|
Post by teemu on Oct 12, 2021 20:46:57 GMT
Huh, that's an intresting idea. I have seen squirrels gnawing on horns, and I'm sure my rats would have done it, but I'm not sure about degus or other dedicated herbivore rodents. But it's true that even herbivorous animals do gnaw on bones or antlers in the wild, since calcium and many other nutrients are hard to come by. I could, theoretically, test it out, since I've got some old antler pieces around. Though it'd be of course safer to first see someone's experiences with it.
|
|
|
Post by hpdegus on Oct 12, 2021 23:10:59 GMT
Interesting idea about antlers! I may have to go visit the German degu forums and see.
Ollie is really really having issues with his short front teeth. It seems like he didn't eat anything today while I was gone. Vet shaved off a ton of tooth and he was 140g last night. 138g this morning and 131g 11 hours later. I fed him oats soaked in critical care for almost 30 minutes as soon as I came home though. I'm going to start leaving a bowl of that in the cage--his brothers don't seem to be interested in it at all. He looked like he had an easier time eating it off my finger than from a bowl though. Think it may show how much trouble he's having picking things up.
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Oct 13, 2021 6:18:15 GMT
Poor little Ollie! What a time the both of you have had. Incisors grow quite quickly, so the bother with them should be much less 2-3 days time. Hang in there, love, you're doing great!! It may not always feel that way, but you ARE doing great! Sending you hugs!
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 13, 2021 8:56:35 GMT
Argh you must be so disappointed after the relief of them fixing the spur, I have no idea why she would remove a ton of incisor. It seems a bit weird that he has lost so much weight in so short a time though. Come on Ollie.
|
|
|
Post by hpdegus on Oct 13, 2021 11:09:35 GMT
Thanks DC. I'm really hoping that rapid incisor growth will help the issue. He is just having such a rough time with it.
I think she was trying to be proactive? Which I appreciate, but seems like it was way to aggressive for an already struggling degu.
The rapid weight loss is worrying me. I'm going to look through the cage again, see if I missed diahrea or something. It's the kind of loss I would expect after not drinking for a day.
He is eating the soaked oats in critical care if I feed him off of my fingers. So thats something I guess. Poor babe. I just don't know.
|
|
|
Post by winic1 on Oct 13, 2021 12:56:23 GMT
Interesting idea about antlers! I may have to go visit the German degu forums and see. Ollie is really really having issues with his short front teeth. It seems like he didn't eat anything today while I was gone. Vet shaved off a ton of tooth and he was 140g last night. 138g this morning and 131g 11 hours later. I fed him oats soaked in critical care for almost 30 minutes as soon as I came home though. I'm going to start leaving a bowl of that in the cage--his brothers don't seem to be interested in it at all. He looked like he had an easier time eating it off my finger than from a bowl though. Think it may show how much trouble he's having picking things up. When I had to feed Phil his cc and ground seeds mix, I would make it thick enough that I could shape it into a long, thin, tall, mounded stripe down the middle of a small plate, so he could easily work his way down the stripe taking bites right off the top of it.
|
|
|
Post by hpdegus on Oct 13, 2021 14:01:37 GMT
I'll try that and see if it helps. I've put oats soaked with CC, as well as without, in two separate bowls in the cage this morning. Hoping his brothers don't eat it all, while he does!
|
|
|
Post by hpdegus on Oct 13, 2021 22:29:22 GMT
Caught him eating the moist oats when I got home from work today. He hadn't lost any weight while I was gone (131g) so thats something!
He's currently attempting to eat sunflower seeds but blunt teeth are kind of ruining it for him.
|
|
|
Post by teemu on Oct 13, 2021 22:59:30 GMT
Would it be possible to crush the sunflowed seeds into small crumbs, the size of smaller bread crumbs or the like? Degus do grind with their molars after using their incisors to bite off pieces of food, so giving him pieces that are small enough to fit in his mouth might entice him greatly.
|
|
|
Post by hpdegus on Oct 14, 2021 0:38:46 GMT
I can try. But I don't know if he'll be able to pick it up.
I'm just hoping he makes it through this. But I really don't know.
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 14, 2021 9:11:45 GMT
Perhaps chop some seeds and add them to to CC and oat mix. Sending strength and positivity.
|
|
|
Post by winic1 on Oct 14, 2021 19:59:32 GMT
Perhaps chop some seeds and add them to to CC and oat mix. Sending strength and positivity. Yes, for Phil I would grind his favorite seeds (pepitas) and then mix the ground seeds with some critical care and add just enough moisture to make it a thick paste, that could be formed into little pea-sized balls, so he could easily pick them up with his mouth.
|
|
|
Post by hpdegus on Oct 15, 2021 21:34:39 GMT
Thank you all for the food advice! His current favorite is oats moistened in water, but he's nibbled on the critical care mixed with sunflower seeds/minimal crock powder.
Still no weight gain. We're down to 127g. He's clearly wanting and trying to eat, which is great. I think the bunting of all of his teeth is severely hampering him. Either that or it is cancer/a nutrient absorption issue. But eating anything is still taking longer than normal. But he's taking quite a bit of time to eat (usually around 30min at a time around the soaked oats), so I think the pain is diminished.
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 16, 2021 9:08:04 GMT
Have you still got him on metacam? I wish I could think of something else to suggest.
|
|
|
Post by hpdegus on Oct 16, 2021 10:48:51 GMT
Yes, he's still on metacam. I have some baby oatmeal cereal (oat flour that you just add water to). He seemed to enjoy that yesterday. He doesn't have to chew that at all, and can just scoop it into his mouth. So we'll see if that was a one time thing or not!
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 19, 2021 11:02:12 GMT
How's it going?
|
|
|
Post by hpdegus on Oct 20, 2021 0:45:07 GMT
Honestly, unsure.
He's eating, wants to eat. However, he does not really appear to be eating solids. He really likes the baby oatmeal, which is awesome. But I don't think he really has figured out his teeth since the dental. Unsure if thats because I havent forced him to, or if everything is just too blunted now.
He still has all of his personality, but is less active during play time. He does like to climb up my shoulder to escape onto the couch though!
Weight wise, I think we're in a bit of a holding pattern. He was 131g a day after the dental, but then dropped to around 127g. Hes been hitting 131-132 in the mornings, then 135-137g at night.
|
|
|
Post by hpdegus on Oct 20, 2021 1:19:00 GMT
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Oct 20, 2021 4:11:20 GMT
Or . . . do you notice if he seems to have any difficulty swallowing? Maybe he is trying to take advantage of gravity to help things go down? That is a rather odd posture for eating.
|
|
|
Post by moletteuk on Oct 20, 2021 17:59:45 GMT
Gosh, I would have hoped his incisors would be coming good by now. My Flossie had a dodgy incisor and that used to grow at getting on for 1mm a day.
I would also guess the holding head up is something to do with swallowing or nose/ breathing.
|
|