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Post by yasmin on Nov 17, 2015 20:31:33 GMT
I had brought 4-year old female degu Gi (aka Gigi) to the vet two weeks ago because the tip of her tail looked strange – the tip is bright white – and because she was eating very slowly.
The tail tip is actually what looks like flaky skin. With regards to her mouth, she was too squirmy for the vet to see into her mouth properly without sedation but he did notice what looked like a piece of food stuck near a back molar. He had her bite down on a cotton swab and the piece of brown food came off on it.
We had hoped that this was enough to remedy her eating issues but they weren't. I took her in to the vet again today to have her sedated and her mouth more closely looked at because she has had episodes of drooling the past week, she continues to eat very slowly and now selectively, she is losing weight, and she is making grinding noises with her mouth. The examination revealed molar spurs. The vet removed a small spur on one side, and a more serious one from the other side (the side where the food was stuck before) where a back molar was growing in toward her cheek in such a way that it had trapped quite a bit of food around it. It had also caused ulceration to her cheek. The vet ground down the molar and she is now on Metacam for a few days.
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 18, 2015 5:05:04 GMT
I am glad that is taken care of, and I deeply hope that she recovers incredibly well. Be blessed with excellent health, Gi. My thoughts are with you, Yasmin.
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Post by bouncy on Nov 18, 2015 9:44:52 GMT
Oh Yasmin, you must be at your wits end! I hope everything settles down soon
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 18, 2015 20:15:56 GMT
I hope she makes a quick recovery
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Post by yasmin on Nov 19, 2015 19:19:36 GMT
She seems to be doing okay.
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 19, 2015 20:00:01 GMT
YAY!!!
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Post by yasmin on Nov 23, 2015 21:27:10 GMT
Sigh – I can hardly believe it... Gi couldn't eat this morning. She takesthe food from me, but she just drop it. Called the vet; got an appointment right away. As we waited for the appointment, I gave her some sunflower seeds. She took them and opened them (thought she ate them but when we got home I found opened shells and the nuts in the carrier. Looks like she opened them but did not eat them. ) The vet looked in her mouth – all seems healing fine in there, no inflammation, no infection. She has lost weight since when she was in last week. All he could advise was to give Metacam daily until her eating resumes – and to keep him updated. She is drinking water.
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 24, 2015 3:04:06 GMT
I am so sorry, Yasmin! Your heart must be lodged in your throat. I hope and pray that the metacam will help and she will turn around!
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Post by bouncy on Nov 24, 2015 12:11:09 GMT
Oh the last few weeks have been a trial!
I hope Gigi starts to put on some weight soon x
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 24, 2015 15:35:03 GMT
Oh no! Come on Gigi!
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Post by yasmin on Nov 24, 2015 19:38:21 GMT
Yes, my heart is in my throat. I am feeling numb and tired. Though I am prepared for the worst, I won't give up on her.
She went from 179g a week ago on the day of the tooth trim, to 157g yesterday (Tuesday) at the vet, and this morning she's at 153g. I spent an hour making up and offering all sorts of concoctions for her try but she is only interested in non-wet foods – which she takes and tries to chomp a bit, then drops. (She is making weird motions with her mouth.) However, just before I left for work, I noticed her eating a few bits from the Versele-Laga Degu Nature food. Might be me just wishing it to be so but it did look like she was managing to take in a bit.
Her eating had a similar pattern yesterday, I had given her Metacam around noon the day before. Then, in the morning she couldn't eat anything until around 10:00 am when she attempted to eat some sunflower seeds. She then got Metacam at the vet, and I couldn't get her to eat anything since then until around 11 am today when it looked like she was interested in food again. I am probably grabbing at straws but perhaps when the Metacam wears off, she gets her appetite back? Let's see how she is when I get home from work in a couple of hours.
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 24, 2015 20:29:09 GMT
I wonder if the metacam could be affecting her stomach, maybe making her feel sick? I think it is possible as it's similar to ibuprofen which can affect human stomachs. Have you tried breaking the VL Nature into smaller pieces, is that worth a try?
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 24, 2015 20:33:09 GMT
That is a very interesting observation, Yasmin, and there could well be merit to it. Perhaps she has an unusual reaction to it. I wonder what it would be like it the dose was reduced significantly, or can that even be done. I don't know how you measure it, nor do I know if the amount you give is so tiny already that cutting it in half would be like splitting slivers.
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 24, 2015 20:40:26 GMT
You could miss the noon dose, see how she goes, and you could always give her some later in the day.
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Post by yasmin on Nov 25, 2015 2:19:58 GMT
I give one drop from this bottle that dispenses one drop at a time. Because she isn't eating (so I can't put it on food), the vet told me to dispense the drop in a spoon, then suck it up in a syringe, and wrap her up in a towel and squeeze it onto the side of her mouth where it can be absorbed. So I could suck up less than a drop in the syringe.
Right now I offered her an adzuki bean from a can (they're cooked and split open and bloated with water – I fed Meiyo these when she was having jaw issues). Gi is actually eating them! Have given her three so far. Will wait with the Metacam and keep feeding her maybe one more bean and then try one of my ground pellet/ground almond/ground herb wet pellets.
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 25, 2015 4:47:51 GMT
I'm glad she is eating something!! Perhaps that will help her to keep on going. How is she now?
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Post by yasmin on Nov 25, 2015 5:48:20 GMT
She ate two more adzuki beans and then five unshelled sunflower seeds – albeit very slowly, but she did eat them. And she took water via syringe.
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Post by Bexi87 on Nov 25, 2015 8:01:12 GMT
Thank goodness for that, c'mon Gigi!
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 25, 2015 10:48:12 GMT
Woop, go Gigi!
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 25, 2015 14:56:04 GMT
That is a relief! How is she this morning?
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