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Post by bouncy on Apr 5, 2021 10:40:27 GMT
Glad it's all good! Don't be afraid to get a small pair of scissors and cut off the bit of stitch that's sticking out - it's one less thing for him to fuss about around the wound  |
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Post by teemu on Apr 5, 2021 11:09:11 GMT
I would do that, and considered it, but he's very fussy about being handled in a way where you lift him and handle his belly and starts struggling and biting, so there's a big chance for disaster there. Especially since my scissors aren't as sharp as they should be and I have no sharpener at hand right now, so there's a chance it might catch and start pulling on it as well. So unless he actually starts fussing around with it more, I think it's best not to bother him about it.
But yes, on that note, Pulla is totally fine today as well, so I think it'll be fine if I wait until tomorrow after the Easter holidays are over to book the checkup time.
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Post by teemu on Apr 5, 2021 15:26:46 GMT
It seems that Pulla still has some pains. I did not remember to give him the Metacam this morning, and he had a more painful moment later on during the day with ruffled fur and general discomfort. I gave him Metacam again, but the pain passed pretty quickly anyhow. Not sure if I should be concerned over this, but I'll be booking him a checkup soon anyhow. He was very active during his outing time again and I allowed him some more mobility and let him climb onto my knee when he wanted under careful watch. Really gnawy today, everything needed to be gnawed at and put in its place  |
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 5, 2021 19:56:44 GMT
WHEW!!! What a read . . . several hours after all the "not so fun" excitement. SO, SO GLAD to ready he is doing better . . . although . . . I see that was 19 hours ago already. How is he today, Teemu?
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Post by teemu on Apr 5, 2021 20:17:57 GMT
Pulla is doing well. Like I said above, he's still been a bit bothered by his wound today and I've had to give him Metacam, and he has picked at his wound a bit so there's some scratching/scarring/scabbing on it, but he's energetic and speedy and the wound shows no signs of infection or other irritation. Yesterday's mishap doesn't seem to be bothering him at all, so I'm guessing it was a bad landing and maybe some pain on the ankle, or a bit of pain in the abs, nothing actually serious Today should be the last day of antibiotics for Pulla. I think I don't need to keep giving him any after that, his wound's healing well despite his fussing. In general I've been really, really pleasantly surprised by this recovery period in comparison to the last one. It's impossible to say for sure, but maybe the type of string used really was the culprit last time. |
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Post by bouncy on Apr 5, 2021 22:00:18 GMT
Don't be afraid to give him metacam for the first week. Starting and stopping the dosage means Pulla won't get the full effect. It takes a couple of doses to get on top of the pain and inflammation, and they tolerate metacam very well Know what you mean about the scissors - I used my nail scissors. The dressmaking ones are waaaaaaaaay too big and would have freaked him out  |
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Post by teemu on Apr 6, 2021 20:28:33 GMT
Things have gone well today and there is, in fact, nothing to report Well, I managed to take a better look at Pulla's belly, and the actual wound has more or less totally healed. There's two scabs on it now, but they haven't gotten any worse than what they were. Upon closer inspection, it turns out that Pulla hasn't even torn any of his stitches, the scabs are next to the actual wound location and not on top of it. So it seems that his surgery wound's looking really good as well. I booked him a time for the checkup on thursday. I'll probably not put him back in the actual cage or give him his climbing rights back before that, since it's so soon anyway and he seems to be mostly alright with the current situation now (he's actually calmed down a lot, surprisingly). I have allowed him some more climbing (on top of me mostly) in the kitchen, and he's been fine with hopping on me or off me. When I called the vet, they agreed that I should probably give him Metacam until the appointment since he's been bothered by the wound. Today's the last antibiotics dose, and I won't continue with it since I can see no signs of infection at all. It should probably be smooth sailing until thursday - and I'll also hear if Pulla will be getting new friends then! Unless I'm very unlucky, the local pet store will be receiving a whole pile of fuzzy little degus, and they'll know by thursday evening. They've promised to notify me about how it goes, so we're all anxiously waiting for good news!
(Unless something changes, I probably won't make an update on him tomorrow. If it's quiet, assume everything's fine! ) |
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 6, 2021 20:50:36 GMT
WOO HOO!! SO AWESOME!! Well done, Teemu! Well done!
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Post by teemu on Apr 8, 2021 13:50:30 GMT
Pulla is now home from the vet, and he's been given a clean bill of health! As far as the vet could see and determine, nothing was wrong with Pulla and his healing had gone well. They removed some of the stitches on his belly that were poking out since they were unnecessary, and told me to give him Metacam until the scabs from him fussing over the wounds have healed, but there was nothing else to note any more and Pulla could return to normal life.
He's now back in his regular cage running around, very happy to be climbing up and down between the stories. I'm very happy too. Everything well for a change!
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Post by moletteuk on Apr 8, 2021 17:24:16 GMT
Such good news |
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Post by hpdegus on Apr 8, 2021 18:00:42 GMT
Wonderful to hear! Great job!
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 8, 2021 20:07:22 GMT
This is SUCH GOOD NEWS!! WOO HOO!!! I'm so thrilled! What a relief for you, and what a joy to have him back in his normal cage!!
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Post by teemu on Apr 8, 2021 21:20:26 GMT
Thank you everyone! It'll probably take me a bit to actually feel restful about things again. I've been very tense and stressed about the whole thing, so shifting gears back into normal will take a couple of days. Still, very relieved and happy. Pulla spent all evening going around his own cage and making happy noises as he sat in all the usual corners. Now he's nestled in his nest and happily asleep.
I called the pet store today, and they confirmed that three little girls had been sent en route to them today! They'll call me back tomorrow after they receive them (they weren't sure about the colors yet and wanted to take a look at them before confirming anything farther). Apparently a lot of people have been asking for degus lately, but they assured me that I'd been given priority since I'd talked to them about it well in advance.
So unless something goes terribly lopsided, there should be more degus in the house come monday, after they've made sure everything's fine and observed them over the weekend. I'll have to see how Pulla reacts, but hopefully new life in the cage next door will be welcome!
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 8, 2021 23:02:51 GMT
SO EXCITING!!!
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Post by teemu on Apr 9, 2021 19:13:39 GMT
First day in old cage seems to have gone well. Pulla's been active and obviously pleased to be back home. I notice he's been a bit ruffled up over the evening, but only when he's resting. When he moves around he's totally fine. I think the wound on his belly is still a bit sore, especially with the scabs on it. But other than that, everything seems to be going pretty well.
I got a confirmation about the pups arriving at the pet store today. They want to keep them there for a week or so because two of them look a bit young (around seven weeks, they want them to be about eight before letting them go) and because they want to keep an eye on them to make sure there's nothing off about them. I'll be going to take a look at them on monday and to sort things out. Three little girls, all different colors, and very energetic from how they were described. Very excited!
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Post by yasmin on Apr 10, 2021 1:23:03 GMT
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 10, 2021 4:44:57 GMT
Sounds SO EXCITING!!! I'm getting impatient, LOL!! Trying to learn the joy of anticipation.  |
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Post by teemu on Apr 12, 2021 19:06:26 GMT
Pulla's been stable and in good health for the past few days. He's very energetic and active during the day, but seems to be a bit bothered by his stitches in the evening. He sometimes puffs up and grimaces for a bit, but this tends to be really momentary, and he soon enough perks up and is back to moving around and being normal. I've been inspecting his belly carefully, and the discomfort probably comes from the fact that they had to use stiff thread for the stitches, and you can clearly feel them under his skin, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if the inner stitches feel nasty against his belly skin. But the wound itself has healed really nicely (there's a scar and a stitch still, but the wound has totally healed), and I've seen absolutely no sign of any complications, so I think it will all be sorted out nicely We also visited the local pet store today and checked out the pups. They were looking very nice, all active and curious! The oldest (two of them are 7 weeks, one is 8 weeks) even wanted to climb onto hands when offered. They've now been paid for and reserved for real, and I will pick them up next monday, one week from now. I wonder how Pulla will react to when he notices new neighbors... |
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Post by teemu on Apr 12, 2021 19:21:48 GMT
Oh, here's also some pictures!
Pulla's been feeling good. The floor picture was from last week, the rest of the pictures were taken over the weekend. He really adores his new heat pad (We got him one from the pet store, they started selling them just recently) And here's a shoddy image of the new pups at the store. There's three, all different colors (regular agouti, blue and piebald). The agouti is the oldest and bravest one. I can't wait to pick them up!
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Post by deguconvert on Apr 12, 2021 19:57:38 GMT
WONDERFUL PHOTOS!! SO EXCITING!!!
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