Sneezing Degu :C what do?

[doosya]

Hey guys,

My degu got sick and is sneezy with a watery nose (I guess it's watery, never looked in at the nostrils before). Basically sneezes very very often and sometimes i can hear/feel her vibrating breathing heavily - sounds like mucous in the trachea...

I'm gonna phone all vets nearby tomorrow in hopes of finding one that's more or less experienced with small animals like that...

I'm worried as hell. But I know I can't do anything much other than the vapour treatments (sieve in pot with hot water and towel overtop). I dont know about medicinal oils so it's just water I put in.

If anybody has any suggestions or help I would really appreciate it.





PS still running, still seemingly eating (her treats for sure). Hope she can at least feel better before I actually find a vet...

[smux]

Give vapour treatments if you hate your degu...degus hate water and they hate heat, you would be forcing both upon yours.

Firstly ensure the cage is free from draughts and the room they are in is at a high enough temperature, the warmer the better while they have a cold although if it's too warm for a human it's too warm for a degu. Pack her house around the edges with toilet tissue (or at least put some in) to keep it insulated and warm. Consider feeding her more fatty treats than you usually do, but only while she is unwell...fat keeps the body warm (ignore this if you would say she's above the average weight of a degu). some people buy vitamin C tablets to add to a degu's water supply, and if you can find tablets that are 100% sugar free it would be a good idea to do so...vitamin C is a defence against illnesses like this.

If you have a Pets @ Home nearby, check online to see if they have a "snugglesafe" for sale, it's a microwaveable heat pad that you can put in her cage to keep her warm and she'll love you for it now and after she gets over her illness...they're about £20 and people have nothing but good things to say about them. All 5 of my cages would have had a snugglesafe in had the local store got them in stock, but the nearest store to me was an hour away by train (and no direct train so bus would probably have been my method)...then the snows hit hard and I couldn't get there.