Degu and antibiotic effectiveness

[jessica10]

Hi
I’m after some advice please. My degu is approx 4 years old and yesterday was quite poorly with a rattley chest and slept most of the day. Today she has perked up and is behaving as usual, she is still eating and behaving as normal, however her chest is still a little rattly but much improved from yesterday. With my animal friends I take them to the vet as soon as they show any signs of being under the weather but I’m not sure what to do for the best for my degu. My vets are not knowledgeable about rabbits or small furries and I am worried taking her will do more harm than good. My degu’s friend was poorly last year so I took her straight to the vet, he said it was an eye infection and that she would make a full recovery but 3 days later she died.

Does anyone have any insight - could my degu recover on her own given that she has much improved from yesterday without any treatment or should I risk it and take her to the vets for antibiotics? Do degus respond well to antibiotics? I am concerned the stress of the vet visit will undo any improvement she has made. I would appreciate any advice - I am registered with 2 local vets and can get an appointment today I just am not sure if it is in her best interests? Thank you.

[moletteuk]

It depends. It depends on the vet and depends on the degu, but we don't have medical training and we all have to ultimately rely on vets when our pets are sick. Have you checked you have selected the best vet in your area for degus? We have a vet list deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15521/vet-guide?page=1 and it can be worth contacting local rescue organisations to see who they use for rodents. Most degus usually cope with vet trips OK if they have a good hiding place in the travel cage, and you could wait in the car or ask if they have somewhere quiet if the waiting room is full of dogs.

With a chest infection it depends if it is viral or bacterial, but chest infections can become dangerous quite quickly so you would need to be sure it is improving already to not take the degu to the vet. Most degus tolerate antibiotics well although effectiveness can be a little hit and miss without doing a culture, you can also offer Critical Care or some other pre and pro biotic to help recovery and help the gut flora repopulate. I would advise taking her, but it's worth doing research on the vet.

[jessica10]

Thank you for your reply. She has perked up and is eating and drinking but I have made an appointment with our vets to get her some treatment. Thanks again.

[teemu]

Good to hear! Vet visits can cause stress, but the issue sounds like something that needs to be sorted medically, and your girl is not very old or otherwise in a poor health, so I would not be too concerned about just the vet visit itself.

Ask them to give you the names and dosages of any antibiotics or other medications you receive on paper (it's usually just in the prescription itself). People here have a lot of experience with degus and medications, so if you're feeling unsure about whether or not the vet prescribed or diagnosed correctly, we can at least check what was said and say if it looks at all like what degus are normally given.

I hope that your girl gets well! Remember to keep the carry cage well protected from the weather while you go! Hopefully it'll get sorted.