Natural foods to support very sick Degu

[luna1]

Hi Everyone,

I wasn't sure where to post this as I have questions about supporting a Degu's immune system, especially when it has been compromised and general nutritional support for all Degu's.

Firstly, I currently have a 3 yr old very precious boy who has recently undergone a major surgical procedure. He had his ear ripped during one of his and his Brothers many fights a couple of yrs ago. As a consequence of these dominance fights, I took the decision to get him neutered as he was the slightly servile one. This worked and we have had a much calmer life. Regarding neutering I have read that it can make the immune system stronger and that they also have a stronger sense of smell.

6 weeks ago he started scratching at his ear and looking uncomfortable so I took him to our Vet. Our Vet is fantastic and has many years of experience with Degu's and other exotics and he also has a real interest in them. He went into the ear with endoscope and removed a plug of nastiness alongside an ear wax plug and he was duly put onto Baytril, the A/B of choice in broad spectrum infection. It was decide that this was infection due to a foreign body getting into his ripped ear. This didn't work so he was scoped again in his ear and my Vet actually called me into the operating room so that I could have a look at what was in there and he had the most enormous growth blocking the entrance into his ear drum, at the end of his ear canal. I could have cried.

We had a serious discussion and decided that this had to be removed as it was by this stage causing him pain and upset and his eating and general behaviour had gone down. We also had to face the reality of the growth being malignant so decided that we would also send it off for biopsy once as much of it could be removed as possible. I was warned that depending on how deep the growth went, his ear canal may have to be removed, leaving him deaf and with balance issues. I was also warned that if it was malignant, then obviously, there was no future. A future without my special boy is not conceivable and thankfully the biopsy came back as benign. You would have to meet him to see how wonderful he is. He sleeps on me every night and is the most gentle Degu I have ever had the pleasure of owning. He loves every Degu and I don't think he realised what species he is

He had the operation on the 1 Feb this year and came through a very invasive procedure, the ear canal had to be removed as there was no choice. He came home that night but had to be re-admitted the following day as he could not stand up.

After 5 nights at the Vet and having been put on Colvasone steroid injection to reduce the swelling in the inner ear, Marbocyl A/B for a fortnight and a drug called Stemitil to balance out his vertigo and help with nausea, he came home. I was still having to give him 4 injections a day for a week.

He is now down to the end of his A/Biotic and we are keeping him now on Metacam for the moment as he will need another procedure in his ear as he is still uncomfortable. He will be X-Rayed again and an endoscope put in his ear with pictures being taken to show us what may still be going on in his inner ear. He is bearing up, his balance is remarkably good but he still has a head tilt and does tend to circle several times a day when he gets excited. I am feeding him up with anything he will eat at the moment and his appetite is improving.

I give all of them this but him with extras like oats, sunflower seeds and homemade cookies that have good nutritional content. He currently weighs 221 grams - a drop from 265 as he is or was a large Degu. The following is what I feed in a typical week.

Woodlands clover and plantain leaves mixed in with organic, dust free hay
Woodlands herbal delight
Naturals herbal garden - people in the UK may have heard of these makes
Naturals coneflower as it supports immunity
Naturals natures salad
Dried vegetables a degu friendly variety of
fresh degu friendly veg once a week
millet occasionally
JR Farm degu snacks - herbs of the field
unmolassed beet pulp pellets once per week
marigold flowers/petals dried
chamomile flowers/petals dried
marshmallow leaf and root grapevine - sold from chins2shop as an immunity booster once a week
barley and plantain immune booster mix once a week
sunflower seeds daily for my little man, the others get them every so often
Quinoa
Buckwheat

And I have tried Chapel wood finest sparrow food after reading it has been successful on this site. Ingredients: black sunflower seeds, yellow millet, maize grits, red millet, red dari, naked oats, wheat and other small seeds.

They get fed twice a day with science selective degu food and sometimes P@H pellets just for a change. They have access to lots of dust free organic hay that I order by the bale load each month and I also add pro-biotic to their water.

I have several others that need regular Vet attention due to teeth problems and one of my girls has elondontoma disease, this was diagnosed after she had her ovaries removed because of them being cystic, so she, bless her, has really been through the wars. but we have so far, regarding the teeth, with the expertise of my wonderful Vet, managed to clip the roots through her jaw to cause a 'bonsai' effect so those roots no longer cause a problem. She is X-Rayed regularly so that we can keep a watch on the roots. But she has to has her Molars rasped around every 7/8 weeks which is not good.

Sorry this is such a long post but for those that have managed to keep with it ......most of mine are rescues and as you may imagine, I work just to keep my Degus LOL ...seriously I have 5 out of 11 that need regular treatment but they are happy and love their lives. I sadly lost 1 of my rescue boys last year but that is another long story, he was only 2 yrs old. Owning Degus has been something of a baptism of fire for me and I am probably more versed in unusual health problems than some but I can and never will stop learning.

Can anyone of you experienced people advise me on anything else that I should be giving my little man for his healing and immunity or advise on what I shouldn't be giving?

Thanks so much for reading,

Joanne

[deguconvert]

I can't think of anything off the top of my head. Something that could be done though is to look into foods that are known to help produce natual immunity in humans, and then check to see if it can be found in the volume of food lists that are on this same board.

I have VERY recently begun taking Chlorella tablets in the hope they will help with my own immune system. They are crushed Blue Algae, compressed into tablet form, and are very high in chlorophyl. I have NO idea if they would be OK for degus to eat . . . but it might be worth a try. I think to take one tablet and crush it up really fine, and then sprinkle it over some food set aside just for him, would be a good way to start, and only a tiny bit to begin with.

[jenowuk]

Sounds like you're giving them a good diet already. But if you're worried about short term weight gain, then this might help:-

www.chemistdirect.co.uk/supreme-recovery-rabbit-and-small-animal-herbal_1_21294.html

Our vets recommended this syringe based high fibre 'recovery' food, after surgery on our goo Bill, who wasn't eating during the recovery period at the vets. We never actually used it, as we realised once we got him home that he wasn't eating because the collar they put on him, stopped him getting his paws to his mouth and raising his food bowl allowed him to eat his normal food!

The only thing the vet said was that it should only be used short term (upto a week at a time), as it's not their normal food.

Good luck.

[luna1]

Thank you both for your suggestions, I am researching the products that you have mentioned and will update accordingly.

He has to go into the Vets again tomorrow because he hasn't eaten 'normal' food properly in nearly 6 weeks and as he is one of mine that needs their teeth rasping regularly, we have a suspicion that he is in pain with his teeth so this is also hindering his recovery. His appetite is definitely good and he gulps down his critical care from the spoon or syringe. He will also eat treat filled hay after he has had his pain relief meds.

Poor little man, yet another trip to the Vet. Anaesthetic will affect his balance again so we probably have another downturn coming

Thanks again

[jenowuk]

Speak to your vet - they should also stock critical care food for small animals. Again, it's only a short term fix as they tend to contain sugar, but it would keep his weight up until he feels like eating.

Good luck.

[luna1]

Hi,

I probably forgot to mention in my first post that he has been on critical care fine grind for 3 weeks. He either takes it off the spoon when he is feeling a little stronger or syringe when he is tired. I always keep a supply in because it's unfortunately not the first time I have needed to use it.

He has had his spurs rasped off today so I am hoping that this might inspire him to eat very soon, if not then I will know that it is his ear that is causing the off putting pain.

Thanks again

[moletteuk]

Poor lamb x
I really think you are doing a great job and are offering the best range of things to tempt him. I personally think you are offering a good choice of immune boosting herbs and I wouldn't go any further than this, if you start to feed medicinal typed herbs in larger quantities they can start to affect other things, so I say stick with what you are doing.
The only foods I can think of you haven't mentioned are wheatgerm and oatbran, you can get them possibly in the supermarket or holland & barratt (if UK). I've made biscuits out of these mixed with a little water and the tiniest drop of sunflower to help them hold together. If you look at the critical care packet there is quite a bit of wheatgerm in there anyway. Critical Care is great stuff.
I'd not seen the Supreme Science product that Jenowuk linked to before. The description sounds similar to Critical Care, it might be worth trying if you think he might like a change.

I really hope he perks up after his rasping today x