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Post by bouncy on Dec 31, 2016 16:08:10 GMT
Bless! Could he end up tearing his mouth if he catches the wire?
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Post by titchycatnipsandwich on Dec 31, 2016 22:45:05 GMT
Not sure, it doesn't look like sturdy stitching or "wire",and she hasn't pulled it tight. It might bleed a little, but I don't think he'll come to too much harm if he pulls them out.
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Post by animalmadchloe on Jan 2, 2017 0:17:10 GMT
Ok, so everyone is home now. I have been given metacam, baytril and metronidazole - all diluted :/ this was to make drawing up the dose easier, but I think the vet forgot it is easier to sneak 0.04ml into a degu's mouth than 0.4mL I have been given good outcome (Zoe goes back to eating normal food) and come back for review outcome (Zoe does not start eating hard food again) and go to the small critters vet asap outcome (Zoe stops eating soft food). My degu burrito skills are not up to giving two lots of 0.4mL... add in that she's needled in along his jaw, so it's painful to him for me to hold him under the chin (to stop his paws escaping the burrito) and I'm going to have to get up earlier every morning for forever to make sure I have time to burrito him and syringe him. On the upside- she read the note about my degus being chewers and gave me extra syringes Could you not put the medication into some dry porridge oats and mix up usually work for me. Burritos are not easy!
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Post by titchycatnipsandwich on Jan 2, 2017 21:49:12 GMT
He's not eating things that he has to chew voluntarily, so I'd be concerned he wouldn't take them all. We have made some progress now he's remembered he likes Metacam; I can hold him in one hand and squirt with the other into his mouth and he laps everything up I'm on my own, so if not cooperating degu burritos are the easiest thing for me- as long as I can stop them getting a front paw loose. Once a paw is loose, the burrito is doomed!
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 2, 2017 22:59:52 GMT
You brave woman! So glad I only once had to go through a stretch of burrito treatments, and then all was well. Not fun! At least as bad as having to hold down a child whilst administering eye or nose drops!! Except that putting a 5 year old into a burrito just . . . doesnt' work.
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Post by bouncy on Jan 3, 2017 13:04:20 GMT
Yeah, Scaredy hates me right now because I have to put ointment in his eye twice a day, and he is NOT tolerant. He hasn't yet associated the ointment with being able to open his eye again! Two more days to go......I've never had to treat him with handling before because he happily trots up to the bars for his metacam.
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Post by moletteuk on Jan 4, 2017 11:36:13 GMT
I was so fearful of burritoing until I absolutely had to do it multiple times a day for about a month, I had a real mental block. The part that never got much easier for me was catching Molly, having to grab at her when she obviously didn't want to be grabbed, and sometimes having to sort of chase her, horrible.
How is he getting on?
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Post by titchycatnipsandwich on Jan 4, 2017 13:52:55 GMT
I'm getting lucky at the moment because clever though he is, he still doesn't seem to have worked out that being caught = being burrito'd shortly.
In and of himself, he seems ok. Only eating soft foods and picking at seeds. The "bean" is still intact and in place, but I've called the vets this morning to ask whether he can wait til tomorrow or needs to be seen today - there's a second bulge on his jawline, and I don't know whether it's a second "bean" (and couldn't be seen before due to swelling) or whether there's a second abscess developed. The top of the visible bean is covered in a greenish crust, which won't wipe away with salt water, so I'm suspicious. If nothing else, we're going back first thing tomorrow, I just...
I don't know if I can afford more surgery. My friend will lend me the money, but I'm not sure if I can and how long it would take to pay him back. River's abscess was a straightforward, "clean" abscess that took a while to clear up but it was obvious that it was getting better over the ~8 weeks it took to clear, and only actually cost ~£100 by the end. I don't know whether it's because Zoe's is more visible, but I'm less convinced that this is healing as it should. And it sounded last week like he has dental spurs as well, although the vet tech didn't have more details - I was intending to ask the vet tomorrow. So I'm currently stuck at "getting more expensive to fix with less and less certainty that it's going to improve".
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Post by Emziedee on Jan 4, 2017 16:48:58 GMT
Man I know how you feel about burrito'ing - I felt like I was going to crush the poor sod. The first few times were clumsy and stressful but you get a lot better and swifter at it. Releasing and giving him his favourite treat always sweetened the ordeal too
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Post by moletteuk on Jan 4, 2017 17:06:35 GMT
Try not to fret about the cost and quality of life issues until you see the vet tomorrow and get all the information and options. Find out as much as you can, if it was spurs causing the infection - I don't think you spoke to the vet that did the surgety yet(?), so there could be lots of information coming your way to consider. You can also ask their opinion on possible courses of action. If this specialist vet seems a bit gung ho and quick to reach for the gas and scalpel (and I'm not saying they are), you could always have a chat with your regular vet if you have a longer relationship with them.
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Post by titchycatnipsandwich on Jan 5, 2017 9:15:49 GMT
Ugh, his face is an absolute mess this morning. The vet didn't get back to me yesterday, despite me calling like she said I could if I had concerns (and I had them...) At any rate, I've managed to clean off the wood shavings that had stuck to the dried pus that was leaking out of the wound from around the 'bean', and gained some new scratches for my trouble- I think it's causing him a lot of pain, he wouldn't take the syringe from me this morning. Remind me when we get back later and I'll show you how we've progressed on the taking abx front so you can understand exactly what I mean by "won't take the syringe from me"
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 5, 2017 18:08:59 GMT
Hello! This is your friendly reminder. It is now time for the above promised feature.
On a more serious note, is he cleaned up and doing better? I hope there isn't additional pockets forming? I'm concerned. Do you know if they have done a culture from the pus?
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Post by titchycatnipsandwich on Jan 5, 2017 22:22:47 GMT
So, Molly took him in again this morning, gave him some more anaesthetic to remove the bean and had a look inside. It was a second abscess, not the bean blocking drainage as I thought. Rather than another bean (which would mean another op to remove next week), she's just opened it, sutured it open, cleaned it and given me an antibiotic ointment to use if I don't feel honey is appropriate. The manuka honey she recommended was a slight concern to me, as they both love sweet even though it's bad for them, and the last thing an abscess needs is a cagemate licking the honey out of it! I've tried honey tonight, but may start using the ointment tomorrow. I did ask if she had any thoughts on how it had happened, and she said it's either a scratch from the outside or damage from something sharp to the inside. Given as Nyota isn't gentle, I'm slightly suspicious of outside scratches from careless claws. I'm gonna have to keep an eye out for fighting :/ He now has a mess of open wounds on his jawline, and I've been given a solution of doxycycline to give to him instead of metronidazole and Baytril. No one has cultured the pus that I know of; there's still a sample in the fridge at normal-vets that I can ask them to culture if needed, might ring them and ask if any more crop up. Molly swears she saw him eating solid food and making a mess of it, but as he's not normally one to spill food I've decided to keep offering soft food as well for a while. He can pick and choose as he wants to. Currently my concern level is somewhat middleish- not as bad as yesterday, but an open wound that is currently clean but isn't going to stay that way unless both he and I are very very careful.... I'm cautiously hopeful, while mindful that this is not ideal conditions for an open abscess to be healing. And as promised: Self-administration is a useful skill to teach by TitchyCatnipSandwich, on Flickr
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 6, 2017 1:56:50 GMT
Hoping for great healing!!
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Post by Emziedee on Jan 6, 2017 12:03:01 GMT
That is just the cutest picture. Poor little mite, get well soon x
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 6, 2017 19:20:09 GMT
How is he doing today? You must be feeling quite stretched with this. What a difficult couple of weeks it's been!
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Post by charliekhris on Jan 6, 2017 20:03:10 GMT
Poor little goober it's nice when they react positively to meds, in taking them i mean. Bean is pretty good with it, but we've been lucky enough to be two on the job when giving her meds... Poor little squidge, it's horrible to see them suffer and in pain, and also be in a bit of a money trouble :/ it's like you have to think twice about taking them to the vet, which feels absolutely awful...
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Post by titchycatnipsandwich on Jan 6, 2017 23:44:23 GMT
I'm... well, I was frazzled. My mental health has been fairly up and down this last year, but luckily for me I have friends who keep an eye out for me, and as a result my friend brought the old modified thickets cages down from the loft, installed them in his house, and Zoe, Nyota and I are spending a few days here. They aren't entirely delighted with the chance of scene, but it's doing me a world of good. The other advantage is that the thickets cages don't hold a lot of wood shavings - so when I fill those two open abscesses with antibiotic ointment or honey, there's less stuff to stick to his face. Poor critter though, he's hating it. Hates the saline washout, hates being wet from the saline, hates the hair dryer to try and stop him catching a chill, hates towels, hates being burrito'd for abscess cleaning, hates having his abscesses inadvertently poked by cotton buds because fidgeting while cleaning, hates not being allowed to escape, hates being sticky from honey/ointment... so he gets metacam as a treat He hates it so much he's started nipping when you get him out of the cage, which I could do without. I'm already scratched to hell, if I get a septic bite (which has happened twice now in the past and if he's got abscess goop I can't say it wouldn't happen) then we're screwed - Señor DeguWrangler has tried, and he hasn't got the knack of one hand holding Zoe and one hand manipulating syringes. So basically, we're all hanging on. I rang the vets today to ask how much culturing the pus would be- my german vet friend was concerned that the second abscess might have "metastasised" from the first (neither of us can think of the better word here). However, culturing will cost £110!!! So I'm gonna leave that unless we have no other choice, say if a third abscess pops up. It would just be nice to have an idea when this will all sort itself out. I mean, River's abscess took 8 weeks - but he was tame at that point and quite willing to let me manipulate the abscess. Zoe is not, and it's stressful for both of us. On the up side- I have caught him in the act of eating solid food! Leaves mostly, a few flowers, but no pellets as yet. He's still eating pea-baby-food mixed with ground nuts and seeds, and I'll keep offering it until he's a good weight and this is all settled, but at least he's eating?
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 7, 2017 0:02:56 GMT
Really glad your friend intervened and brought you home to give you a hand. More glad that it is helping!
Sorry about the fight it is for all the treatments. UGH!! That is a lot to do. YOu must feel like your whole day it dedicated to the various parts of getting him better. May your hands, toes and whole body, remain unbitten!
So glad you caught him eating! That is good indeed! Keep it up, Zoe!
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Post by moletteuk on Jan 7, 2017 11:10:59 GMT
What a lovely friend, it's so nice to feel supported in your hour of need.
Have you thought about wearing leather or 'cut-proof' gloves to do the syringing and treatment? Molly would do the odd bite lunge when I was burritoing her, I found it really doesn't help to be feeling nervous while you are burritoing. I ended up putting on left and right gloves to catch and burrito her, I would get her in position and then whip off the glove on the treatment hand so I had some dexterity.
How is Zoe in himself? Are you weighing him? I think it's a great sign that he is eating for himself, very encouraging.
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