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Post by deguconvert on Dec 6, 2017 17:31:06 GMT
That is a relief, NTG!!
My goodness we have had quite the rash of illnesses and deaths here this past week or two. So much so I've found myself thinking of all my much loved animals that have passed and catch myself weeping for them, as well as for the recent ones here. My heart goes out to all of you who are grieving and worried for your little loves!!
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Post by ntg on Dec 6, 2017 18:00:27 GMT
titchycatnipsandwich I must have heard her wrong on the phone, just picked him uo amd it's pyramidine-iodine I've been given!
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Post by ntg on Dec 6, 2017 18:19:31 GMT
That is a relief, NTG!! My goodness we have had quite the rash of illnesses and deaths here this past week or two. So much so I've found myself thinking of all my much loved animals that have passed and catch myself weeping for them, as well as for the recent ones here. My heart goes out to all of you who are grieving and worried for your little loves!! It really does seem like we've had a huge amount of loss and illness compared to normal! But then Sherlock's never really been 100% since I got him  I'm curious about the number of lumps we're seeing lately though, it used to be practically unheard of and now they're all over the place! |
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Post by ntg on Dec 7, 2017 13:16:46 GMT
In going to be getting these vitamin c drops to add into their water tonight: www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/nature-s-aid-vitamin-c-drops-100mg-lemon-60001898?skuid=001898By my calculations, half a ml in 120ml should be the same as they were recommending (1/4 of an effervescent tablet in 300ml which tend to be 1000mg for vit c only ones). I just wasn't happy giving them something that would contain food colouring and either sugar or sweeteners since Watson will be getting it too. Plus this way I can change their water more regularly without feeling like I'm wasting it and hopefully it won't taste too strongly when it's diluted down so much. |
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Post by moletteuk on Dec 7, 2017 14:10:17 GMT
This sounds unusual, but better than molar issues I think. I'm racking my brains trying to come up with a theory, it was his lip that was sore before, wasn't it? Could it just be an aggressive bacteria? Some kind of systemic weakness?
The drops sound much better than a fizzy tablet to me. Good luck with the swabbing!
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Post by ntg on Dec 7, 2017 16:51:08 GMT
The theory is that he's damaged his gum in some way and then kept catching it while he was pawing at his mouth, causing the ulceration to the point where he might be starting to catch it with his incisors (a bit like when we accidentally bite our cheeks). There's a good chance there's an infection going on deep in the tissue though as he responds well to antibiotics. It looks like it's just going to be a long, difficult treatment - but that's not unusual for degus!  |
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Post by ntg on Dec 10, 2017 19:58:46 GMT
The treatment so far seems to be making very little difference to his lip. I'm struggling to clean his gum though as he won't open his mouth to let me do it and I don't want to force his lip away from his teeth incase I do more damage than good. I'll probably end up discussing with Emma the best way for me to do it when I see her on Tuesday morning but if anyone has any ideas past the burrito and put on his back technique that I'm currently trying then let me know! However it does need to be something that I'm able to do on my own as I can't guarantee that Liam will be either in or free when I'm wanting to do it.
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Post by moletteuk on Dec 11, 2017 10:45:09 GMT
I think it was always going to be a tall order. I wonder if a spray would help? I've used a sea salt nasal spray, but I think you press it once and half a gallon comes out, so that would probably be dangerous. I've also used a Neilmed nasal rinse thing, you squeeze a plastic bottle and the liquid comes out the top, something like that might work if you could attach a tube to the top that you could poke into his mouth when he is in a regular upright position.
Any word on the test results, I guess you find out tomorrow when you go?
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Post by ntg on Dec 12, 2017 13:14:29 GMT
It's a nasty cellulitis that he's got. Two types of bacteria, one gram +ve Staph, the other I can't remember. We're waiting to hear back about antibiotic sensitivity and those results should be in by Thursday. It seems like our best chance to get this under control is to clean it each day, so I've been given a dental paste (dentisept) which contains 2mg/g (2%?) chlorhexadine that I need to apply daily and we'll continue with the baytril and metacam until we can review the results on Thursday. Emma's going to send me some photos of his mouth that she took while he was under last week so expect some gross images sometime soon... And maybe some CT images that I finally remembered to ask for! On a positive note, Watson's lump hasn't grown at all since July  |
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 12, 2017 16:36:43 GMT
WOW!! SO glad that she took a biopsy!! Where on earth did he get infected with those I wonder. Clearly something from his previous home. Poor little guy!
SO glad there is no growth since July! That's wonderful!
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Post by ntg on Dec 12, 2017 17:28:26 GMT
Not necessarily! Staph is easily picked up anywhere, just have to hope it's not a strain that's resistant to a lot of antibiotics. Plus we think that maybe it's been introduced into the tissue when he's been pawing at his mouth as it's quite severe when he does it and he does squeak in pain a lot when it's happening - they must pick up a fair amount of bacteria on their claws!
They're also wondering if he might have a slight paralysis of his lower lip which l is causing him to catch it when he's eating since it protrudes out more than a normal degu. If that is the case then it'll be an ongoing battle to keep him well throughout his life but at least at the moment I'm in a great place for treatment!
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Post by moletteuk on Dec 13, 2017 10:50:25 GMT
Good news on the lump. Less good news on the mouth, but great to hear you sounding confident about tackling it, I'm sure it will stand you in good stead having previous experience with Gandalf's tail, there's probably going to be some trial and error and determination involved, if anyone can handle it I'm sure you can  |
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Post by ntg on Dec 15, 2017 0:23:52 GMT
Determination is the name of the game! No idea if I'm actually managing to get any paste in the right spot or not but it's certainly ending up being smeared all over his face The sensitivity results came back and both baytril and sulfatrim are still effective along with a few other antibiotics so we have plenty of options going forward! |
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 15, 2017 16:30:45 GMT
You're bound to win!!!
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Post by ntg on Dec 18, 2017 17:14:05 GMT
Had him in for an emergency appointment today - he's gotten a little worse, still eating but slowly and I'm really concerned by the amount of saliva since his paws are soaked from it.
He's getting a CT done tomorrow morning to make sure that he hasn't got any underlying granulomas that are causing it and once they kmow the bone structure is definitely sound they're going to take a biopsy this week. It's goinh to be expensive at around £700 for all the tests unfortunately and I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to afford it all if this continues.
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 18, 2017 19:24:05 GMT
OUCH!! You and Sherlock (and Venk) are in my prayers, NTG.  |
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Post by moletteuk on Dec 18, 2017 20:26:47 GMT
GULP!!!
Good luck!
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Post by ntg on Dec 18, 2017 22:57:37 GMT
Thanks guys! I should ask if I can have a 3 for 2 offer on CTs incase Venk needs one for his jaw at this rate  |
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Post by ntg on Dec 19, 2017 17:39:15 GMT
No update on him or Venk - they haven't had a chance to check Venk over or review Sherlock's CT scans but will have some news by tomorrow morning on both fronts... I'm degu-less for the night  |
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Post by claire on Dec 19, 2017 18:25:47 GMT
God a bet you feel lost, or like a patent with no kids for the night lol.
Hoping for good news for you tomorrow. X
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