Could my degu have an infection or a parasite?

[daria0909]

I have recently noticed that one of my degus, a female, has a white secretion around her genitals, has lost fur on her paws and the inside of her back legs, and her paws, tail and ears are kind of dry or the skin looks somewhat scale-ish.

I live in a country where the vets don’t know very much about degus and there aren’t many treatments available for them. I will be taking her to the vet tomorrow, however I have had experiences in the past where he didn’t really know how to treat my degus. Fortunately, it was a minor issue back then, however this seems pretty serious.

I try to make sure they have a balanced diet, as much as i can as there aren’t many degu foods available in pet shops around here and i can’t afford ordering online all the time.

Could anyone let me know if they have ever heard of anything like this or if there is anything i could do to help her? I want to make sure she gets all the help she needs as fast as possible.

Thank you very much! This is my first post and this website has been very helpful in the past!

[teemu]

Hello there, and welcome to the forums.

Could you tell us a bit more about their diet? It sounds like you have researched it a lot, so that's probably not the problem, but it's always good to have a clear picture of the situation. What's their normal feed like, and do they get forage, minerals and other such things?

The symptoms you are describing are definitely strange. Have you seen her, or others, grooming those areas that have lost fur aggressively? The most common reason for a degu to lose fur tends to be that they either groom or pull the fur. It's attributed to stress, but some degus seem to be very prone to it.

Are the white secretions dry and chalky? Or is it more viscous? Degus expel excess calcium with their urine, which can leave white, dry stains on surfaces. That's the first thing that comes to mind, but I don't think I have seen it clinging to their fur. Something is definitely going on with that. If you are able to test it, does the discharge have an abnormal smell, something different from how their urine tends to smell normally, or their usual natural smell? And how much of it is there when you see it?

Would it be possible for you to take a picture of the dry skin, to get a better idea of what exactly it looks like? If it seems like those areas are drying, you can try to gently apply olive oil to the skin (not a lot, it doesn't need to be dripping or anything) to see if it would provide her some acute relief.

Have you noticed changes in her behavior or wellbeing? Does she seem to be eating and drinking normally, has she lost weight, or is she acting differently from before? And how long has this been going on? If her overall condition seems to be getting worse, then that is definitely very alarming. But if it does not look like it is affecting her overall health, it is likely not a life-or-death emergency at this very moment. I'm not saying that it's not worrying or that you shouldn't try to sort it out, of course, but since these things can be very distressing and cause a lot of worry, these are the symptoms I would definitely be on the lookout for the most to determine if she is in an acute crisis. If it seems like her basic wellbeing is not compromised like this, it is much less likely that she is in acute peril at this very moment.

One thing that does come to mind is that she could have skin parasites. If you can, get a good light, and carefully inspect her fur closely with it. If you see small white or black dots, weird movement on the skin, clumps that are attached to the hairs, or other abnormalities like that, then she certainly has some sort of a parasite situation. However, I would not expect that to affect only one degu, so since it sounds like she has cagemates, it would definitely be weird.

How often do you clean their cage, especially the places in which they spend time? I know that sometimes with pet rats, a very dirty nest that has a lot of urine stains can cause skin irritation and somewhat similar issues, which might make sense since it's all on her belly. Though, this would probably require very dirty conditions, so if that is not an issue, then it also sounds very unlikely.

I'm sorry that I'm not able to give one simple answer right now. What you are describing definitely sounds strange. To me, it sounds like some sort of a skin issue, but there are many things that could cause those. Hopefully we (or the doctor) will be able to shed some light on the situation.

[moletteuk]

I'm concerned that the discharge from the genitals could be from a uterine infection, which would be a serious problem. See if you can get the vet to work out exactly where the discharge is coming from. The vaginal opening is between the cone and anus and is usually closed and difficult to see at all.

[bouncy]

I second Molette. Discharge is very unusual, and could be extremely serious!

As an afterthought, are you sure ALL your degus are definitely female?