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Post by saddlers on Jul 10, 2014 12:51:29 GMT
Has anyone come across a degu with a runny nose, our little one had what we thought was drool, so she was booked in for dental work which has been done and some spurs were removed. There were no signs of the teeth pushing through into the eyes/nasal cavity. She does seem to be eating better, but has wet patches on her cheeks that look to be coming from nasal discharge. It is not present every day so I am thinking of some sort of allergy/hayfever, but wondered if anyone had heard of anything similar.
Her chest was also clear when they undertook the dental work.
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Post by yasmin on Jul 10, 2014 19:31:54 GMT
The allergy/hay fever theory makes sense. (Did she have the wet patches on her cheeks before the dental work? Asking because the dental work itself might have caused some irritation.)
Don't have experience with wetness not caused by dental issues but one of my degus probably does suffer from allergies. I brought her in because she was sneezing and one of her eyes would often be partially closed. Thought it was teeth but the vet checked and her teeth, including molars, were perfect. He also listened to her chest, and it was clear, and she seemed perfectly healthy in every other way so the only conclusion he could make then was that she was having some sort of allergic reaction. Haven't found out what it is caused by. Her eye continues to have issues on and off, and she wipes her nose now and then, but she continues to be her crazy manic self.
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Post by saddlers on Jul 11, 2014 13:06:29 GMT
Thanks for that, yesterday we decided to clean her bed out, one of her cage mates is obsessed with shredding bedding and it was quite dusty. We replaced the bedding and she does seem a lot better today, looks like we will have to very regular bedding changes.....Elliott is not going to be happy!!
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Post by anita on Jul 13, 2014 6:27:11 GMT
I have a lot of human hay fever sufferers buying marshmallow leaf from me the moment as it helps with irritated mucus linings I will pop some in the post to you it might be worth a go my boys love it so at least it will be a treat if nothing else.
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Post by saddlers on Jul 14, 2014 15:24:13 GMT
That's very kind of you, thankyou, let me know the postage costs etc.
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Post by anita on Jul 14, 2014 15:45:21 GMT
No worries posted it this morning let me know how she gets on with it.
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Post by saddlers on Jul 17, 2014 16:03:16 GMT
Received the parcel thanks, I will let you know how she goes, if you wont accept any money for it name a charity and I will make a contribution
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Post by anita on Jul 17, 2014 19:26:50 GMT
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Post by animalmadchloe on Jul 18, 2014 18:45:21 GMT
Anita do you still have any apple wood ?
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Post by saddlers on Jul 19, 2014 9:19:22 GMT
Wouldn't you just believe it out of our 9 degus, 5 were happy enough eating the marshmallow leaf, Nutmeg is not one of them, she just turned her nose up and walked away
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Post by anita on Jul 21, 2014 6:10:01 GMT
Wouldn't you just believe it out of our 9 degus, 5 were happy enough eating the marshmallow leaf, Nutmeg is not one of them, she just turned her nose up and walked away little so and so this needs some thought!
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Post by anita on Jul 21, 2014 6:11:55 GMT
Anita do you still have any apple wood ? I do sweetie I will be at the farm next weekend and can cut you some then.
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Post by animalmadchloe on Jul 21, 2014 18:19:41 GMT
Thank you that would be great !!
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Post by saddlers on Oct 22, 2014 18:19:38 GMT
Update on Nutmeg, she had her dentistry checked and spurs removed in July, but has never really been right. Last week her one eye started to close up and was fully closed up by the time we got a vets appointment. She has has wet patches around her mouth and cheeks on and off since June. She has developed a bald patch on one side of her mouth as a result but is still eating and active.
She had lost a bit of weight last week which is a bit worrying because she is a small degu anyway, and I believe there could be some sort of congenital issue. Her normal weight is about 190g, but she was down to 175g last week.
Nutmeg was at the vets today for further dental checks and xrays to see if there were any underlying issues. The procedure went well and she has come around fine. The vets showed us her xrays and whilst her molars are not aligned (some do not meet) there were no signs of root growth beyond the expected position or any abscess or other obvious abnormality. Whilst they can not guarantee that even a small extension of root might be the cause, they said there was nothing that caused any immediate concern. They have smoothed her molars out so that they align better and have given us some pain killers for her. We also have some eye drops for her. She has been on the eye drops for a couple of days and her eye is now partially open so there is definitely improvement. Following the dentistry we have got to give her a week and see how she progresses, and then if no improvement start considering other causes. She is a tough little cookie and just hopped back into her cage like nothing was wrong.
Seeing a degu xray in detail was pretty cool, and the vet talked us through all of their anatomy
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 22, 2014 23:04:06 GMT
Very good news, and it sounds like it was really cool, too. I hope that she really does well now, following the new treatments to her teeth and so forth.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 23, 2014 14:48:38 GMT
I'm sorry I didn't see this back in July. Really hope she improves soon.
I'm in a similar type of boat myself atm. Flossie has been having a few breathing issues for a while, she makes the odd noise while breathing occasionally and also has the occasional runny nose, but she's been worse the last couple of weeks. All my lot have a problem with dust, and we(us and the vet) think this might be a COPD type extension of this. She hasn't responded to antibiotics. We may bite the bullet and have the vet anaesthetise her to do xrays and a deep nasal swab next week, but it's such a worry knocking them out when she is otherwise fit as a fiddle (she has no other symptoms, no weight loss). I'm currently trying to train her to sit in a hamster cage for steam inhalation, it's taxing my ingenuity to fill a small space with steam, protect them from boiling hot water and steam and make her stay near it for any length of time!
It's amazing how much of their stuff creates a lot of dust. I've had to stop them having cardboard because of the dust it creates when they shred it, in the small space of a nest it was horrendous. I've switched from megazorb to nearly all Aubiose. I'm very careful with hay and even have to sweep up dust from herb mixes often.
I wonder if the anti-inflammatory properties of the metacam you have her on will help and whether that will tell you anything about what might be going on? I'm tying myself in knots with trying to reason out different likelihoods of what might be going on with Floss, I'm sure you must feel the same, Saddlers.
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Post by saddlers on Oct 23, 2014 15:00:10 GMT
I must admit now the teeth thing is ruled out, if she does not improve I am inclined to think allergy. When in the nest she always gets to the back and the others are at the front, so that must not be too good for her, and she is forever shredding stuff for the bedding. As you say trying to find something that can be shredded without creating dust is a challenge. I have recently tried some bedding from a local store that is sisal, coconut hair and cotton strands. Was a bit worried with teh cotton strands in case anyone got tangled up but there is not that much in there.
It is also the fact that on odd days she is fine...really bizarre!! Nutmeg does not wheeze though, and her xrays showed no issues other than a bit of wind in the gut, but even that was minimal.
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 23, 2014 15:59:36 GMT
Well, I know for certain that cardboard dust can cause sniffing and a runny nose. I once set up a long tube from the cage down to the pen, and Flossie sat and chewed the bottom end of the tube but sort of reaching over her head for ages, her face was getting showered in dust. Later that day she was sniffing away like mad and had a slight dribble from her nose the next day.
The nest bedding is a real conundrum, I feel so mean taking their favourite bedding away, ripping up cardboard was just about their favourite pastime before I took it all away. I've had to stop them making a nest in the digging box now, the space is just too enclosed once they had it stuffed full. My lot have kitchen and toilet roll, and brown paper from amazon packaging that I rip up fairly small now, I've also given them some 'Safebed' shredded paper strands, but this is pretty awkward to shake the dust off and extract hay from - every couple of days I try to shake out the dust from the bed now.
Could you do anything to ventilate the back of their nest? It does seem like it could be a trigger if Nutmeg sleeps at the back with her face buried.
My girls have got even more into stick chewing as a hobby since I took away the cardboard, just an idea if you want to try to encourage her away from bedding shredding.
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Post by saddlers on Oct 23, 2014 17:48:06 GMT
The problem we have is that Elliott is obsessed with his bed, he squeals and panics when you take it out....I will have to come up with a strategy ?
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Post by moletteuk on Oct 23, 2014 19:16:31 GMT
I do it when they are far away and not paying attention. I usually have about 3 seconds to sweep the whole lot into a carrier bag and then I whisk it away, sort through it and give all the clean stuff back. Or for a quicker effort I lift most of it up with one handful, give it a shake and then brush away the small stuff that falls out with my other hand.
My lot rush around like crazy sorting it all out again, but they never show any signs of real upset or aggression, they don't squawk or pounce on my hand, surprising how well they take it really.
Maybe daughter could distract Elliott or maybe you could do it while he is eating?
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