Possible health problems with a rescue

[haaj]

Someone we know in another town has recently rescued a degu from a bad home. The previous owners had two cats who would randomly harrass the degu, a very tiny cage which used to house said degu and another one (now deceased), never had any treats, etc., all in all, terrible people who kept the degu because their daughter wanted one at some point, and didn't bother to check anything at all. Details were very difficult to obtain, but apparently they rarely even bothered with proper food - just gave the little animal bits of fruit and veg, and had some hay. How the little critter survived is beyond me, but apparently she's at least 3, more likely 4 years old.

We've given the new owner plenty of advice, and she was able to buy a larger cage (still not large enough I think, but there are no larger models available there), a wheel, proper food, treats, a hammock, etc., the works. The rescuee was ecstatic to receive proper care, gained some weight, became more active, and her completely bald tail started growing some hair. I'm attaching a picture here. I've never seen hair growth on a tail like that, but I've also never heard about a degu so sick their tail had no hair at all. Is this normal? I'm also attaching a couple of other pictures, which show that the degu rarely keeps her eyes fully open. But apparently she's very active, feisty even. So, again, how normal is this for an old degu who had a bad life? We're also concerned because from what we've heard, the poor thing may have mental problems from living alone for a very long (over a year) period - it seems that she sometimes hears things (randomly hides in a corner for a long time as if frightened by a sound - which wasn't there), and sometimes has erratic behaviour (e.g. the new owners already had to buy several hammocks because she would suddenly start ignoring one she used to like, until a new one was bought, and she'd use that... until she started ignoring that as well and sleeing in the wheel. Washing the hammock has no effect). Not sure if these are typical degu shenanigans (amplified a bit perhaps) or actual mental illness.

If possible, could anyone give advice as to the tail, the eyes, and the overall situation improvement? There are no qualified vets in the town, unfortunately.

The pictures are a bit on the large side so here are links:
funkyimg.com/i/2f9UM.jpg
funkyimg.com/i/2f9UL.jpg
funkyimg.com/i/2f9UN.jpg

Also sorry about creating two sad threads in one week but I thought it's better to ask now than to postpone and have problems later...

[bouncy]

Poor little thing! At least she now has a good home. Interestingly enough, her paws front paws are also completely bald. It could be down to a previous lack of nutrients, stress alopecia, or even self inflicted.

Thinking about her mental state, she's been alone for a long time with no interaction from human or goo, so she might be stressed. You haven't said how long ago she was rescued, but is there any improvement in her bevaviour or demeanour? Would the new carers be willing to try an introduction?

Again, the eyes could be down to poor health or where she was previously kept. If she was shut away in a dark corner for a long time (which sounds possible), then she could still be adjusting? As far as you can tell, can she see alright?

[yasmin]

I agree that the loss of fur could be due to stress, both mental and physical.
Not sure about the eyes though – are both eyes lidded like that?
The odd hair growth on the tail is likely due to previous lack of nutrients.

The fact that she is still active and feisty is remarkable. She is likely to have suffered some organ damage due to bad diet but, going forward, it is wonderful that she now has a new home with someone who cares.

[haaj]

Sorry, thought I'd mentioned it - she was rescued in May. Her behaviour has improved immeasurably, from what I understand. Front paws she's nibbling on her own, but there are no sores. This started after she was rescued. One of our two remaining degus does the same thing - he's always been a scaredy cat, though. I've reported it here and the consensus was that as long as he doesn't nibble too hard it's OK - just a bit too energetic with his self-grooming. I've just asked and apparently there was some hair loss on the hind legs, but that's been getting better lately.

It seems that she can see quite well - always notices where the owner is and always ready to beg for treats, standing on her hind legs and doing the "cute degu in need of a little treat" act. I just remembered that yes, she was kept in a dark place, there was a cardboard box surrounding the cage for some reason.

I don't think the new owners are ready for an introduction. They're not particularly fond of degus or other animals, but when they saw the conditions the animal was kept in, they were moved enough to rescue the poor goo (and remembered that they knew degu owners, AKA us). Besides, it'd be very difficult to obtain a larger cage required for two degus.

[haaj]

Aug 8, 2016 19:40:44 GMT yasmin said:

Not sure about the eyes though – are both eyes lidded like that?

They're both lidded but there may be a slight difference in how much - I'll see if I can obtain a better photograph.

Aug 8, 2016 19:40:44 GMT yasmin said:

The fact that she is still active and feisty is remarkable. She is likely to have suffered some organ damage due to bad diet but, going forward, it is wonderful that she now has a new home with someone who cares.

I know! The goo seems very happy now, so even if she doesn't have a long time to live, she'll at least spend that time in a good degu-friendly environment.

Maybe there's some kind of diet to support her immune system/heal the organs somewhat? Or a drug?

[yasmin]

If they are both lidded, it might just be the way she is. I have one degu, Ni, who looks like that most of the time. She can open them wide like the others, just doesn't usually.

However, in the second picture, she looks like she has a bit of goop in the corner of one eye. Might be porphyrin due to irritation – doesn't look pus-like from what I can tell.

Don't know of any drugs/special diets to heal her organs. I think one of the greater risks is that she has developed diabetes – but a proper diet should keep that under control (I think. I do not have experience with degu diabetes.)
Also, perhaps light treatment – access to sunshine or artificial sunlight via an avian sun lamp that can provide UVA and UVB rays (esp. UVB) to help with vitamin synthesis.

[bouncy]

Based on what you've said, I think the slitted eyes are down to the previous lack of light (and she luckily doesn't squeak "bright light! Bright light!" and melt in the summer light or multiply with water ). If her hind legs have improved, there's every chance she'll continue to gain confidence and let the fur regrow on her front legs too.

I know it's possible to get vitamin drops for small animals that you can put in their water but, if little lady's on a good diet now with the correct calcium to phosphorus ratio, it's difficult to say what this might contribute as damage is likely long term.

Would love to hear updates of her continued improvement

[haaj]

I just had another conversation about this; turns out that when they rescued her, they tried putting the cage a bit nearer to the window, and the poor goo immediately hid away deep underneath whatever stuff she could find in the cage, frightened of the light. So I'd say bouncy that your idea turns out to be right! They'll be looking at her eyes again anyway, though.

Also she is apparently at least 4 years old. So far no extra urine or extra thirst have been observed - knock on wood - so no diabetes so far.

[haaj]

So the eyes were checked again and there seems to be no residue of any kind, everything seems normal. Also, they've tried gradually easing the goo into lighter areas, and she seems to be adapting! There was a short moment when she actually looked outside at the larger world, probably for the first time in years, if not her entire life. There's even a photo of that, which made me teary-eyed:



Still difficult to believe how the previous owners treated her. I just hope that the damage wasn't too extensive and that she'll have a lot of fun time in the future to compensate for the misery she had to endure in the past.

[bouncy]

Bless her fluffy (back) paws! She could also be thinking "ooh, f#?!@"§ heck! I better adapt my plans for world domination! Perhaps it'll take a couple of weeks longer....... "

[deguconvert]

I'm so glad she is adapting! Makes me think of how my eyes can hurt, after being in the dark and watching a film, and they turn all the bright lights on again. If she was in the dark for a long and extended time, it would be MANY times worse for her, and it would take time for her eyes to grow strong enough to endure the light.

Do you know if they plan to increase the cage size for her? It is really quite tiny!

[bouncy]

I think haaj has said a few times there are huge issues in obtaining suitable housing over there

[deguconvert]

Yeah . . . I wondered about that. Sort of remembered the same thing.

[bouncy]

I suspect she's already a little bit in awe of the newfound space she has got! I wonder how she'll react to free run time 

[haaj]

I thought I'd give a little update on this little critter. She's doing very fine and grew incredibly attached to the new owner. There have been occasional strange behaviours, like refusing to eat solid feed from her bowl, and instead waiting for the owner to take the actual pieces and feed them to her one by one, and suchlike assorted weirdness not far from what degus in general do. She seems to have adjusted nicely, is active and playful, enjoys her free run time a lot, and also is completely OK with the sun now and takes little sun baths when she feels like it.

There is this one strange thing I thought I'd ask advice about, which is that the degu has been refusing to use the dust bath for the past few weeks - about a month, I believe. They've tried changing the sand, using a different bath, and even spreading the sand in random places on the floor, but the degu simply ignores it. I haven't seen any recent pictures but I'm told the fur is starting to look a bit unkempt. Has anybody encountered this kind of behaviour? Any advice? I'm hoping it'll pass just like the other oddities in her behaviour came and went, but a month seems like a long time without a sand bath.

[deguconvert]

We have had other members with degus that either had no interest in a sand bath, or had no idea what it was about, so they were facing the same problem. I think the easiest way to handle it it to put her into a jar/box/vase large enough that she is not squished but not so large that she can move very far, and tall enough that she cannot jump out, and then to gently "rain" the bathing dust over her back. Not from way up high, but maybe using a small scoop and sprinkling it over her back from a few centimeters above. Then hopefully she will want to shake it out, and that will help to begin to clean her fur. Maybe even get a toothbrush that has very soft bristles and brush her with that a little, to help with the grooming.

[moletteuk]

I would try that too, sprinkle some on, brush it off.

The only slight concern I have is to watch out for any signs of pain, as leg strains or back pain or that type of thing can make rolling on their backs to bathe uncomfortable so they stop doing it. I would watch and check all forms of movement, monitor weight and look for any other little signs of discomfort. It could just be another weird degu thing though.

[bouncy]

Scaredyygoo won't bathe either. As the others say, if she's so attached and tame, try grooming her themselves by hand.

[goolover]

I have to use a toothbrush now for Lula. She had a ear infection and although she is much better I think she associates the bath with feeling dizzy when she has tried to use it previously. A toothbrush works just as well if you drizzle some sand onto it and rub it through their fur. She really enjoys it now and I think she knows she feels better and cleaner from it.

[bouncy]

haaj does your friend have any update photos of the little lady? Think the last time we saw, she was looking in awe out of the window, stunned that the world was bigger than a cardboard box!