Post by yasmin on Jun 11, 2015 17:31:01 GMT
Dear little Chuugi was put to sleep this morning. He was 4 months shy of his 4th birthday.It comes as a shock. Last night I was feeding and treating my goos. As always, Chuugi begged for treats and, because he has breathing issues and molars beginning to grow into his nasal cavities, I indulge him. That was at 9pm. At 11 pm, I went down to give Lilac her painkiller. Chuugi, again, was begging for treats so I went to him and saw that he had suddenly become horrifyingly bloated! He was uncomfortable, running around crazily and stumbling about. He was trying to scratch himself but he was too bloated to do this – the leg would go up but couldn't reach him. He tried to take in the treats but couldn't - for the first time ever, he buried the sunflower seed I gave him. So I gave him a drop of OVOL, hoping it was bloat (though it had been 24 hrs since he had been fed any greens), and then prayed that I could get an appointment with the vet in the morning.
This morning, Chuugi was the same. Hyper active - aggravated, begging for treats but not eating them (except he did manage to take in one sunflower seeds and a couple of oats). Called the vet and miraculously got an appointment right away. The vet took one look at him and was shocked at how bloated Chuugi was. Took X-rays right away and then came back to inform me that Chuugi's stomach was twisted causing life-threatening bloat. He said they see this in dogs and but it is very rare in degus. He advised that we put Chuugi down immediately to spare him any more agony.
I asked about surgery – the vet said that with dogs there is only a 30-40% chance that the surgery is successful and that the odds of Chuugi surviving it were so low that he did not recommend it.
I asked about bringing Chuugi home and managing the pain with painkillers so that he could die in the company of his brother Makoto. The vet said that it was my choice but that Chuugi would then die a horrifyingly painful death just for a few hours more of life. He advised that the most humane thing to do was to put him to sleep.
So Chuugi is gone now. I love that little boy so deeply - I will miss him so much as will his brother Makoto.
I hope he rests in peace with his Auntie Azure. 
