Degu with teeth issues

[lilladylu86]

Hi All,

Not been on here for a while due to me being very lucky with my degu Ben not being ill.  But he recently stopped eating his hay and i knew something was wrong. 

He has been to the vets who confirmed that his bottom molars were long and needed burring.  He has been in to the vets under anaesthetic for the procedure. They took xrays and made sure there wern't any other problems.  His top teeth are fine and his front teeth.   

He has been back at home for two days now and is still not eating much. I have been trying to tempt him to eat, but it isn't too successful.  he will eat little bits of fresh carrot and a grape or two...and he is tackling some of his JR FARM degu food.  but not much.  They hay eating has not resumed.  I have been trying to tempt him with anything really to get him to eat but he has a respiratory infection which has been made worse by the procedure.  (It was a case of get his teeth done or he will starve kinda thing. ) i know anaesthesia isn't great with an R.I.  

Any tempting foods you guys can think of?  I have oats which he has had a few of.  Benji has always been really picky about fresh foods and is very reluctant to eat those.  He is an older degu so chaging habits now is prob not going to happen! 

Any advice would be gratefully received.  

Thanks.

Lucy x

[lilladylu86]

update: He has eaten a garden pea and a thumbnail piece of carrot. better than nothing i guess.

[randomname]

Bless him, been through the wars.
Do you think his teeth still hurt or he's recovering from the anaesthetic still? Or maybe both?
I found sesame seeds were the key for my lad, might work for yours? Maybe the more chewy things like hay are too difficult still, but grapes are nice & easy. Might be worth trying fresh herbs or cucumber as they're pretty soft. If you have some Supreme Recovery stuff you could put it in a bowl, he might eat it himself (one of my goos did) If you get really worried & he's up for it, you could syringe feed to make sure he's eating, but it may be better to let him get hungry so he has to eat eventually. I'd maybe keep an eye on it & just offer anything & everything you can think of 'til he gives in, if no change in next day or two, give the vets a ring, see what they say.
Trying to get my lad to eat as well (not teeth related) so if you have a breakthrough, let me know, might help us too.

[uglibug]

As long as he's eating something I wouldn't worry too much about what it is atm. Have you tried some high calorie snacks like nuts to try and keep his weight up? Seeds would probably help too.

[lilladylu86]

yep he has taken sunflower seeds off me. They are his favourite treat. but i am unsure on how many to give him cause of them being prone to becoming diabetic?? I can get my hands on peanuts tomorrow morning.

[uglibug]

When one of our girls was refusing to eat we used chopped nuts from the baking section of the supermarket to get her going again. I would be reasonably easy going with portion control atm, over a short period of time it shouldn't cause any problems. Have you tried offering him softened food, like critical care or baby food? If his teeth are still causing him grief he may find it easier to eat.

[lilladylu86]

he won't touch anything that is wet. I have got baby porridge that I can try. I will get some more nuts and things tomorrow for him. and pop some more sunnies into the cage fr him.

Thank you for your advice I am very grateful.

[yasmin]

It is good that he is eating sunflower seeds. They won't make him become diabetic (fat, maybe) so, if you are worried about him not eating, feed him those – they will provide him with much needed energy.

My goos often don't eat much a few days after having their teeth dealt with and it always freaks me out. I try to tempt them with sunflower seeds (sometimes I crush them, add water and make little soft ovals for them to eat), thawed frozen peas, hulled sesame seeds, spray millet, thin slices of carrot or sweet potato or squash, dried pea flakes, rolled oats, puffed rice, etc.

For mine, if they start eating sunflower seeds, I know they are on the mend. Weighing him daily will give you the best indication if he is eating enough. If he doesn't start eating in the next 4 or 5 days and he is losing weight, a trip to the vet may be necessary. He might be fighting an infection or there may be another issue.

I hope Ben starts eating normally again soon. Please keep us posted.

[lilladylu86]

thanks so much Yasmin for your reply.

Benji already has a bad respiratory infection. He sounds like a train! Poor boy. He is on Baytril and Metacam at present.

I have made sure he has new hay and that his cage is clean after the op. I have seen him eat half a grape this morning and he has been trying to eat his feed again. As I mentioned before, I buy the JR Farm Degu Mix. He is eating very small amounts of that. I have seen him eat the 'flat green things' and also sunnies that I have put in the cage.

He has always been quite greedy...so I hoping to see him eating shortly. But as you say, its encouraging that he is eating at all! I am just worried cause of the time it is taking him to eat.


Will definitely give you all an update on his progress. He had a run out on the bed last night and new sticks in his cage to play with. he did have a feeble chew at them so the instinct is there.

My fingers are crossed.

Lucy xx

[randomname]

If he's trying to eat, that's half the battle won. It's brilliant news.
The flat green things are peas, so he obviously likes peas. You could try (defrosted) frozen peas, they seem popular.
Hopefully he'll be back to his "quite greedy" self in the next 24 hours, keeping my fingers crossed for him.

[moletteuk]

Sounds like he's doing OK all things considered. Check out our nutrition charts for more options of seeds that he might like. Safflower, hemp, linseed, sesame are good choices while he is recovering and then after he is recovered you might try to increase his calcium intake to help his teeth, so that would be fennel, celery, nigella, coriander and more forage like dandelions and alfalfa.
deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15602/vegetable-seed-nut-nutrition-charts

BTW grapes aren't suitable for degus as they are too sugary.

[lilladylu86]

Hi All,

quick update with Ben. He is eating small amounts still. He has been devouring little pieces of broccoli, carrot or peas on a regular basis since posting my initial post. He is eating the harder food as well, although no where near as much as he used to. No signs of him eating hay at the minute. Will have to try him on the celery 'moletteuk' We don't eat it ourselves so I haven't tried that yet. I will get some for him when i am next at the shop.

I have stopped giving him the baytril now as the process stresses him out and the last two times i gave him it, he ended up all bloated and sore. The stomach distention went down in an hour or two but I have decided that after nearly 2 weeks of baytril, its been a long time for his little stomach to cope with. So now it's up to the gods and Ben and some tender loving care He now no longer hates me for giving him medicine and is enjoying tickles and grooming sessions with me again too Very happy with his progress (considering what he has been through!)

Thanks again guys.

[moletteuk]

Glad to hear he is doing better.

For my list of fennel, celery, nigella and coriander I meant the seeds of those plants, you might get some in the supermarket or health food shop, or asian supermarket or you can buy a degu seed mix from Ratrations.com

If he's not eating hay I would try to tempt him with other kinds of forage, fresh and dry, some dandelions and grass would be a good place to start.

[lilladylu86]

Hi All,

Benji is much worse again tonight. He has developed a loud clicking noise and is breathing very quickly, like he cant get the air into his lungs i have tried olbas for babies to help clear air ways on a tissue above his cage. He is looking considerably wobbly. He wasn't like this 12 hours ago
these little animals sure know when to surprise you It's horrid.

[lilladylu86]

He has had baytril and metacam anti-inflammatory and has started to calm down a bit. He is back to the upright position now. thank god! So much worry!

[bouncy]

Phew! That started to sound like either root issues or a respiratory problem! Glad the meds are helping

Are you able to take him back to the vet next week?

[moletteuk]

Poor Benji, I wonder if this is a separate respiratory issue if the vet ruled out root issues with xrays, seems a bit strange with him not long since having a long course of antibiotics. You can use steam to try to help ease his breathing if you can figure out a way to do it safely, travel cage in a steamy bathroom can help a bit.

[deguconvert]

How is Benji today?