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Post by moletteuk on Sept 23, 2016 10:07:40 GMT
I guess an ear infection could also be a possibility? Maybe see how she is in a couple of days. Great to hear how well Makoto is coping
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Post by yasmin on Sept 29, 2016 14:47:15 GMT
Finally got Ichi to start eating whole sunflower seeds (with shell). Because of her dental issues, she stopped being able to de-shell them for the past few weeks. I have been using this as a gauge on how she is doing - giving her a sunflower seed (with shell) and seeing if she can open it. Her inability to open it was an indicator to me that there was something very wrong. In the interim, I have been de-shelling them for her because she can eat the nut inside and I wanted to make sure she got all the calories she needed to heal. After two de-spurrings, she really should be back to normal by now. Still, she has showed no ability to de-shell a seed. Well today I have become tired of it. I did my usual – gave her a seed with shell. She is able to carry it in her mouth but, again, she dropped the seed-with-shell without any attempt to open it. Could it be that she doesn't think she can so now she doesn't even try? Hmmmm. I gave her another one but this time I cracked the shell a bit and then handed it to her. And, what do you know – she opened it and ate it. Next one I gave her was with a completely closed shell and she opened it herself. These degus – they are so similar in temperament and thinking processes to human beings – I think more so than many other creatures.
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 29, 2016 16:40:01 GMT
Haha - watch out for them pretending to limp as a ruse to get more of the Crocks out of you!
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 29, 2016 23:53:41 GMT
They certainly are not above taking every advantage of us, that's for sure!! Reminds me of my son! He's been sick with a cold that just won't go away, so he has been more than usual fussy with his food and I've been more . . . lenient with things. Now he expects that all the time, even though he is well enough to be interested in the usual things again, LOL! "MOOOM!! Can you make me a sandwich and cut it up for me . . . into FOUR triangles?" At least he isn't asking me to chew it for him too!!
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Post by yasmin on Oct 24, 2016 19:48:12 GMT
Noticed around noon today that Ichi can't open sunflower seeds, once again, and also that now her upper lip area on her left side flinches when she is eating other food (she is still eating, thank goodness). She is also scratching her left ear again. Fortunately I was able to get an appointment with the vet in an hour. I will report back.
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 24, 2016 21:25:42 GMT
OK!! Will be looking to see!
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Post by yasmin on Oct 24, 2016 21:48:16 GMT
The vet thinks that the left temporal mandibular joint is worn down and painful. He thinks that when Ichi was suffering with the spur on her upper right molar, she compensated by eating on her left side and that wore it down. This would also explain why she scratches her left ear. Nothing can be done other than giving her Metacam when I notice that she is in discomfort. Other than that, her ears are okay, her teeth are okay. (Just need to find a new source of organic baby food because it looks like President's Choice is no longer making any that doesn't contain fruit, go figure.)
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Post by randomname on Oct 24, 2016 22:11:03 GMT
Oh dear poor Ichi. I had a guinea pig with TMJ issues. She was on metacam for a year & a half, she did have periods of difficulty, but did ok. I did a bit of research at the time, found it's relatively common in chinchillas too. You're pretty lucky the vet knew about it as a lot of vets don't seem to. There is an experimental thing called a chin sling out there, it's pretty weird, not sure it'd work. www.guinealynx.info/chinsling.html There's a bit about it on here, but there's other info out there if you want to look into it.
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Post by yasmin on Oct 25, 2016 3:57:16 GMT
Yes, my vet told me about the Chin Sling – however, even if a smaller one could be made for a degu, a degu could remove it so it probably wouldn't work.
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Post by randomname on Oct 25, 2016 13:19:29 GMT
There are chinchilla chin slings out there (chin chin sling?!) that people have said worked, but I'm not sure a)how they got it on the animal or b)if they can get them off. Chins are as bad as goos I'd imagine. Don't think any of my degus or chins would have let me put one on or left it alone. Can't imagine any animal happy to wear any thing like that. Interesting idea though.
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Post by yasmin on Feb 11, 2017 4:59:46 GMT
Update on Ichi:
Ichi seems to be doing well on her diet of Critical Care mixed in with either ground almonds or Organic baby food, and mashed cooked sweet potato (she was eating ground oats but stopped that about a month ago). She is active, playing on the wheel, and I noticed a few days ago that she is now again eating puffed rice. Still can't eat sunflower seeds (with or without shell) or anything else that requires chewing, but I now have a small bit of hope that her jaw may actually be healing.
The problem is with chewing – she is able to rip up paper and pick up paper towel strips to line the next – something she does after each feeding.
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Post by animalmadchloe on Mar 1, 2017 17:39:26 GMT
Bloody spurs there a right pain in the arse! Mine are due again soon im keeping a watchful eye for the symptoms x
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Post by titchycatnipsandwich on Mar 2, 2017 18:30:40 GMT
Just in case anyone was curious on the electric-toothbrush aspect of things (no way am I building a chinsling, but the toothbrush seemed an easy enough thing to try), Zoe will accept 10s bursts of buzzing toothbrush on his jaw before he starts attempting to escape. I have no idea whether it's making any difference yet, but as long as I don't push too hard he is quite happy to have his jaw massaged in short intervals.
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Post by yasmin on Mar 3, 2017 4:50:01 GMT
Very interesting. I am curious to see if it helps Zoe.
Ichi's problems began with a spur, but has progressed to a full-blown temporal mandibular joint disorder – her jaw joint does not work rendering her unable to chew. Good news is that last time I took her in to the vet he did not see any new spurs. Also, she can at least eat puffed rice as well now. A jaw massage now and then might have been helpful to get the jaw unstuck at times – I was too timid to do it but just holding her and making her take meds via syringe seemed to help. Good news too that, lately, she has not needed this – I just put the meds in her wet food.
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 3, 2017 11:19:09 GMT
Perhaps there was some tendon or ligament type damage that has repaired to a degree?
Electric toothbrush massage sounds hilarious, anything is worth trying if it might help though.
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Post by titchycatnipsandwich on Mar 3, 2017 13:02:33 GMT
I've come to the conclusion it takes him 10 seconds to realise what's happening- particularly if I catch his whiskers on the way to massaging his face he just looks really startled, then gathers up his paws... 8,9,10, spring away!
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Post by yasmin on Mar 24, 2017 2:32:53 GMT
Because she is unable to chew wood, etc., I took Ichi in to the vet to have her front teeth ground down.
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Post by yasmin on May 4, 2017 15:29:50 GMT
Ichi is having trouble eating again and she makes a cracking sound with her jaw.
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Post by deguconvert on May 4, 2017 16:13:35 GMT
OUCH!!! Sent you a package for Ichi!
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Post by yasmin on May 8, 2017 16:13:33 GMT
Just said goodbye to my dear Ichi. (Made an appointment with the vet when she stopped eating last Thursday. Could not get one with her regular vet until today I wasn't too worried because she was eating again on Friday. However, I could not get her to eat anything last night. When I went to get her to take her to the vet this morning, I found her lying flat with sister Ni on top of her. She was alive and conscious but cold. Took her to her appointment. No choice but to euthanize – she was so close to death already.) Ichi was a true survivor. She did everything she could to stay alive. Spunky and spirited until the end. Rest in peace my dear girl.
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