degu ate gum

[aandg]

Hello, I am new into the website and I am freaking out.
Today my degu, Goblin, ate an important portion of brooklyn gum, I kept him moving all day and fed him fiber rich foods, now because I want to control how he does I'm letting him roam in the middle of the night and I noticed aluminium in one of his poops, I was relieved at first, then I noticed some pee he made was brown, he ate the gum today at around 5-6 pm and now here it's 2 am, any advice?
(I don't know if I posted on the right thread)

[teemu]

I advise taking him to a vet as soon as possible. While he may be able to pass it all through, and while the brown urine may only be from coloring in the gum or something (what color was the gum?), this is potentially a very dangerous situation, and the brown urine especially can potentially mean that his body is suffering severe damage (kidney damage, specifically). Though, if the situation has changed by the time you read this, and his urine seems normal again, it likely was only coloring or something like that.

How much of it did he eat? It sounds that at least something has gotten through, so his intestine is not blocked, or at least was not blocked when he passed the poops. If at any point it looks like he no longer poops, and starts to exhibit any signs of discomfort, you will need to immediately take him to a vet. If his intestine gets blocked, he will die within a couple of days, and the situation will quickly be at a point where it's impossible to do anything. I don't want to scare you, but you need to be aware of the danger and how quickly you need to act.

Did the gum have xylitol (was it sugar-free, or does it list xylitol in the ingredients)? I am unsure about degus, but xylitol is severely poisonous to dogs. In dogs, the effects can be seen in only couple of hours, but even if he hasn't shown symptoms yet, it may be that it is still dangerous.

Keep up a steady pace of food in any case. It doesn't even need to necessarily be fiber rich, the important thing is that there his gut keeps working and passing stuff through. If he does not poop any more, his urine continues being brown, or he shows signs of being ill, immediately take him to a vet (and if you can, seriously consider taking him in any case). While it is possible that gum might pass through him without notable issue, this is potentially a very dangerous situation, so you will need to assess and take action quickly.

[aandg]

so tonight I waited to see if he would poop and he did, after I went to sleep at 8 am I let him out and he was running and rolling, he was active. the pee turned back to normal colour but I didn't see him poop until now. He ate hay and now is free in my room, taking him to a vet was my first option but my parents are so dumb that they said he'll be alright. I am keeping an eye on him and plan to take him if he doesn't poop but I don't really know what else can I do if my parents don't let me

[aandg]

the gum he ate was a brooklyn, brown type. I searched for it and I don't think it contains xylitol. He ate the aluminium foil too, in the night I saw he had the pieces in the poop so I tought it was getting out but I'm not sure about the gum

[teemu]

Okay, if the gum is brown, it's possible that the brown urine is caused by coloring. Has he left more brown peestains anywhere? You'd likely notice them in his cage, since degus tend to urinate in different spots often.

The foil itself is worrying, of course, but if he has already passed some through, it did not block his intestine immediately, at least. It's very up in the air what will happen, since degus tend to chew things quite small but what he has eaten is indigestible. So there is less risk of large pieces blocking it, but the material may still cause a blockage due to lumping up. Making sure he gets a lot of food will somewhat lessen the danger here.

Has he kept pooping? If possible, clean his cage and keep the cage floor clear for now so you can monitor whether new feces appear.

You may, if he allows, carefully feel along his belly. If you feel lumps or abnormal bulging, this is a very alarming sign.

[aandg]

he didn't poop until now I tried calling a vet here but doesn't do exotic animals, I tried convincing dad about taking him to someone but he just gave him some hard bread and banana, he said if he eats he's alright but I think he worsened the situation
he is still active, the pee is normal looking and yea I cleaned the cage so now I see if he poops
from what I could touch his belly doesn't present lumps

[teemu]

Degus should not, as a rule, get high-carb foods like bread, or sugary things like banana (aside from the diabetes, it can upset their stomach), so try to stick to giving him more standard degu feed.

It sounds like he is eating well for now, and the normalized pee sounds like there is no kidney damage. However, intestinal blockages may take some time to become apparent, so it is too soon to make judgements about his condition. Basically as long as it takes for the degu starts feeling discomfort from accumulating food.

If a vet is not available, for now you can only keep up regular feeding and monitoring. You may, if he is not very interested in other things, feed him some plain oatmeal or emergency products like Critical Care (if you have it).

If you tell us your general location (country and state etc), we may be able to help you see if there is a vet with exotics experience that could be reached.

[aandg]

thank you for your help, I am from Italy in a small city in Lombardia, I already checked for exotic vets and there is none but I will eventually call everyone for advice and to ask if they can help him if the situation doesn't get better.
I am noticing him trying to poop, looking at his parts and then chewing, but I see no poop. He is again very active and became vocal when my bunny entered the room, I think you are right to say it's soon to speak.

[moletteuk]

I would go ahead and ring round the vets.
It sounds like Goblin is already in distress.
Do you know how much gum he ate?

[aandg]

yea he ate a big portion... I don't really know what to do other than making him run and eat

[aandg]

this night when I found the poop with aluminium in it I sniffed it, it smelled like the mint of the gum and there were white pieces in it, I broke it down and it was hard
I think he expelled a bit of it, now I'm hoping he lets out more

[aandg]

alright as I was writing he pooped, a tiny skinny turd but still a turd, consistence is softer than normal
I found another in the cage, again soft but still compact and this one was bigger!!!

[teemu]

Okay, the fact that he is passing feces is a very positive sign. It is still entirely possible that he will experience a complication, but as long as he is passing feces, he is managing. The consistency and size abnormalities may come down to simply the fact that he has eaten something really inappropriate and may be suffering from some general stomach distress.

I would estimate that if he stays normal until tomorrow, it is unlikely that he will suffer a complication any more. There is no data available for degus specifically, but for most small animals of this type, it takes about 20-24 hours, normally, for food to pass through the digestive system. It might take longer when it's an abnormal situation like this, but if some of it has already come through, either the rest is also coming or it gets stuck.

(Though you will want to monitor him carefully for some time afterwards even then, in case something in the gum results in a poisoning, for example.)

If he lets you, you may try to rub his belly really gently. Do not press down hard, simply do stroking motions with a finger. In humans, a circular massaging motion can activate bowel movements. Do not press hard, because his intestines are already potentially in an abnormal state and any force could cause serious damage. It's entirely possible that he won't want you to do this, in which case do not force the issue at all.

Also, while it's good to make sure that he stays active and is not lapsing into an emergency, do not force him to stay moving if he is clearly tired and wants to rest. Running does not actually make digestion work faster or better, and it may be an issue if he gets exhausted in a situation like this.

Assess him very carefully and keep vets on hand. You may also be able to call a vet simply to ask for input on the situation. The digestive system of a degu is not wildly different from a rabbit or a guinea pig in basic functionality, and they will likely have a better idea about what can be done to mitigate the situation in any case.

[aandg]

yea I'll let him rest now because he was out all morning, I'll leave him alone and check if he poops again, see how he moves, I'll keep you updated

[teemu]

Leave some type of food he likes in the cage with him, like seeds or nut or similar. That will ensure that he'll keep eating in a situation in which constant digestive movement is very important.

[bouncy]

I'm glad he's doing well at the moment!

Let's not forget what we were told about gum as children. There is no way he'll be able to digest it. It'll either pass through him, or it'll get stuck. Unfortunately, because degus eat their poops, it's a potentially eternal problem. Even if you can't get an appointment, it's worth getting some telephone advice, even if it's for something like a chinchilla or guinea pig.

[aandg]

at the moment I'm monitoring and taking out every poop he manages to do, examining it and throwing it away to prevent he eats it again, food in his little container is various in types of aliments and full, hay is present, water is present, also I'm giving him treats when he poops so he does it again
I see he's already full of energy after a moment of chilling, I am so relieved!!! Guard is not down yet but I wanted to thank everyone who replied to me, thanks for the advice guys

[teemu]

That is a very good point, Bouncy. For that reason as well, keeping the cage bottom clean and taking out all the poops you see for some period of time would be a good idea. Coprophagy is normal and essential for them and all, but I'd wager that missing out on some poop eating is much less of an issue than re-ingesting bubblegum (and the wrapper) multiple times...

Since he'll eat some when you aren't looking, you should probably monitor his poops for some time after the situation is over and clean out whatever you see and give them a cursory assessment. Until it's certain that there are no observable amounts of gum material left, basically.

I guess a small blessing might be that a degu is unlikely to actually chew bubblegum in a way that turns it into a gummy mass, like people do. Most likely they'll gnaw very small bits out of it and swallow them (as rodents do), and that at least means that the material won't turn into a totally intestine-blocking soft mass. It's entirely possible that just the ground up bits might cause a blockage, but even so.

One thing that a vet will be able to help with will be a medicine of some sort that boosts gut function and makes the intestine push food through more vigorously. This is used in some cases where a pet is suffering from constipation-like symptoms. Something like that would certainly up his chances of pulling through without complication.

[teemu]

How are things today? Did everything go well?

[aandg]

hello teemu, everything seems good, I am still checking the poops but they seem normal I think he is fine