Diabetic Degu

[coolkitten3003]

Hiya,
I'm new here

I have 2 degus called Gooey & Chewy both male. But i have decided to adopt 2 more boys. They are both from a rescue and homecheck etc has all been done and approved. Over a course of months i intend to introduce the degus to each other however if it doesnt work out i am able to keep 2 groups seperately in a large cage

The two new degus are called Lenny and Leo. Both from an uneducated home, where Leo chewed his own foot to entertain him and had to have it amputated so now has 3 legs. And Lenny who is diabetic from the wrong diet.

I was wondering if their is any information on keeping a diabetic degu. I know he needs regular check ups and the proper diet. I have spoken to the rescue and they have said the diet i feed my original 2 degus is correct and will be fine for the newbies.

Is their a brilliant degu vet in/around west yorkshire, uk?
Is their anything i can do to help the diabetic degu apart from diet?
Is their any information i can read etc to educate myself more?

Any help is much appreciated Thank you xx

[Kins]

I remember these 2 goos. Well done you for adopting them! I'm glad they will be in their new forever home soon!

With regards to keeping diabetic degus I'm afraid I can't be of much help. I'm sure plenty of people on here will be able to give you some great advice though! The only thing I do know is to avoid sugar totally...

[coolkitten3003]

Hi Kins
Yes ive just had a look and they were advertised on here!
deguworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=market&thread=6615&page=1

I fell in love with their photo and luckly transport and homecheck was all arranged and they arrive on monday!

My degus are fed on pets@home degu pellets, hay (farm fresh locally) and straw (farm fresh locally)... I was just wondering if there was anything else i could do? Obviously exercise is important so a john hopewell wheel is on its way when he makes more Am i doing everything okay? xx

[Kins]

So cute! I remember them well, poor Leo with his poorly foot and then having to have it amputated. I bet it won't stop him being a crazy little gooey once he's settled in though! They are tough little devils, hehe!

Yup, sounds good so far. Spoilt already by the sounds of things with a fab John Hopewell wheel.

Nuggets and hay are the most important thing. I'm not sure what the deal is with regards to diabetic goos and nuts/flowers/veg etc. Might have to wait for someone elses input there...

Oh and welcome to the forum, there are some gems of people on here! You are in good company!

[coolkitten3003]

Thank you Kins!
Ill check back later to see if there are more posts I have alot to do before their arrival and im on the hunt for the perfect degu vet near me lol x

[malteser60]

Hi coolkitten3003

I have a diabetic degu. I adopted her (plus her sister) from P@H, they were brought in to the pet shop by somebody saying they couldn't look after them as Nutmeg was blind. They were also very young so the person before couldn't have had them for a long time. The shops vet told the shop that it was congenital cataracts, however since then I believe she is diabetic. Mainly as since I've had Nutmeg, her cataracts have virtually disappeared (which won't happen with congenital cataracts). The difference it has made to Nutmeg's life is unbelievable. Mind you when she was blind she still was a brave, fiesty little thing. But at least now she's stopped running into things, mis-judging her jumps (even though it's very funny to watch) and falling off shelves.

I also had a good chat with Chloe over at degutopia who also said it looks like it's diabetes.

Unfortunately there's not much you can do apart from regulating their diet. That will make a big improvement. I feed mine P@H nuggets and lots of hay. I also give them lots of low sugar treats - so flowers, grass, oats, puffed rice, blackberry leaves, dried broccoli, rolled peas, dandelion roots, P&H herbal delight, etc. I don't give them any other 'occasional' treats', so no sunflower seeds, nuts, raisins, etc. It also helps that I feed them the P@H nuggets which, whilst they are nutritionally good, they can be very sameish and bland diet for the goos, so their 'treats' really are regarded as such (what i give them is more of a diet enrichment rather than treats).

I keep this diet to both of the girls as Cinnamon may be more genetically geared towards diabetes as she is Nutmeg's sister.

I have bought urine dip sticks to test their sugar levels each month. Best way to do this is to pop one of them into their carry case (after being wiped clean), and the first thing they normally do is pee in it (seeing as they have to mark everything). That way I can regulate their diet if I see that their sugar levels are not normal.

Other than that the only other thing you can do is if one of them starts going blind, minimise moving objects around the cage just to make her life easier.

Let me know how it goes and feel free to ask away any questions :-)

[coolkitten3003]

Thank you Malteser, your post was helpful and encouraging

I think i am doing everything okay with my two at the moment so i will do the same with my newbies.

Ive been on the phone to local vets this afternoon and asked politely..

Me - "Hello, have you any experience with treating or working with a diabetic degu?"
Vet nurse - "...whats a degu?"



Luckly i found an exotic animal vets but the small animal exotic wasnt in today however i am going to phone her tomorrow when she is in. If she can't help then i will be phoning the vets in leeds and taking him there (30 miles from me) each time he needs it x

[malteser60]

Hehe, that happened to me too when I was looking for vets. I've found a vet in Solihull that does degu's but I haven't taken them there as yet. Mostly because they both seem to be doing fine, and there is nothing that concerns me. Also as Nutmeg's diabetes seems to be well under control so there's not much the vet can do.

But it sounds like you could take you goo to the vet if the poor thing was that badly mistreated (diet-wise).

[coolkitten3003]

Well little Lenny has been very well looked after by the rescue centre and his diabetes seems under control at the moment (slight peak on his last check up) but im hoping for more info and a good vet that will help if something seems to be wrong etc x