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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 11:51:47 GMT
Taking him in now, they have an ER vet whos comfortable seeing rodents.
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Post by savvy on Oct 16, 2022 12:08:56 GMT
Let us know how it goes.
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 14:04:29 GMT
He bit the vet. Apparently he behaved very well but they forgot to weigh him the first time around. Reached his hand in and Pickett was done.
He has a bilateral ear infection. Right ear is much much worse, its internal at this point. They cleaned it up as much as possible and are giving me baytril for 4 weeks. They do want him to go in to an exotics specialist though for a head CT. They don't know how deep the infection is and I think wanted to check the integrity of one of the bones in his ear? And I guess a CT would help them if they need to go in and debride the ear canal.
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Post by savvy on Oct 16, 2022 14:10:15 GMT
If he bit, he's not too bad.
The bayril should help, is he on metacam too for pain relief?
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 14:12:40 GMT
Agreed! And he's been completely destroying toys in the play area the past few days.
He didn't mention it, but I just asked the receptionist to check with him.
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 14:23:48 GMT
Vet is fine with meloxicam, just said they can't say what just kidney values are currently.
They gave a baytril injection, so I'll start meds tonight.
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Post by savvy on Oct 16, 2022 14:49:03 GMT
From what I understand from my vet, meloxidyl affects the kidneys and liver in cats, but not so much in degus. What dose is he on?
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 15:02:31 GMT
Thats what I understood as well. He wasn't an exotics vet though, so I think that's where that came from.
I need to check the bottle, but I'll be using metacam from my normal vet. It's the dog version (1.5 mg/mL) and I think 28-30uL once a day.
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 15:07:03 GMT
Also, Baytril dose is 0.16mL every 12 hours (25mg/mL). I'll check the forum in a bit to see if that sounds reasonable.
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 15:16:36 GMT
One other thing, I don't know if I mentioned that he's had a lingering head tilt for years. So fingers crossed this ear infection isn't quite as bad as he thought.
Edit: the reason I mention this is because the vet did. To paraphrase, he said something along the lines of 'and because we see this rightward head tilt, we know the infection is in his inner ear.'
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Post by savvy on Oct 16, 2022 16:33:10 GMT
How many mls of metacam are you giving him? Sphene is on 0.3ml daily, Little Amber is on 0.2ml daily, but I suspect that will increase when her weight does
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 17:34:22 GMT
I haven't started the pain meds yet since I administered tresaderm (contains a corticosteroid, Dexamethasone) this morning. I'm not 100% sure how long I need to wait until that's out of his system. Since I was supposed to give ear drops every 12 hours, I would think it would be ok to start tonight. I might wait until the morning though.
When I do start, it'll be 30uL of 1.5mg/mL a day (split into two doses)
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 16, 2022 20:45:26 GMT
Yesterday was a busy day, and this day has been kind of as well, so I haven't been back on until now. Any news today, Hpdegus?
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 20:53:08 GMT
Hi DC!
Yep, went to the emergency vet (comfortable with rodents, not an exotics vet). Both of poor picketts ears are infected, right is worse. He's on oral baytril for a month. Vet thinks its inner ear now, because of the head tilt (I forgot to mention he has a head tilt from a previous infection). So hopefully not as bad as he thought.
He also bit the vet! Not on bone at least. I apologized many many times, but vet kinda sounded like he took blame for it (Pickett was a gem, they finished and put him back with his brother. Went to grab him again since they forgot to weigh, but Pickett was done. He gave a warning nip to the vet tech right before too).
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 16, 2022 21:00:59 GMT
Poor Pickett! All those hands and indignities! And THEN they tried to do it AGAIN? He was a trooper, and generous to give a warning nip before letting fly. I feel for the vet though . . . an all business bite is no fun. VERY glad it was not on bone!
Is Pickett OK with taking baytril, or have you found ways that get it in without a big fight?
I'm so glad you found a vet, that sounds like a good one, and one that was gentle and helpful. I hope all will very soon begin to improve.
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 21:08:51 GMT
Yeah, poor babe has been handled wayyy too much for his comfort. Everyone's pretty good about giving warnings, which I very much appreciate! I felt so awful for the vet, also very very happy it wasn't on bone.
No idea, I've never given baytril before. Normal vet usually does sulfatrim or orbax (his fav). Keep your fingers crossed for me please!
Yes, glad it worked out. Weekends for exotics are really tough. The only thing that did concern me was that he recommended a CT scan, but I'm hoping the head tilt made the infection seem worse than it is. I don't think I want to change sedation with him because of his heart. But this place has been very nice and helpful so far (they were lovely with Ollie too).
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Post by deguconvert on Oct 16, 2022 22:36:32 GMT
I would be feeling very nervous about sedation as well.
I think giving the Baytril time to work and see how things are going is crucial, and really the only thing to do right now. That doesn't mean it will improve his reaction to sedation, nor that you should do it (and if I were you, I would not want to do it), but it will tell you if he needs a change in treatment for his ears at the very least. I'm not even sure what he would learn from a CT scan? Did he say what his thought was? Unless he wants a look at the heart as well?
Is it Baytril that can be banana flavoured . . . or no . . . I think that is Metacam. I do believe that one of the pieces of advice given is to drop it onto pieces of favorite treat and let it dry completely and then give it to the degu that needs it. So . . . does he like almond slices? Those would work well.
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2022 23:03:26 GMT
I'm honestly not willing to risk sedation at the moment. If I'm not seeing improvement after this course of antibiotics, maybe, but I'd need to have a serious conversation with my vet.
If I'm remembering correctly, there were a few reasons. One being to see how advanced the infection is/how its clearing up. The second was if they need to go in and clean in ear canal, they'll need imaging. And the last was something about possibly checking the state of a bone in his ear canal? I'm super fuzzy on that one, sorry.
My vets has been really good about being able to see how Picketts heart is doing via unsedated xray, so I would think that would be more than fine for that.
Hm, I don't remember which one comes banana flavored! I've actually never tried him on almond slices. I would normally do oats, but it seems like chewing those is painful. I found my bag of rice puffs for his metacam dose and he just vacuumed those up! So I'll try that. If he doesn't eat them, I'll see if I have crocks, or maybe CC? Though I don't know how he'll do with CC.
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Post by yasmin on Oct 16, 2022 23:09:18 GMT
Mine take Baytril when mixed in with a bit of organic baby food (pea, sweet potato, squash - they each have their favourite).
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Post by hpdegus on Oct 17, 2022 0:21:43 GMT
I'll have to try that Yasmin! Tom also really likes sweet potato baby food.
I got between 50-80%* of the baytril into Pickett before he refused to eat anymore. Which isn't awful, since the dose they told me sounds a bit high.
IUCAC calls for 5-10 mg/kg for rats and degus. The dosage the vet said was 16 mg/kg. I double checked with them and they confirmed that that is the dosage they wanted (apparently he usually does 15-20 mg/kg). I'll call my normal vet to see what they recommend tomorrow morning.
*1 hour later and Pickett has been a very good boy. I was able to coax him into taking the majority of the meds.
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