haaj
Foraging Degu
Posts: 99
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Post by haaj on Aug 6, 2016 11:31:11 GMT
Woke up today to find this huge lump on Earwig's forepaw. He's very active, very much his usual self, but tries to not step on that paw, so it's obviously painful and/or uncomfortable. Here are two pictures: Can't check whether it is soft or hard, since Earwig figured out what we're trying to do and doesn't give in. The only vet with degu experience is at least a 2 hour drive away, and won't be available until Monday or Tuesday Any help greatly appreciated!
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Post by saggy on Aug 6, 2016 11:39:47 GMT
Mine just recently broke her toe and it swelled up just like that like a bubble although got much bigger. her paw also became a little hot so was an infection, can you put your finger under and see if foot warmer than the others? Antibiotics and metacam helped it go.
Although some cases you would definately prefer an experienced vet, I'm sure more basic issues such as these could be dealt with by most vets so maybe see if anyone closer?
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Post by saggy on Aug 6, 2016 11:40:35 GMT
Also just want to point out maybe wait for another member who has more experience than me lol
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haaj
Foraging Degu
Posts: 99
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Post by haaj on Aug 6, 2016 11:45:28 GMT
Mine just recently broke her toe and it swelled up just like that like a bubble although got much bigger. her paw also became a little hot so was an infection, can you put your finger under and see if foot warmer than the others? Antibiotics and metacam helped it go. Although some cases you would definately prefer an experienced vet, I'm sure more basic issues such as these could be dealt with by most vets so maybe see if anyone closer? Thanks! Don't think Earwig will let us touch the paw, but we'll try. Currently trying to find a vet closer, but on Saturday and in our part of the city it's not very easy
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Post by saggy on Aug 6, 2016 11:50:43 GMT
Will she climb on your hand/arm (on your skin), that is enough to try and tell if difference between them although I have extra warm skin compared to most and their feet normally feel cold on me so maybe it's easy for me to tell lol!
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Post by goolover on Aug 6, 2016 13:18:51 GMT
Aw that looks sore, he's caught his nail or trapped that particular finger, have had a couple of these in the past if I have closed the cage too quick and little hands were in the way, I'm sure antibiotics will clear that up if it is causing him discomfort. Wouldn't imagine a vet could do anything apart from antibiotics. You could always bathe it in a little salt and warm water to help it heal.
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haaj
Foraging Degu
Posts: 99
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Post by haaj on Aug 6, 2016 13:54:00 GMT
We just came back from the vet. Earwig is dead. The vet explained that the cut was rather deep and the infection already spread to the bone, so they wanted to amputate the toe with local anaesthesia, some kind of spray put on the area of the cut. Earwig had a massive allergic reaction to that, and died during the surgery.
I can't tell you how devastated we are. It's not just how sudden it is, but it's also how exactly a year ago Warmfur died, also very suddenly, and also from just a tiny unlucky bite Earwig inflicted.
:~(
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Post by saggy on Aug 6, 2016 14:32:08 GMT
Oh Gosh I'm so sorry, I thought they would only give Antibiotics. I feel really bad for encouraging you to go to any vet sooner rather than later.
Look I'm not being funny and maybe others have something different to say but I don't know of any vet that would do that under local anaesthesia as too stressful.
I'm really shocked and my heart goes out to you so much.
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Post by saggy on Aug 6, 2016 14:40:51 GMT
Look I really shouldn't have said that as I'm not a vet and far from expert but having to consider amputation of my little ones has meant that i've spoken to three vets in the past month, two of them specialist and they said it cannot be done under sedation/local so I just wanted to point that out in case this is correct and you don't take other animals back there. With just a local, I don't even understand how they could keep them still enough?
Again, I am so devastated for you.
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haaj
Foraging Degu
Posts: 99
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Post by haaj on Aug 6, 2016 14:43:34 GMT
Thank you!
Don't feel bad you've advised the vet. They told us that if we waited for a couple more days, there'd be sepsis and a lot of suffering for Earwig, so we did the right thing... And they couldn't predict the allergic reaction; the vet said that this happened very rarely.
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Post by goolover on Aug 6, 2016 15:35:54 GMT
Haaj I am gutted for you, cant believe it turned out this way from an infection. Know there's always a risk to surgery but yeah who could predict the outcome. You were doing your best for him, hope that brings you some comfort.
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haaj
Foraging Degu
Posts: 99
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Post by haaj on Aug 6, 2016 15:37:24 GMT
Look I really shouldn't have said that as I'm not a vet and far from expert but having to consider amputation of my little ones has meant that i've spoken to three vets in the past month, two of them specialist and they said it cannot be done under sedation/local so I just wanted to point that out in case this is correct and you don't take other animals back there. With just a local, I don't even understand how they could keep them still enough? Again, I am so devastated for you. Well, it wasn't the entire paw, just the toe, and the vet said she had treated degus before, and seemed quite sure of what she was doing. Toe amputation wasn't even the first thing she suggested - at first she just wanted to remove that bump thing and treat the wound, then prescribe antibiotics. Then she called us in again, and showed us how there's dead tissue already, and that the toe must be amputated. It's really disturbing to read what you've written. If Earwig's death was due to the vet's mistake, I'm not sure we can take it in right now. But then the nearest specialist wasn't available until late next week, and the other one was only free on Monday, and like I said, we were just told that it would be too late by then. God, this is so awful
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Post by saggy on Aug 6, 2016 16:13:02 GMT
I really shouldn't have said anything, maybe they do things differently in different places and maybe she was under sedation or something as well, maybe there was no other choice as like you said, with so much dead tissue already, lots of things are done slightly differently if too late to wait - my mum even got operated on for an ectopic pregnancy without aneasthetic as it was a case of start surgery then and there in the waiting room or her die as it had been left too long so I'm sure there were other factors involved for the vet to make that decision.
Regardless of anything I said, you did everything you could and you can only do what is best at the time and as you mention, waiting may have not given her any chance anyway so I'm really sorry if this has caused any further stress to you.
I'm a bit too blunt sometimes and don't think things through before saying things!
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Post by randomname on Aug 6, 2016 16:47:50 GMT
Oh I'm so sorry for you & Earwig. Horrible situation.
I had a goo with a similar lump, but it was on his "palm" of his hand. After trying antibiotics, the vet suggested removing the lump. When he was under anaesthetic, she phoned and said the dead tissue was deeper than she thought & would have to amputate the hand. He did ok after recovery, & we renamed him Stumpy. This was over a period of three weeks or so.
Seems odd to use a local, even if it's the finger rather than the whole hand. My vet isn't a goo specialist but had performed amputations on rats, mice etc. Maybe in time, it might be worth asking around other vets, see what they would have done? You can only really go by what they tell you at the time. Same as with our kids, none of us really know what we're doing, we have to rely on the medical people to give us accurate information to make decisions.
Weekends are awful for finding a vet here too - would have cost me £200 just to get mine seen at the emergency vets. You kind of have to take what you can find. You did everything you could, & there is nothing for you to beat yourself up over. Again, I'm so sorry you lost Earwig. Sending you lots of love at this sad time xxxx
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Post by bouncy on Aug 6, 2016 16:51:52 GMT
OMG haaj I'm so sorry! I was reading down the thread it literally felt like a slap in the face! Earwig was such a lovely goo (even if he had grumpy moments), and his antics always made me smile. Although it's a sad outcome, I'm glad you managed to get to the vet today. My thoughts are with you P.s. At least your pencils are now safe
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haaj
Foraging Degu
Posts: 99
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Post by haaj on Aug 6, 2016 17:52:55 GMT
Oh I'm so sorry for you & Earwig. Horrible situation. I had a goo with a similar lump, but it was on his "palm" of his hand. After trying antibiotics, the vet suggested removing the lump. When he was under anaesthetic, she phoned and said the dead tissue was deeper than she thought & would have to amputate the hand. He did ok after recovery, & we renamed him Stumpy. This was over a period of three weeks or so. Again, I'm so sorry you lost Earwig. Sending you lots of love at this sad time xxxx Thank you so much! It's very comforting to know that at least this situation happens and that the vet's decision to amputate isn't something unusual.
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haaj
Foraging Degu
Posts: 99
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Post by haaj on Aug 6, 2016 17:56:14 GMT
OMG haaj I'm so sorry! I was reading down the thread it literally felt like a slap in the face! Earwig was such a lovely goo (even if he had grumpy moments), and his antics always made me smile. Although it's a sad outcome, I'm glad you managed to get to the vet today. My thoughts are with you P.s. At least your pencils are now safe Aww thank you for that joke - made us both smile! I think we'll wait a few more hours and try to move our two remaining degus into Earwig's huge cage. It's a bit painful to think of that now, but otherwise it'll just look like a huge sad memorial tomorrow. I hope the youngesters will like the large cage, and maybe we'll be able to bond a bit more with them - so far the process has been very slow.
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Post by bouncy on Aug 6, 2016 18:06:08 GMT
May be worth a thorough clean re scent?
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haaj
Foraging Degu
Posts: 99
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Post by haaj on Aug 6, 2016 18:16:21 GMT
May be worth a thorough clean re scent? Absolutely - we'll clean everything as best as possible. I wonder if the youngsters could start fighting over the new place - they've been exceptionally peace-loving and very, very rarely quarrel, but knowing degus it's still slightly scary.
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Post by bouncy on Aug 6, 2016 19:30:45 GMT
You won't know until you try. You'll probably be calling the police at 2am because they're still partying, having drunken brawls, and won't turn the music down!
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