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Post by bouncy on Sept 27, 2018 17:08:19 GMT
Hang in there - you've done an amazing job with these two ladies, and the fact they're still alive is testament to you, let alone that they're now literally thriving! It might feel like a step backwards, but it's really not! And you'll get to have some more cuddles with Riley With introductions, we usually find a vertical divider works best, so the goos can interact next to each other. In the long run, you'll be looking for the two halves to either ignore each other, or to move their nests to be next to each other. If you are only able to offer a horizontal division, the mesh will still give the opportunity for them to see each other face to face.
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Post by morton235 on Sept 27, 2018 21:47:08 GMT
Thanks for the support guys, but I'm really sad to say that Riley has taken a very quick turn for the worse Her weight is dropping off her unlike anything I've ever seen, it's crazy. She weighs 125g!! That's even less than when she first arrived with us!! She's so thin I can feel every bump on her spine. She's cold, too, and everytime I offer her my hand she presses to it for warmth, or climbs out to snuggle. She still runs on the wheel a little, but isn't half as lively as she was this morning and is much more subdued. I've given her a snugglesafe heatpad for warmth, and extra bedding. I've been giving her a recovery mix of critical care, peanut butter and baby food and she's been eating it well, she took 7mls plus four 'dough balls' this evening. My concern is her weight and how quickly she's losing it and why. Weight loss is something the vets told me to watch for when she had her dental surgery and when discussing long term meds, and said that if it occurs then it could be a sign that she isn't coping and a difficult decision needs to be made. I'm really hoping that tomorrow her weight is more than 125g, because if it's less then I think it might be time to consider that horrible choice She's so god d**n thin, guys I wonder if this is why Bounce is suddenly acting up, as a way to 'drive her from the nest'. Do goos do that sort of thing? I'll keep you all posted in the morning. Fingers crossed for a weight increase, the little lady has overcome so much, surely we can beat this too!
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Post by ntg on Sept 27, 2018 22:08:27 GMT
I'm so sorry to hear Riley's not doing so well morton hopefully she'll start bouncing back as she's shown she has a lot of fight in her! As for Bounce chasing her off, it's possible I guess but generally I've noticed that it's the ill degu that takes themselves away from their house rather than being chased off and then they're just sort of avoided.
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Post by bouncy on Sept 27, 2018 22:15:10 GMT
Come on little Riley! Hang on in there!
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 27, 2018 23:13:17 GMT
Oh sweet little Riley! Hang on, love, and eat like a little mad woman!!
Just as a thought, maybe you could get some dia sticks and dip her urine to see if there is any kind of a diabetic reaction going on? Diabetes can cause a dramatic and frightful loss of weight, especially if it is aggressive diabetes.
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Post by misscatafer on Sept 28, 2018 7:03:22 GMT
So sorry to hear that Riley is deteriorating, it could simply be the stress from the intros the other day. Really hope she can pick herself back up again as she has before, we are all rooting for her!
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Post by morton235 on Sept 28, 2018 8:48:29 GMT
127g today. She has gained 2g and was a lot more active this morning, she doesn't feel as cold to the touch either. That being said, as soon as I reheated the heat pad she curled up on it and went to sleep, and apart from the 4mls recovery mix that she ate eagerly she's not tried to eat any food. So it's a mixed report, really. She was perky before the heat pad, but as soon as it was reheated she had a 'oh thank god' look on her face and bedded down.
Meanwhile, Goo is not at all happy about not being able to see the girls. He is bar chewing like crazy and was calling last night. I think I'll give him a day or two to see how he adjusts, but if he carries on I'll put him in the thickets so he is level and see if that helps things.
Bounce loves the Aventura and tic tac wheel, and for now is letting Riley rest in peace, which is good. She is a notorious bedding thief though, and is stashing every scrap of it in her preferred bed, along with all of her favourite toys, and any pens or syringes she manages to momentarily steal.
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Post by morton235 on Sept 28, 2018 9:03:25 GMT
DC, that's interesting about diabetes. I think I have some strips from when my dog had issues so I'll dig them out.
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Post by bouncy on Sept 28, 2018 9:08:04 GMT
I'd not even try to limit her cc, just give her er much as she wants.
Did the vet check her molars?
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Post by morton235 on Sept 28, 2018 13:45:47 GMT
I'm letting her eat until she's full but offering her regularly, she's eaten 8ml so far. I don't think the vet bothered looking since he saw the overgrown incisor and figured that was just what was causing it. I've looked at her teeth since though and he's not trimmed it down to the same length as the other incisor, it's longer than the other tooth so when she closes her mouth there's a gap where the shorter tooth needs to grow to meet her top one
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 28, 2018 15:02:30 GMT
UGH!!
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Post by bouncy on Sept 28, 2018 15:24:34 GMT
Poor show by the vet!
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 28, 2018 15:29:30 GMT
It's not great having the doubt in your mind over whether the molars have been trimmed correctly. Maybe you could ring and ask, they shouldn't mind since they did mess up the first trim!
Fingers crossed for her.
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Post by morton235 on Sept 28, 2018 16:22:05 GMT
The molars were trimmed by a different vet, who I requested to see but was very firmly told it wasn't possible (it was a baffling conversation). The guy I saw wasn't someone I've seen before. The molar trim was three months back but haven't been checked since, I called a few weeks back and asked them to be checked to see how they were going but they said that since she's not having any issues they didn't see any reason to see her. Really wishing I'd pressed it now, at least I'd be able to rule them out if all was well.
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Post by bouncy on Sept 28, 2018 17:51:37 GMT
Just tell them she's obviously having an issue if her weight keeps dropping!
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Post by deguconvert on Sept 28, 2018 20:09:49 GMT
SOMEONE in that office is a big idiot.
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Post by moletteuk on Sept 29, 2018 9:59:24 GMT
Oh, I misunderstood. Get her in for a full mouth check as soon as you can.
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Post by bouncy on Oct 3, 2018 15:12:42 GMT
Hey, bouncy nudge - how's little Riley getting on? Did she go back to the vet?
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Post by morton235 on Oct 3, 2018 16:23:15 GMT
Bouncy, your nudge timings are uncanny, hahaha!! ^^
We have just gotten back from the vets. The vet I long to see is on holiday, so I got stuck with the same guy I saw last time who isn't great. Riley has a ranula under her tongue, which is a cyst full of saliva (who knew that was a thing!) He said her molars look ok, but the cyst could be making it difficult for her to eat, which would explain why she's not touching dry/forage but is eager to eat liquid/soft foods. He said getting her to eat cold things would help, if anyone has any ideas? She won't eat solids though, so the only thing I can think of is liquifying the recovery mix and chilling it.
He said that since she's on metacam already and isn't dropping weight anymore with the feeds, I should keep feeding her for another week and then bring her back and see if it has burst itself. If not, she will need to be sedated and they'll need to burst it. I honestly just feel like he said that to get money out of me. I mentioned that I've already been hand feeding for nearly a week so rather than wait another one if it's likely she needs it bursting then I'd rather get it over with and have a deeper nosey at her molars at the same time, but he insisted I wait and bring her back. I also asked him about trimming her bottom incisor that was left too long, but he refused and said it shouldn't cause a problem since the shorter one will grow faster and catch up. I guess he has a point there, but I feel he was just dodging doing it. With her having bad teeth to begin with leaving them uneven just seems like asking for trouble. When pressed about the teeth, or whether or not he even checked the molars or tongue last time, he refused to look at me. He said he didn't remember and there were no notes on the file of him checking it, but he is 'sure he must have and just didn't update the notes'. Sigh. Sometimes I wish I could be more assertive. I guess the important thing is we've found something that may be causing the issue, so that's good.
Riley is great in herself apart from her being skinny and not eating solids, and as spritely as they come. She managed to escape me yesterday morning and gave me a good run around, haha. Things are a little tense on and off between her and Bounce, but not as bad as they were.
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Post by misscatafer on Oct 3, 2018 16:36:28 GMT
Gosh, that is quite interesting, did he say what causes the ranula? It's so frustrating when you can't fully trust a vet isn't it, I experienced this when I first moved area, I just went back to my original vet. In future it may be worth specifically requesting to see the trustworthy vet so you are guaranteed peace of mind. Hope she gets on OK from this.
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