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Post by savvy on May 2, 2023 23:51:13 GMT
I can't remember who it was but their degu jumped and landed badly, breaking a front(?) leg.
I'm sure the bet did a little plaster cast and said it would be healed enough by the time they chewed through it.
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Post by hpdegus on May 3, 2023 0:22:55 GMT
Oh wow! I can't imagine putting a cast on a degu, I'm impressed that worked. The way these boys chew, it probably wouldn't last long haha.
I'll call the vet tomorrow, see if they have ideas.
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Post by savvy on May 3, 2023 1:04:05 GMT
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Post by hpdegus on May 6, 2023 0:26:13 GMT
I dont know what to do. Just picked up Mooney to give him his nightly dose of meds. His left foot is bloody, blood on the side of his face and left paw. He's torn out all the nails from his left hind foot.
I have no idea why? The right knee is the worse one, the one he's dragging. I'm looking through the cage to see if maybe he damaged a nail in the fall and was overzealous when removing it. I'm not seeing anything though.
Edit: looks like the nail on the outside most toe is torn off. The others look like they were most likely completely bitten down, not fully removed.
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Post by hpdegus on May 6, 2023 1:36:56 GMT
Ok, I've taken a moment to breathe, clean him up, and apply anti-bacterial cream.
I didn't see blood anywhere in the cage, so I'm not sure what happened. But based on the pinky toe nail being completely removed (+ a small amount of toe), I'm imagining that he got that toe caught on something. The toe nail then ripped off, he decided to clean up the job by biting the other nails to the nail bed. But there's no way to know for sure.
It hit me really hard that he needs at least one hind leg for a good quality of life. But he's moving around the cage levels ok, just keeping his weight off the tips of his toes. And I would think that if something was bothering him badly enough to start taking off toes, he would start with his bad/right leg. So we'll see, hopefully he heals well.
I'll call the vet tomorrow morning though I don't think there's much they can recommend.
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Post by moletteuk on May 7, 2023 9:16:54 GMT
I'm sorry I didn't see this till now, it must have been so distressing to see blood all over his face and foot. I hope it was just a freak accident, your theory does sound plausible.
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Post by hpdegus on May 7, 2023 21:02:08 GMT
Thanks, Molette. I'm hoping so, too!
His toes look like they're healing ok. He's still keeping pressure off them and is perhaps not quite as active at the moment. But that could also be the weather--it's much much warmer than normal.
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Post by hpdegus on May 8, 2023 14:29:19 GMT
Just heard back from the vet. She mentioned possibly adding tramadol to Mooney's medicine list. I didn't realize it's an opioid when the vet tech called so I didn't ask too many questions. I'm a little concerned about the fact opioids can be so addictive and have other side effects. Once they send the script I'll call them again.
Thoughts? Anyone ever given tramadol to their goo?
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Post by moletteuk on May 8, 2023 18:38:22 GMT
It's a serious drug, the humans I know who have tried it didn't like what it does mentally, I think it clouds your thinking. I would probably try to keep it for last resort, or short term.
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Post by hpdegus on May 8, 2023 23:04:58 GMT
Thanks for your response, Molette! I'm going to need to ask more questions I think. I'd like to know if I can use it short term, like you recommended. See if it helps after a few days, then stop if not. I just dont know enough to weigh the pros and cons properly. If it helps him use his right leg again, that would be huge. But I don't want risk starting him on an opioid if I wouldn't be able to stop (if he had side effects, worsening quality of life, no change, etc).
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Post by hpdegus on May 9, 2023 14:11:09 GMT
Now it looks like his toe is infected. It's pretty swollen and red
(https://photos.app.goo.gl/8kQnHBdeHu58rzN97)
I sent pictures to my vet and they've said to get him seen today. Since they don't have any appts available, I'll be taking him to an emergency vet in ~5 hours.
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Post by moletteuk on May 9, 2023 15:17:41 GMT
Oh no, good luck!
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Post by hpdegus on May 9, 2023 21:11:32 GMT
So he cleaned up the wound a lot before I even got him to the emergency vet. I did end up going (still there actually).
Vet didn't see signs of infection in the toe, which is good. They are going to give some subcu fluids since he looks a bit dehydrated. They are going to give me antibiotics (TMS?) just in case though.
They did offer for me to come in tomorrow to see their exotics vet to do workup on his right leg, since he's very much dragging it. ER vet asked me multiple times if my vet did an x-ray, if this was just a fracture, or if spinal involvement was causing pain. I told her that the spurs were clearly visible on the x-ray and that he does have spondylosis.
I appreciate the offer for a second opinion, but I kind of didn't appreciate that they kept probing and questioning my vets diagnosis? Which probably isn't how I should feel. If they had any ideas about how to help him use his right leg again, that would be great! But I'm working with my own vet (need to reach out to them again) and I kinda felt judged that I wasn't doing enough? So I don't feel great at the moment.
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Post by savvy on May 9, 2023 21:17:16 GMT
You're doing all you can, don't beat yourself up.
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Post by hpdegus on May 9, 2023 23:24:24 GMT
Thanks Savvy. I just keep second-guessing myself since I'm not seeing an improvement.
But it is good that she asked a bunch of questions, I'm sure she sees awful things and poor care since she's an emergency vet. I was probably a bit sensitive due to stress. And it was way less expensive than I thought it would be, which is always a bonus!
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Post by hpdegus on May 10, 2023 11:02:03 GMT
And now he's (or his brothers) gone and chewed off the nails on his right hind foot.
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Post by moletteuk on May 10, 2023 16:31:03 GMT
I think you were quite understandably feeling a bit sensitive about the vet's comments, but I think really it's a positive thing that you have found a good emergency vet - they normally just want you out the door.
I think we should take the toe chewing quite seriously now it has occurred on both feet. Obviously you need to discuss it with your vet, because this isn't a regular problem and I don't think we have come across it before, but the two theories that jump to my mind are either that it is severe pain, maybe like sciatica (my dad had this it shoots right down the leg and can do weird things in the feet, but usually only one leg/foot), or perhaps both feet are fairly numb and making him think they are just a hindrance to him and should be removed.
Could you test for numbness somehow, maybe a light jab with a fairly blunt sharp thing? Other option is to go ahead with the tramadol and see what happens. Or both.
Would it be useful to get a surveillance camera on them? They are fairly cheap and easy to set up, but reviewing the footage could be very time consuming.
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Post by hpdegus on May 10, 2023 17:16:17 GMT
For sure, I'm glad that she cared!
Absolutely, I was concerned when it was just the one foot. But now the second set of nails makes it more serious. I'm going to keep a close eye to see if he takes more than just the nails. I'm hoping he sticks to just nails, but I'm pretty worried.
Those theories make sense to me. I did talk with the vet tech (who then discussed with the vet) about my concerns on pain/numbness. He has definitely lost at least some sensation in his right foot. The vet did test that when he was in last. Not sure about the left foot.
The vet wants to try tramadol to see if that helps with the pain/tingling that the metacam and gabapentin aren't touching. She did say it would be fine to stop abruptly, which is a pro. I was able to order that with 1-2 business day shipping, hopefully it will arrive before the weekend.
I've thought about a camera. I'm a bit worried that I would be obsessive. I need to think some more, see if it's something that would be beneficial or not. I would think the area in the cage he'd be in during nail trimming would not be very visible by camera.
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Post by hpdegus on May 11, 2023 23:05:28 GMT
No change from yesterday morning, which is good. Hopefully the tramadol will arrive tomorrow evening at the latest.
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Post by hpdegus on May 13, 2023 21:36:18 GMT
Still no change from Wednesday morning. Unfortunately filling the tramadol script is taking longer than expected. Now hoping to get it sometime early next week. I could try upping the gabapentin to three times a day, but every 8 hours is rough.
I do wonder if they (or I) could apply some sort of split to encourage him to keep his right leg up?
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