If it is cataracts and she is doing well otherwise, then there is not much you can do. Just keep an eye on her – make sure she isn't banging into things or falling from high places. If she is, then adjustments should be made to her cage setup. I have a goo with cataracts and he is living a full and normal life.

And... Welcome to the forum, fidget.

Thanks yasmin. Im hoping its just old age and I've not did this to her somehow. I was planning on getting her a new John hopkins cage but I should probably stick to another pets at home one the same shape

[moletteuk]

It is likely to be cataracts, but keep a look out for any discharge or signs of discomfort on the off chance there has been an injury.

Most cataracts are of the osmotic type and/or age related, osmotic cataracts are related to glucose, so may be helped if you can get the carbohydate (which turns to glucose on digestion) content of the diet down. The best way to do this is to reduce the amount of commercial food containing grain, don't feed any extra grain, and boost the fibre and forage content right up.

There is background information in the feeding guide and links to specific areas of diet in there deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17365/commercial-food-chart

Basically you can think about feeding lots of forage like wild hedgerow type plants, herbs, tree leaves, flowers etc, switch commercial food, and it's worth adding in a good selection of oil seeds including high calcium ones (as their risk of dental issues also increases with age).

Just ask if you would like more help or info about making changes.