Poorly degu

[jessielouly]

Hi all, my degu, Sweet Dee is just over 7 years old. On Saturday late morning I noticed she wasn't acting like herself, very sleepy and lethargic, stretching a lot and I saw a bit of a wet poo. She didn't eat or drink anything all day, I kept trying to tempt her but nothing worked.

When I woke up Sunday, there were a few more wet poo patches dotted around but she seemed more like herself, she came over when I walked in and was interested in eating and drinking, and even running in the wheel. She seemed tired through the day but generally was back to normal, normal poops too.

This morning she has gone downhill again, there was some poo with some blood around it this morning and she is back to stretching and just looks tired. She also looks as though she has lost weight but she isn't the best at being handled, so I have never weighed her 😞

My vets open at 9am and I will take her in but wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar. I don't want her to be suffering.

[moletteuk]

See what the vet says, but probably the best thing is Critical Care and keep her hydrated, this might mean syringe feeding the CC if necessary. It could be some kind of infection, but it could be something going on internally like a tumour at that age.

[bouncy]

I can't suggest more than Molette. When this happened with mine, I took them to the vet. If you don't mind the extra cost, they can take a sample (or you can bring one with you), and they can determine the cause from that.

[jessielouly]

Thank you both, I got her in with the vet this morning and they gave her a good examination. She had lost a lot of weight and was very skinny, the vet was quite concerned. She has no appetite and syringe feeding would have been very stressful for her, so we agreed that the best decision was to let her go. She was very uncomfortable and not her usual bright self, but sad none the less.

[savvy]

I'm so very sorry, but it sounds like you made the right decision.

Rest in peace little one.

[bouncy]

I'm sorry to hear this, but you have done what's best. If there's no obvious cause to treat, the stress of tests would have worn you both down. It was a good call.