Swollen lower lip

[natnat899]

Hi all,

I noticed a few days ago that my degu (misty) had a swollen lower lip and a swollen lump on the side of her mouth, On Friday I took her to the vets and requested antibiotics. He has put her on trimethoprim twice a day, however I am struggling to administer it; I only have 1 syringe with all the medicine in and I havnt got much control over it (I am getting another one after work) and I have no one to hold her while I do it. The medicine itself is incredibly sour, I have already tried to put it on a treat and she just buries it (she is eating and drinking normally).

Then this morning I noticed pus coming out of the swollen lip, it might have been when I was trying to give her the medication (the vet did not see any sign of pus). I need her to take the medication, but I am struggling to do it, is there anything I can try to make it more appealing?

Should I call up the vet to mention that there is now pus, or continue with the medication for now?

I am thinking of washing the swelling with salt water, would that help it?

[degulover21]

I had this problem giving hazel her meds, what I did we crushed up some of her nuggets put them in the syringe and put drop of the meds in like half way of the syringe. I put it though her cage bars and she would feed by herself with the syringe.yes also ring the vet saying she's got pus coming from the swollen lip, you could try my other degu had a really nasty gash we was going to take her to the vets but we cleaned it with warm salt water for a few days.

[natnat899]

Thank you for your quick reply, when I get home I'll see what the swelling looks like, and if it is still bad, I was in a rush this morning so only had a brief look. I have just brought a syringe so hopefully medicating her will be easier, if not I'll have to see if someone else can help!

[moletteuk]

Hi Natnat, great to see you.

It's always tricky, it depends which ways you want to try and how easy it will be to get extra supplies of the drug if you waste some, most vets will happily give you more without an appointment if you explain.

The surest way is the burrito restraint, but the success of this can depend on the degu, most will put up with it long enough for you to get a quick syringe in. I found the one handed burrito not actually much more difficult that two handed, but the syringes can be a nightmare, I can't imagine managing a one handed burrito and pressing a syringe only a certain amount. I think if you can transfer single portions into a syringe you have a much better chance of success.

It may be possible to get the meds diluted a bit more if that help with the syringing. Make sure you use a big enough towel for the burrito, I found a smallish bath towel about right.

Some degus will take even bad tasting antibiotics on treats if you can just find the right treat, but it usually takes some wastage. I have had success with dried veg slices, nut pieces, you can try shredded wheat with nuts pressed in, or nut butter etc.

Sometimes you can get the syringe in the mouth without restrain, some greedy and easily distracted goos can be given the syringe in the side of the mouth while they are eating something like a nut that you keep hold of to direct them, or bad tempered goos can be goaded into biting the syringe.

The last resort is putting it in the water supply, but I found this reduced the amount of water they would drink so the concentration of meds had to go up again.

It might be worth a little squeeze to see if you can get more pus to come out, or it might be worth taking her back to the vets on Monday, get them to drain it, and they could also give an injection of ABs that would give you a leg up on getting them into her. Could the vet see any cause for the abscess?

[bouncy]

Try making a degu burrito. Prepare the syringe, then wrap your goo in a tea towel, leaving only the face exposed. If they're determined to keep their mouth shut, give them something like a nut to hold, then put the syringe behind the nut in the corner of their mouth!



The key is to keep the front paws from breaking free.

[deguconvert]

That face is NOT IMPRESSED!! LOL!! Talk about an evil eye!

[degulover21]

He looks so cute

[goolover]

Look at that nose!

[bouncy]

It's Spidey!

[deguconvert]

THAT burrito has BITE!!

[natnat899]

Thank you molette - I have had a busy start to this year, chinchillas falling out, degus being ill - it's kept me on my toes, I apologise that I havnt been on at all! I have tried to transfer the medication to another syringe and wasted nearly all of it (facepalm) so I will have to get some more from the vets tomorrow. I will request they put the dose separately in each syringe - doesn't matter if it costs more; it is impossible to give such a small dosage (1 drop) when the entire weeks medication is in there too! My boyfriend ended up giving her too much after he said "oh, let me show you, it's easy" so HA its not. (She is absolutely fine btw, watched her for 2 hours just incase).

In regards to the abscess, he didn't think it was one, he just said to give her the medication and if after 5 days she still hadn't improved then to take her back and they will have her in for an examination. I didn't see anymore pus last night. I was thinking of seeing how the medication goes first, due to what the vet has said and to dab a bit of warm salt water on it. But if you think she needs to go back then I will take her on Monday or Tuesday?

Bouncy - that is exactly the look she gives me when I've tried it I still need to learn how to stop her wriggling but I think I'm getting there with the whole burrito thing; it does make it a lot easier the nut it definitely a good idea - I only have monkey nuts in the house, which I wouldent want to give her twice a day, which it would be best to use?

[ntg]

If the pus is new then I'd definitely take him back to the vets as it might change to dosage or antibiotic that they decide to give him. They should be able to provide the meds in separate syringes or even in a small bottle with a single syringe would be better for you.

The other option is if you have a bottle of metacam that you don't use the plunger for, you could transfer the meds into there and take out the drop using the small syringe each day as the ends should fit inside each other.

[moletteuk]

Forget normal food rules, a couple of chunks of peanut won't do any harm for a few days, you could try a little slice with meds on top and then another slice on top of that. I think you do have a chance of getting her to take it on food since it's only one drop. Brazil nuts slice quite well, or walnuts have quite a strong taste.

[natnat899]

Thanks for the advise, I will definitely try out the different methods and I'll let you know how I get on tomorrow (I need to call the vets)

[natnat899]

I have been to the vets this morning, misty has spurs that need to be removed, so I need to take her tomorrow to get that sorted. He has also shown me how to check her back teeth which is helpful (moon has also had teeth issues in the past).

I was wondering if it could possible be their diet? I told the vet what I feed them and he didn't think I needed to change it, despite saying that most teeth issues are diet related.

I feed them; versele laga crispy pellets, ings hay, Timothy hay and the occasionally alpha hay. I also have versele laga complete degu food and the nature one as treats (they are different sizes to the others), I feed them the seed mix off ratrations, degu dazzle and the carousel mix off chinchillas2shop, dandelion roots, burgess mountain meadow herbs, cactus flowers and dried edible flowers from galens garden.

The treats I sprinkle around the cage at nighttime or with the larger treats give them one each (I alternate them) and when we open the cage we usually give a little something before we close the door. I need to order some locus beans off chinchillas2shop (the degus love them) and some plantain or nettle leaves but moon isn't very keen on those.

Is there anything I could be improving with their diet?

[savvy]

Do you offer them any wood to chew?

[winic1]

I just had to give one of my degus medicine for a week, and we figured out his trick immediately. Phil's favorite treat is pepitas-pumpkin seeds. So, I ground up some pepitas, then I'd put a bit of that on a spoon, put the drop of medicine in, stir it up with a toothpick until it was a lumpy paste, and just put the spoon in front of him and he'd eat it right up. you need the flattest spoon possible, since they can't really lick like a dog or cat. Once he ate the dose, I'd put a drop or two of water on the spoon, stir it around with the toothpick to get up any medicine stuck to the spoon, add more pepita powder to make a lump again, and let him eat that, too.

It can be really hard controlling a syringe for small amounts. One trick that helps control how much you push is the way you hold it. Typically, you would have your first two fingers around the syringe, and your thumb on the plunger, right? Well, angle it sideways a bit so that the plunger stick is rubbing sideways against your first finger. This added friction of having it against your finger slows it down as you push, making it easier to control. Also stabilizes the syringe. Might help a little.

Best thing is to have the vet give you the medicine in a little bottle, and use a very tiny syringe so you can draw up the right amount and then just feed it all right to the degu. They need to give you plenty of extra since some is "lost" by sticking to/in the tip of the syringe. To get the air bubbles out of the syringe when you draw it up, pull up an excess amount first, then push it out hard and rapidly back into the bottle (like "slamming" the syringe), then draw up the amount you need. The "slamming" usually gets rid of the air bubble so that you can then fill it with the exact amount you need. Sometimes needs repeating a time or two before the bubbles are all gone.

[natnat899]

Thank you winic, the vet believes now that it is the tooth causing the issue so didn't give me any more antibiotics today, they will trim her teeth tomorrow and they will see if I need some more. If I do that information will be very useful, it's definitely less stressful if they take it willingly! I didn't really think about how holding the syringe would affect it, I've never had to give them antibiotics before, so it's a pretty steep learning curb. At least I now know what to do next time, so I'll be a bit more prepared!

And savvy, yes they do have wood in the cage, they have a lot of things to chew. Mistys favourite toy is a wooden balance bridge, she loves spinning the wood around and chewing it

[bouncy]

Tbh, some of these teeth issues are likely down to the inbreeding from within the pet trade. There's also evidence to suggest a relationship with diet and UV light. There should be a calcium:phosphorus ratio of 2:1. As you're feeding a packaged food, there should also be supplementary vitamin D3 in the bag, but it's worth checking.

When she's under tomorrow with the tooth trim, it's worth asking for an xray to see what the molar roots are up to, too.

[haaj]

Oh Bouncy, that photo was the single best thing that happened to me yesterday! I was at work, too, and couldn't stop laughing for a good half-hour.