Breathing Issues-1yr old Female Degu

[animeandpia]

Right before Christmas we noticed our 1 year old Female Degu (Anime) was making sounds when breathing.  If i had to explain almost like a squeaking sound.  Her nostrils were opening and closing every time she tried to breath and it appeared as if she was breathing real hard. Anime would hide in her little pea home and wouldn't show signs of wanting to go on the wheel or eat or drink.  She was not acting herself.  Everyday they get free play they get to get out of their cage and roam the area freely and they both love this and Anime showed no interest.  I know something is not right with her.  Anime has no discharge in eyes or nose. I found an exotic veterinarian (1hour away) that was able to see Anime on 12/27/22.  I explained that i had (2) degus they are sisters and wanted to have them both have a physical exam.  Anime & Pia (pronounced Pea-ah).  Our degus run on the small side less then 200g.  

On our visit on 12/27 they gave the girls full physicals and Pia had a clean bill of health-teeth looked great weighs 198g.   Anime they noticed that she was forcing herself to breath and her teeth were still ok not touching the walls of her mouth (yet) but to offer her more chew toys. She weighs 164g.  The vet said that without a CT Scan ($1,400) there is really no way to see what it is that she has.  And sent us home with Azithromycin (0.06ml by mouth once daily) for 10 days.  My son and I have been successful in getting her to take this each day. We stopped sand baths as per VET they should be dust baths 2x's a week (anime has not had a dust bath to date).  We changed their bedding from OXBOW Pure Comfort which says its 99.9% dust free to now using micro fiber fleece material strips (homemade).  We removed anything that would irritate her nose. I keep a very tidy home so we have no dust (being our human child also has dust allergies).  

Side note: Their cage was/is being cleaned one a week.  They get fresh food every morning and night.  Their water is from those glass water dispensers that hold off the cage. Their home has to tidy being it would also effect my son. 

On day 8 now yesterday 1/3/23 i just don't see Anime improving.  She tries to grab food but keeps nibbling it but then has to put it down.  So i rush her to the vet.  The vet thinks it's because she is picking between eating or breathing.  Anime is now weighing in at 135g.  She makes sneezing noises like she is trying to clear her nose.  But nothing really comes out of it.  It feels slightly wet when she does it, if that makes any sense but nothing is coming out of it.  I noticed that she is looking round but it cant be from food because she is losing weight.  Looks like she is swollen with air.  I mentioned this to the vet and they both really didn't show concern on that.  They offered me to have her stay for 3 nights, they would leave her on oxygen for ($1,200) and unfortunately i can't spend that kind of money.  I sat there crying with the vet asking him if there were other places i can go to help Anime at a more affordable price and while there i did call another exotic animal vet and they were the same price.  this one was another 30 min drive more so instead of 1hr it would be 1.5hrs it's in NYC.  I even discussed getting Nationwide Exotic Animal Medical Insurance and the vet said being its a pre-existing condition the insurance would not cover the cost of the 3 night hospital stay or CT.  I decided to take Anime home and they provided me now with ORAPAC (Orbax) give .6ml by month once daily for 14 days along with another 10 days of Azithromycin.  I have to finish out the Azithromycin which i have another 2 days and they sent me with another bottle to shake and activate for another 10 days. 

I have moved the Degus to our master bathroom since we have heated floors in there and the temperature is so much warmer in there.  Plus when we shower it will help her maybe (got that idea from you all on here).  I will being doing a steam bath with Anime today since i have a walk in shower with seating I will sit in there with her for 5 minutes. I asked the vet if it was ok to give her a nebulizer one vet kind of wanted to but the other basically said no.  Being i dont have the saline i am not going down that rout (yet).  

My biggest concern at this time is that Anime "can't" eat but wants to.  She is on a Degu Complete Food which does have oats in them and dried peas.  She tried to eat a dehydrated banana (her favorite) but it was to hard for her and she really tried to nibble at it.  Poor thing.  I think i might try to syringe method of giving her water because i have yet to see her drink.  i am at lost of how to feed her.  I tried wetting her food with water to make it soft but i dont see her go to it.  

I have read on here at OVOL drops help with bloating (?) I live in the USA just we don't carry that here what we do carry is Little Remedies-Infants Gas Relief -Simethicone or Infants Mylicon-Simethicone.  Which appear to be the same just brand names are different.  If i can get her bloating down do you think it will help her breath?  

Anime all she wants to do is stay in her little warm pea house and sleep.   



Here is the weight of my Degus
Anime
09/27/2022 185g
12/27/2022 164g
01/03/2023 135g


Pia 
11/23/2022 191g
12/27/2022 198g


I cry every night thinking this will be the last night with our little girl Anime.  Pia is her active self on the wheel, eating, drinking and playing around and poor little Anime is just laying in her little warm pea house opening her little eyes every time we go to check on her.  My heart can't take this.  She needs to eat and breath normally. 

I came across this page and i am scared of what the end result is for our little girl.   

[moletteuk]

I'm sorry you are in such a difficult situation.

She is getting bloated as a side effect of breathing through the mouth, so I would think her nasal passages have become more blocked. Any of the simethicone products are fine.

Can you get Oxbow Critical Care emergency food? You can mix this into a paste and syringe feed it. You would need to be very careful that she doesn't inhale this, it might not even really be possible. Try to aim the food sideways into her mouth. You could try vegetable baby food. You could crush up pellets or any other favourite foods like nuts and seeds.

A warm steamy atmosphere may help her breathing a little. I've used saline in a nebuliser before - I used eye rinse saline from a DIY store, I don't see a problem trying it.

I think I would try a steamy atmosphere or the nebuliser and see if you can clear her nose enough that you could syringe feed her more safely.

She is on two different antibiotics now, I think that is all you can do. If it seems obvious she has an upper respiratory infection, I'm not sure the CT scan would be all that helpful. The other option is that she has a dental issue with upper root overgrowth affecting her nasal passages, but you would normally see problems in the mouth too and she is young for a severe root issue, it would only be treatable with antibiotics and pain relief anyway.

[animeandpia]

Thank you so much for reaching out. I will look into the Oxbow Critical emergency Food now. With the vegetable baby food what flavors should i go with? Peas and carrots?

I gave her a 5 minute steam in the shower and she kept sneezing and rubbing her nose.

I will definitely get the simethicone products today. Fingers crossed it makes her comfortable. I will keep you updated. thank you so much! xo

[winic1]

For baby food--peas, greenbeans would be best. Carrots have lots of sugar. Some pet stores will carry the Critical Care, you could call around to see if you can find one that does, otherwise you can get it on Amazon.com. Go for one with the least-sugary content if you can, but most important is get an HERBIVORE type, not the Carnivore type.
You could try soaking your current pellets to mush, or grind them then add water to make mush. Make some plain oatmeal (no sugar or salt) and make that really soft and liquid, and smooth. If you syringe feed, slip the syringe in the side of her mouth, alongside her cheek and add a drop or two at a time, or put a drop or two on her tongue, never force food or liquid directly down her throat or she could breathe it into her lungs, which would be really bad. Some degus will fight the syringe but will readily lap up liquid food from a spoon tip, find the smallest spoon you can and just hold it right under her face.

If you have seeds or nuts she likes, and can grind them up then make a liquid-y paste from them, that's good nutrition to try to get into her also.

[deguconvert]

I am going to suggest that you go ahead and get some carrot baby food (no added salt or sugar) because with her weight so low, her need for calories is crucial, and the natural sugar in the pureed carrots may be very helpful if she is able to eat it. At this point, it is simply important to get some calories in her body.

I am so sorry for this truly scary struggle!! I hope she begins to significantly improve!