|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 22, 2016 10:48:47 GMT
A few things sound a little unusual, but maybe it's just the wording. It's farely unusual for molars to be worn right down, but it can happen, the most common dental issue is when the teeth start growing a small section off at an angle that cannot be worn away by the opposite tooth, we call these spurs, they can pierce the soft tissue and cause eating difficulty so they need grinding off. Diet changes should help to a degree, but be aware that the issue is likely to crop up again at some point (3 to 8 months). The procedure is normally done under gas sedation rather than general anaesthetic, but maybe the vet had his reasons. The vetergesic is a very strong pain killer but not long acting that I know of.
I wonder if the vet had an issue with mix style feeds rather than all commercial foods, due to the selective feeding issue. Homogenous pellet or nugget foods ensure that the degu gets all the nutrients as intended. Sugar is rarely an issue as long as you don't feed any and limit veg and grains.
Anyway, how is she doing? Is she showing any interest in eating again yet?
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 22, 2016 18:22:41 GMT
I wasn't able to go with my partner due to work and as it's a new job I can't take time off. From what lee has told me she had one tooth that was at an angle and impacted? But can't be sure he said impacted and that two of the teeth were spiked. The vet said they will grow back. I'm not sure why the general that's just what's listed on the bill. He wasn't anti commercial just the ones I have. From what lees told me he was complaining saying it's not the right food and is the same as junk food for them. He recommended science selective nuggets and hay. She seems a little better. She's attempting to eat and doesn't seem as huntched up. I gave her a pot of nuggets today and noticed a lot of it ground up later in the pot? Is that normal? I tried the critical care pack I have the herbivore one. We used to have a syringe but really no idea where they have gone. Tried mixing with warm water and she ate some of that.
So what should I be doing with the critical care food? Is the nuggets a good choice for now and we got her chinchillas herb forage leaves that she grabbed off us. I did see someone say to give nuts. I've brought blanched hazelnuts, sunflowerseed, flacked almonds and Brazil nuts. Are these all ok and how much? Thank you again everyone
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Oct 22, 2016 19:29:55 GMT
While she is so thin and having difficulty with eating, you can be a little more free with these, but I wouldn't give more than one nut per day. When you give her the nut, you need to cut them into thin, tiny pieces that will be easier for her to hold in her mouth and chew. Also give her about a tablespoon of porridge oats to eat each day to give her some additional calories to help her with the healing and to regain some body weight. Do this for about a week and then evaluate.
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 22, 2016 20:24:27 GMT
Thank you. I have some flaked almonds that look quite soft so will start with that and she loves oats so that will go down well. I've downloaded photobucket so will try and add some photos
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 22, 2016 21:53:53 GMT
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 22, 2016 21:54:27 GMT
Ok worked out how to add photos. So this is nutmeg today
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Oct 23, 2016 0:23:54 GMT
OH MY GOODNESS!! She is alarmingly thin!!! Keep an eye on her, and if you feel you need to, don't be afraid to give her more oats than what I said earlier.
|
|
|
Post by yasmin on Oct 23, 2016 0:59:55 GMT
She is very thin but at least in the second photo it looks as though she is still active (chewing on the roll?).
Great that she ate some of the Cirtical Care. For mine, I have had to mix the Critical Care in with baby food (I used an organic Spinach/Root Vegetable blend and Sweet Potato blend). I had to try several times to tempt them to eat it but once they tried, they lapped it up and begged for more.
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 23, 2016 7:22:49 GMT
I mixed it with warm water and oats and she liked that, she loved the forage stuff and is very active which is good. Yes she's going to need loads of time to build back up. my other degu is lapping up the treats of extra portage and the almonds yesterday 😳I won't separate them though as she's really looking after her sister and cuddles her. Dose anyone understand why her back has huntched and will it go back when she's better. She's loving lots of cuddles and we're keeping the heat pad in the cage for extra warmth. She's been in the wheel and moves around the cage, we have the liberta explorer and she has been in both areas.
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 23, 2016 11:08:43 GMT
I think the hunched back is something that happens with lots of mammals when they get very sick and thin. As she recovers hopefully her whole figure will start to improve.
No need to syringe the Critical Care if she is taking it voluntarily. The crumbs were perhaps were from her eating the nuggets and small pieces falling out of her mouth as she ate. Try to watch her eat quite carefully to check what she is able to eat and swallow properly. If she is tackling all sorts of things like nuggets, forage and oats then this is a really good sign and hopefully she is coping with most things.
Did you get the Science Selective nuggets already? It's also important that you provide some extra calcium as soon as possible, especially as the high calorie foods like oats and nuts are very low in calcium and contain phosphorus which increases the requirement for calcium. I would order the Ratrations degu seed mix (or make your own) ASAP and also get some alfalfa, dandelion and/or ribwort plantain as good sources of calcium (you can buy dandelion and ribwort plantain from Zooplus).
The heatpad will be great for her.
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 23, 2016 14:27:21 GMT
I think the hunched back is something that happens with lots of mammals when they get very sick and thin. As she recovers hopefully her whole figure will start to improve. No need to syringe the Critical Care if she is taking it voluntarily. The crumbs were perhaps were from her eating the nuggets and small pieces falling out of her mouth as she ate. Try to watch her eat quite carefully to check what she is able to eat and swallow properly. If she is tackling all sorts of things like nuggets, forage and oats then this is a really good sign and hopefully she is coping with most things. Did you get the Science Selective nuggets already? It's also important that you provide some extra calcium as soon as possible, especially as the high calorie foods like oats and nuts are very low in calcium and contain phosphorus which increases the requirement for calcium. I would order the Ratrations degu seed mix (or make your own) ASAP and also get some alfalfa, dandelion and/or ribwort plantain as good sources of calcium (you can buy dandelion and ribwort plantain from Zooplus). The heatpad will be great for her. [ I get her out later for some cage free time and feed her a treat to see what's happening with it. Yes brought the science select yesterday and woodlands herbal forage pack. I'm looking now for the seeds online and the dandelions
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 24, 2016 16:59:46 GMT
Great I meant to say you might find it useful to track her progress by weighing her regularly if you have some suitable kitchen scales.
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 25, 2016 8:49:42 GMT
Was planning to weigh her yesterday but was in bed ill all day so had a go today she's weighing 141 grams today. She dose look better but I'm still worried about the shredding of food. She jumped in to the forage bag yesterday to select a big echinacea flower but again seemed to just end with a pile of shredded flower. Will weigh her every morning now and see how she gets on. 😊
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 25, 2016 12:56:04 GMT
Keep supplementing with soft food if you think she isn't swallowing much hard food, you can make anything into a mash, including crushed seeds and forage crumbs. You could even add some calcium powder to the soft food if she isn't managing high calcium foods yet, Vetark Calcidust could be added at a rate of up to 0.5tsp to 100g food.
Are you seeing any improvement yet?
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 25, 2016 18:07:13 GMT
I think she is improving but am going to weigh her to be sure. She's not spending all her time trying to eat and even buried some yesterday and today and is dominating her sister again. I make the critical care with porridge and warm water and she loves that. I tried adding hot water to the select nuggests and mashed those and she ate some of that. I'll try adding in some of the herbs and seeds.
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 26, 2016 12:17:29 GMT
This arrived today from ratration. She's seems to be selective or bored with what I'm offering. Today I made her critical care and oats she ate a little bit. I crushed nuts, almonds, hazelnut and Brazil. Made a pot of mashed nuggets and dry nuggets. She showed interest in these then walked away. She woofed down some fresh dandelion leaves from the garden and tried some of the seed mix, but again sniffed through it selecting what she wanted. Have I got the fussiest degu going? I weighed her again today and used a different box. This time the scales read 70gs she doesnt look like she's lost that much over night so I'm putting it down to the scales. I'll reweigh her tomorrow morning. Still lots of food dropping out all though the fresh leaves hardly any fell out.
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 26, 2016 12:33:47 GMT
Most degus have quite strong ideas about food, that's pretty normal.
The seeds are strong tasting, so hopefully she is just being cautious about trying them and hopefully will start to eat more of them when she gets used to them.
Other things that poorly degus like are dried veg like carrot, beetroot, peppers, courgette, brocolli, and you can try some other grains like millet and barley, you could mix a few of those in with the oil seed mix to attract her attention more. If she loves the nuts, you can sprinkle them on other things you want her to eat like the Critical Care or other mash, or with nuggets.
The fresh forage is great for her, you could offer fresh grass too, she might like that, you might also find broad or narrow leaved plantain, clover, blackberry leaves, vetch, nettles (dried to remove sting), just watch out for mildew on leaves at this time of year.
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 26, 2016 14:11:40 GMT
This is her today she's seems to me to have gained weight. Apart from the bowls of food she's in a forage box I made then, with hay, dandelion and plantian and nuts and seeds hidden in that she seems to really enjoy it
|
|
|
Post by crysania on Oct 26, 2016 14:12:58 GMT
The photo on the stair is to show that she is still very thin around the legs as the other photo she is bunched up
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 26, 2016 15:41:12 GMT
I see what you mean, she still looks very thin on the stairs, but better than the other day and better in the forage box pic
|
|