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Post by moletteuk on Jan 30, 2023 18:47:34 GMT
Do you have an impression whether he has made steady improvement to the degree that the antibiotics seems likely to be doing something? Or did you get an improvement over the first 2 or 3 days and then a levelling off that might be more suggestive of the painkillers working?
It depends if you or the vet thinks it could be anything time sensitive, like a tumour, and if that might be removable or not. I don't think we have had any kind of mouth tumour on the forum before. We have had lots of mouth abscesses, but I would say they are usually caused be a dental issue, which is usually visible on examination or xray.
If time isn't too sensitive, then the logical thing to me would be to finish the antibiotics and see what happens, and/or cease the painkillers to see what happens.
Something that strikes me is that if they suspect the grey lump may be a tumour, then I'm not sure how a CT scan helps diagnose that? Maybe it would show how big it is, and so would indicate if it is removable or not.
I wonder if the specialist would be willing to just take a look at the lump and maybe biopsy it?
When do the antibiotics run out? And how long did they say to give the painkillers for?
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robin
Newborn Degu
Posts: 14
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Post by robin on Jan 30, 2023 21:37:01 GMT
Thank you so much for your advice everyone, it's so helpful I think to be sure if it's the painkillers or antibiotics helping I'd have to give it another day or two of watching. The antibiotics and painkillers prescription was for one week, which would be running out on Tuesday. But they've given me quite a lot extra and when I checked with the specialist today, she said to keep him on them until they run out while we see how he's doing. I think next time I speak to her I will ask about if she's willing to take a look herself and/or biopsy it. Both vets have not mentioned a tumour as an option (or anything else very time-sensitive), they don't want to give any guesses apart from maybe-abscess without a scan. I've seen the xrays myself and you can see something weird happening on the top molars, it's just not clear what it is due to the low quality. All we know is that it's tiny, grey, and hurts lol It's a very hard set of choices to make without all the information. Right now I am happy that he is relatively stable (and tentatively I would say he is still improving a little day by day), but obviously that can change quickly sometimes
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Post by savvy on Jan 30, 2023 21:46:14 GMT
I'm not sure if this is going to help or not. My degu Sphene was diagnosed with a lump in her mouth almost a year ago. The vet was unsure what it was (tumour/ulcer/anyones guess) and she was put on meloxidyl for life after an initial trial similar to what your vet has suggested (short course followed by a break to see what happens.) She was reluctant to perform surgery due to degus mouths being very hard to operate on etc.
I saw the photographs of it that the vet took when she was using the scope to look at her teeth and it looked a vicious red. The meloxidyl, also called metacam or loxicom, has helped.
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Post by bouncy on Feb 1, 2023 11:27:15 GMT
If it's an abscess, it *should* resolve itself with the antibiotics. It's worth another check after the antibiotics course has finished.
As the others have said, persist with the food. I have had (and currently do have) goos virtually living on cc. You can also try adding some ground almonds to the mix (I use 50:50), pure peanut or almond butter, or even veggie baby food! Although some veggies have a high sugar content, it okay for short term use because it's more important to get them eating.
Keep us posted!
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robin
Newborn Degu
Posts: 14
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Post by robin on Feb 1, 2023 12:18:49 GMT
Thank you, I've been trying to convince him by squishing up some of his fav foods but hasn't been going great. I'll definitely try the nuts in there, he did manage one on his own yesterday so I think that will work great. He got so excited for it I'm weighing him again today so hopefully that's doing alright still. He looks very grumpy in the mornings, brightens up whenever I try to feed him, then stretches out on the heat pad most of the day atm. He's been running on the wheel and playing around the last few days but honestly is a little clumsy footed. Better than before, though. I can't really tell if today is better, worse, or the same as Monday. If there is a change it's subtle. He still very much wants to eat crunchy things like nuggets, but to me it seems like he picks through everything, tries it, then looks for another piece that might hurt less. I have been trying him w the usual forage they get and he manages a little bit of flowers and seeds at a time now. No luck with the rest though. He will be very excited to eat something, seem to get sick of the taste very quickly, and then the smell of it seems to put him off for a while. If I offer him lots of small bites of different things he manages to eat a lot better right now. His favourite herbs are being eaten well, not sure if he can actually have too much though lol
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Post by moletteuk on Feb 2, 2023 15:34:49 GMT
Go ahead with his favourite herbs, on the assumption that this is going to be fairly short term.
If you have access where you live, you could try him with some fresh grass, or if you can see any dandelions, plantain or perhaps bittercress starting to show up, those are safe too.
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robin
Newborn Degu
Posts: 14
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Post by robin on Mar 5, 2023 8:57:54 GMT
Hi again everyone. I am sorry, totally forgot to update you all on how Pluto has been doing recently. Since my last post he improved massively and has had a few weeks of being back to his normal self Unfortunately late this week he took a sudden turn again, but this time he is presenting with sneezing and poor appetite. His eating is not obviously painful as before, it just seems like he doesn't feel like it unless it's a favourite snack. There's no pawing at his mouth or anything like that. He went to the vet again, and the specialist says there's no way to know if this is a new infection or dental issues without a CT (which is a whole day thing and needs to be booked). Basically, the xrays they've taken don't show enough detail for her to tell what's going on with the lump. For now we decided to try him with a nebuliser to see if that makes him more comfortable. It's been a couple of days and I do think he is sneezing a little bit less so far. I haven't decided yet if I can go through with the CT or should just make him as comfortable as possible, that is a lot of money for me right now bc of a change of circumstances. It would really help to know if you have any further advice
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Post by deguconvert on Mar 7, 2023 1:50:23 GMT
CT scans are terribly expensive, and if I were you . . . I'd be leaning toward making him as comfortable as possible, and still able to enjoy life, which I think he still does.
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robin
Newborn Degu
Posts: 14
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Post by robin on Mar 7, 2023 10:17:27 GMT
Thank you In the last few days he has been getting along with the nebuliser, climbs in very happily lol. while he's in there the sneezing nearly stops but as soon as he's out it starts up again just the same He's still eating, but only if it's really high value and has started losing some weight now. I got a look at his mouth yesterday while he was in the nebuliser, and on his bottom incisors the white side is longer than the orange. I guess that is because he has not been able to chew as much the last month or so that he's been unwell? The vet isn't sure why the last weeks have been much better. Maybe he was hiding his pain very well (wish they could just tell us). He's been eating, playing, and up to his usual antics with no painkillers up until he started sneezing. Realistically I think all that can be done now is keeping him on the meds and spoiling him with lots of treats and cuddles while he can still enjoy them. I feel if it was just an infection there'd be more changes after 5 days of treatment. I feel so bad for him but I know I'm doing everything I can for the little guy
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 7, 2023 10:33:08 GMT
Is he still on pain meds?
I would also consider trying him back on an antibiotic, maybe the antibiotic helped but didn't totally clear an infection?
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robin
Newborn Degu
Posts: 14
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Post by robin on Mar 7, 2023 11:18:56 GMT
Yeah he is on pain meds once a day again now. I did ask the exotic specialist if I should try the antibiotics again, but she said not to because the nebuliser solution would do the same job.
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Post by moletteuk on Mar 7, 2023 17:22:12 GMT
OK, that makes sense.
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