Respiratory infection :(

[rhed]

rhed said:

Rhedette and I woke up this morning to find one of our Degu's (Ziq) was fairly unresponsive like this. He appeared to be sleeping in an odd place (not one of his usual haunts), with his eyes tightly closed. He's breathing, and he reacts to some handling, mostly by crawling forwards.

By some luck (for him, not me), I had to come home from work sick after only being an hour and a half away from them. He was still in his position, only now with his front paws splayed out to the sides a bit, not under his front head.

I called the vets and have an appointment for 2 (it's 11:25 as I write this). I've separated him and placed him in a carry box with lots of fresh sawdust and hay, and a small bowl of food and water. He's unresponsive to the food or water, even if brought right up to his mouth, and he won't take the water from his bottle either.

His brother (Tails) seems fine, although he's been sulking away since I separated them.

I'm waiting for the vet appointment, but it won't stop me worrying for the next two and a half hours.

He's diabetic, and had cataracts over his right eye when we bought him, so I'm worried he's suffering from something related to this.

It's a shame as we had an appointment to see the vet tomorrow afternoon for a free health-check, maybe if it was a problem we could have caught it earlier if this had happened in a few days time.

I'll post again when I'm back from the vet's, hopefully with some good advice from the vet.

[rhed]

Well, the vet has just told me Ziq has a respiratory infection, which is not too good

She's given him an antibiotic injection and says he needs to perk up in about two hours really. I've left him there with them and I'll go back at 6 to see if he's better.

With some luck he'll beat the infection and be alright.

Apparently, these infections can come from anywhere, like we humans can pick up the flu. There's a possibility Tails might suffer from it, so we'll have to be on the lookout, just in case he also starts showing signs.

Once again, I'll post an update when I get home later, and let you all know what the vet says about the causes and any possible preventions, and more importantly the dangers.

[rhedette]

ive been at work worrying all day...in tears too

[flibble]

I hope he's okay , I've had a few rodents with resp. infections in the past. Hopefully he's got the injection in time. Am keeping my fingers crossed for you both. Keep us posted.

naomi xxx

[Sunshinemeg]

Fingers crossed for you guys, be comforted by the fact that you are giving him the best possible care that you can, and he has his brother with him to cuddle him. Like Naomi said, hopefully the vet seeing him now means its been caught in time!

[rhed]

He's home, and the vet says it's 50/50.
He's a little more active, but still not really moving, just laying splat on his front.

I've got a plastic syringe to administer water into his mouth until he comes in his his checkup tomorrow afternoon as planned.

They say if he makes it they can give us some antibiotics to put in the water, which means he'll have to stay away from Tails for a while I guess, until the infection is clear and he's back on normal water.

Thanks for the support, it's been a hard day, and it's not over yet.

[ra]

I feel for both of you. It's so hard to watch one of your beloved pets ill and not be able to do a darned thing but wait until you get them to the vets. The not knowing what's going on is hardest. Once you've got a diagnosis you have something concrete to work with. Will keep good thoughts going out and all of my fingers crossed that Ziq can hold his own through the night until you can put him on the antibiotics. I'll be thinking about you all.

[rhedette]

Thank you all for your support, it is a very tough time indeed. It doesnt help that rhed is ill too lol and that im exhausted from my work (mainly the travel)

We will keep you posted as soon as we can tomorrow

[rhedette]

[Hanlou]

I really hope he gets better soon, but antibiotics in the water doesn't work very well. I'm guessing it's baytril he'll get? Ask for it so it can be syringed directly to him, you can then put it on bread or soemthing like that and that way you can control exactly how much antibiotic he is getting.

Baytril tastes bitter, if it's in the water, he won't drink the water, so not only will he not get the anitibiotics but he could even get dehydrated. Also, you don't know how much water he'll drink, so you can't control the dosage properly. I know this from personal experience with my rats, it's so much better to give antibiotics direct.

I don't say this to scare you, but in the hope that it will help him. Sending my get well wishes to him. Thinking about you.

[worthym]

I would like to second the point that Hanlou made. If at all possible - ask for the antibiotics to syringe feed to him. Diluting in the water is notoriously difficult to be able to give a consistent dose, and as Hanlou says, often they won't drink it at all!! If you can syringe feed the antibiotics he'll also be able to stay with his brother - hopefully that will help him to perk up some more too.

Best wishes to Ziq for a speedy recovery!

[rhedette]

Well he seems to ave made a little more of a improvement. We were woken at 6:30 this morning by a scratching and leaping sounds comeing from his box he is in. Unfortunately, it was only because he had walked into his water bowl and was trying to get out

But! He is moving more, and has even had a sniff at some food. His eyes are a little more open then before, and he is wriggling a bit more.

Were taking him back to the vet today, and we'll ask for the syringe stuff. Although we've had trouble feeding him his water by syringe yesterday, as he kept moving about, making most of the water go down his chin...

We'll see how it goes

Also, when Ziq's ready to go back with Tails, will we have to do any re-introductions?Ziq is pretty much dead to the world except the odd shuffle/snuggle, so when we put him back, should we put him straight into the bedding area? My only worry is that Tails will be too rough with him, and trample him...

[Hanlou]

You can always put the antibiotics in some food - I use toobsnax for the rats but this isn't suitable for degus. Bread would probably work though. Syringing is hard - some of my rats have spat the stuff out even if I stroked their throat after giving it to them! Little blighters....

Am pleased he's making some progress though! I'll be watching out for updates.

[rhedette]

Unfortunately he died this morning at about 9am. I think it was probably for the best, as his quality of life wouldnt have been too good if he had carried on trying to fight it

[rhed]

Thank you all for your support, and advice, but I'm afraid to say Ziq passed away at around 09:20 GMT this morning.

I'm not sure quite what to say, but it's been five hours and I'm still quite upset. I think the progress we thought he was making was him physically reacting to whatever was finally killing him, and making him lurch a lot. I'm glad to say that it was only a few short hours he would have really suffered, if at all.

We'll take him to the vets tonight with Tails and let a professional take care of his body. But it's only his body that will be leaving this home.

[rhedette]

Too true, his spirit will be here in our hearts forever

[Hanlou]

So sorry to hear this, especially when it seemed as if he might be getting better.... but at least you know you did all you could for him.

{{{hugs}}} to both of you xxx

[rhedette]

Thanks alot

[flibble]

Hi,

i'm so sorry to hear the news Not sure what to say really, I know how it feels to lose an animal you've tried to save. You did everything you could and he had a good life whilst in your care.

Thinking of you both

Naomi x

[Aimeelou]

Thinking of you (hugs) xxx