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Post by ntg on Jan 20, 2019 11:46:40 GMT
Going to get him to the vet, obviously, just wanted to make a little thread for his issue. The past few days I've had a bad feeling I couldn't put a finger on with the chins. Something had changed with their behaviour - Giz was more aggravated than usual even going so far as launching hinself at Liam (launching himself at me is normal, Liam is kind of his favourite), Benji more skittish. They are both eating okay but the past two mornings I've been sleeping in there while my parents are up I've woken up to crying with Giz-butt sitting near the litter tray. I wasn't entirely sure it was him the first day since Benji scattered when I bolted upright and jumped out of bed while it was still dark, but today it was lighter and Benj was still in the house while Giz was sat there next to a small puddle of wee. Straight after he started cleaning his pipes so to speak but it wasn't at an angle where I could freely look it over. The third clue was the water bottle, it's been going down at the same rate as the degus rather than double the rate. Somebody wasn't drinking enough. So I spent most the night on the alert for chins drinking and checking who it was. Gizmo drank once for only a short period, Benji drank for the same shirt period about 5-6 times. So the next step is checking his pee-pee for fur rings (yayyy) and trying to get a sample of urine to take to the vets and observe for blood. There isn't any redness or swelling around the area as that's the first thing I checked on both of them the first morning and back when I started getting a feeling that something was off. Things it could be (feel free to add to the list): Fur ring UTI Kidney/bladder stone Parasite - probably unlikely but knowing my luck... Weird thing is that both are still eating me out of house and home. I would have expected loss of appetite to go along with anything  |
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Post by ntg on Jan 20, 2019 12:28:52 GMT
Update - no fur ring. Waiting on him peeing now. Could be here a while.
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Post by savvy on Jan 20, 2019 13:33:05 GMT
Bumblebee had similar symptoms when he had cystitis. Just a thought.
Let us know how he gets on.
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Post by ntg on Jan 20, 2019 13:51:36 GMT
Will do, got plenty of poop samples but no wees in over an hour so had to put him back since he was stressing out. I'll try him again later along with Benji, put some hay and water in there and hopefully we can wait it out until he pees. Poor lad.
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 20, 2019 18:00:43 GMT
How nerve wracking and scary! I do very much hope that he is OK, or that whatever is going will be conclusively determined and successfully treated. I hope he has peed for you by now?
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Post by ntg on Jan 20, 2019 18:34:08 GMT
How nerve wracking and scary! I do very much hope that he is OK, or that whatever is going will be conclusively determined and successfully treated. I hope he has peed for you by now? Decided to leave it until after tea and see if I can maybe get some fluid in him before letting him out in the hope he'll have to pee He seems pretty good in himself otherwise though so it's not at a completely dire stage. Just glad I trusted my gut that something wasn't right. Even if it's an emergency appointment I need to get he'll be seeing a vet tomorrow, hopefully with a urine sample in hand  |
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Post by savvy on Jan 20, 2019 18:54:11 GMT
If not, they may have to take a sample from him and he'll like that even less!
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Post by ntg on Jan 21, 2019 0:09:44 GMT
Right, I have samples from both of them and, unexpectedly, Benji's is the one that is very cloudy, no sign of blood in either though (phew). So not sure what to think now  it looks like we might have to get both looked at, just incase. |
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Post by savvy on Jan 21, 2019 2:12:45 GMT
If it's an infection of some kind, it's possible they both have it.
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 21, 2019 4:44:08 GMT
Sounds like it is a good thing you have a sample for each of them. Well done, love! It's not easy getting a sample from an animal. Our little dog is so close to the ground that getting underneath him when he is urinating is impossible, and if he sees me move while he is busy, he turns the water works off. I just ask the vet to do it any more.
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Post by winic1 on Jan 21, 2019 7:34:03 GMT
Now belonging to diabetic and hyperthyroid cat sites, where one of the complications of uncontrolled diabetes can be measured from a urine sample, I have just recently been reading how people catch samples using a long-handled ladle or long-handled spoon, lurking by the litterbox then slipping the ladle or spoon in from behind once pee is in progress.
I am SO glad Lamborghini's thyroid is controlled by the medicine and the borderline diabetes is being controlled by diet. I cannot imagine stalking my cat to the litterbox, then shoving "the special pee ladle" under his butt to catch a sample. The weird things we can end up doing for our furbabies!
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Post by winic1 on Jan 21, 2019 7:36:46 GMT
It's very very late at night, so forgive my weird mind, but it just occurred to me that a ladle would be so much nicer than trying to hold that little sample cup at the doctor's office.....
somebody needs to invent a little disposable handle device for urine sample cups.....
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2019 8:19:39 GMT
Oh! I hope they’re both okay and it’s nothing too sinister 😩
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Post by ntg on Jan 21, 2019 11:13:41 GMT
It's not as impressive as it sounds, just put them in the bathroom, took apart the cat carrier and put it clean side up. Fortunately Giz decided to pee in there and then Benji followed suit on the opposite side  now I need to clean the carry case though Rang the vets, they didn't think it warranted an emergency appointment since I had the samples ready so just asked me to drop them off today and book them in for Wed morning so that if they needed to see them it was already organised. So samples are there now and I'm just waiting on a phonecall either today or tomorrow to let me know what's happening. |
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Post by moletteuk on Jan 21, 2019 12:07:41 GMT
That worked out well with the vet Hope it's nothing serious. |
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Post by ntg on Jan 21, 2019 13:30:28 GMT
Just had a phonecall, apparently Gizmo's sample had ketones in it, Benji's contained protein. No sign of infection and they're more curious about Gizmo and weren't particularly concerned about Benji, I'm guessing since ketones in urine can be a sign of diabetes.
Going to try and get another sample from both of them tomorrow night before the appointment.
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Post by ntg on Jan 23, 2019 15:14:17 GMT
Had a right clart on this morning, Benji wanted none of it while Gizmo was sat happily eating in the travel box. Eventually managed to get Benji in a separate box after taking practically everything out the half of the cage I'd trapped them in but by that time my aappointment was meant to be starting fortunately they were still able to squeeze me in. They had a quick examination of both, no pain sensed around the adbominal area, Emma was happy with how they seemed overall but wants me to keep an eye on them for the next couple of day and bring them in on Friday if there's still any noises from them or just drop off some more urine samples if I feel like that's the next best step and they can do further tests on them before thinking about doing an ultrasound or xray on them to look for anything sinister. On a plus note - Benji is no longer fat! |
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Post by deguconvert on Jan 23, 2019 16:11:02 GMT
So . . . the vet was pleased with his weight?
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Post by winic1 on Jan 23, 2019 16:17:07 GMT
Ketones in urine can be a very serious sign of diabetes, indicating Very Bad Stuff is possible. I would get that checked again, soon.
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Post by ntg on Jan 23, 2019 16:20:40 GMT
Ketones in urine can be a very serious sign of diabetes, indicating Very Bad Stuff is possible. I would get that checked again, soon. Yep, that's why they wanted me to keep an eye out and, if nothing else, bring samples in on Friday. They aren't dismissing it, they are just wondering if it was something weird with the original sample. |
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now I need to clean the carry case though 
