DEXTER, ABI & SOO

[mja241281]

Well at the mo they are all in Soo's cage happily playing and exploring had a week of good intros between them and took them all to the vets in the same carry cage yesterday when we took dexter and there was no squabbling and then after had an hour long play on the landing and the same tonite.....
Just need to decide if I leave them overnight (I sleep in the same room so can hear any rumbles if they go on) but tomorrow I can't pop home at lunchtime so dunno weither to leave them together............

[deguconvert]

Well . . . what if you overnight them and then part them for the day. You can do that a few nights and if every night goes well you can start leaving them for the days as well. Would that do OK?

[mja241281]

sounds like a plan actually providing i get up early enough to get dexter and abi out of the cage before i go to work (they are slippery little things lol.)

[deguconvert]

Aren't they though?!? I came home this evening from a quick pop out to the store . . . had to get some valentines cards for my kids to take to their fellow classmates tomorrow morning . . . only to discover that two of our three had managed to get out of the cage and were running about the room!! Their top cage door was open, but they have never gone to the floor from it in two years because it is so high up. I don't have a clue if they did a kamakazi leap, or if they climbed down the bars, but they certainly got down. They were mightly pleased with them bad selves, too! Thankfully the one will come to me when I call his name, and the other, my daughter with the lightning fast reflexes was able to scoop up.

I guess that is the end of a two year long freedom. SIGH!! Can't have the dogs trying to make squeaky toys out of them!

[mja241281]

well think it's been cracked, so far we have had 2 days and 2 nights of peaceful coexistance so i think the colony has been created. just need to try them in a few weeks with coleen and lou again

[deguconvert]

That is so wonderful, MJ! Hooray! Soo must be very happy, and I am happy for her. She has had a long time alone, poor little love. You DO excel at getting lone goos together with others, MJ! Well done once again!

Is Dexter better now?

[mja241281]

Still not much improvement in dexter at the mo but we're still working on it. I'm VERY impressed with our vet for degus, he even in his spare time after seeing gabi and dexter with this problem did some research on degus and respratory problems and found a little known allergy pill which you can give to degus in very small doses. If I could i'd give the guy an award, the way he talks and handles the animals too is excellent, much like a true pet lover would thier own pets.

[deguconvert]

SWEET!! That is more than excellent, and I'm actually feeling a little envious! I hope it will help! But . . . how do you give it to Dexter? "Here you go, Dex. Swallow that and then take a drink. It'll go down nice and slick!"

[mja241281]

nope, if only it was that easy, have to dissolve half a tablet in 1ml of warm water, wait for it too cool then give him .2ml of the solution via a syringe into his mouth.....not easy lol.

[deguconvert]

How long have you been giving this stuff to Dexter? Is Dexter actually struggling with the same thing that Gabi had? Cause if he is . . . I can't help but wonder a little if it is actually something that is contagious. I hate to ask this . . . do you think Gabi died of her lung/allergy trouble?

[mja241281]

I'm not sure if it is exactly the same thing as Gabi passed from but it has crossed my mind. What makes me feel it's not contageous is the fact that Abi, who has lived with Gabi all her life and has been with dexter since Abis passing, has no signs of it at all.
The tablets have been for 5 days and he had 2 weeks of baytril previously.

I told the vet about degutopia and he said he is going to have a look at it.

After reading degutopia I'm under the impression Gabi had died from pnumonia (sp?), she had always been a heavy breather since we had her and we don't know what her past was, but it seems almost likely that whoever gave her to the rescue didn't get her treated for what ever she had and by the time she came to us and we tried but she was probably too far gone.

The vet said it could be due to stress too, and he only started sneezing after Gabi had gone too rainbow bridge. but at the same time the first time the vet saw Dexter he said his sinuses were swollen ever so slightly (which, since the baytril, had reduced).

Going to make another appointment for him at the same time as I pick up Sue from having her teeth burred.

[deguconvert]

I hope he will be showing significant improvements soon! If Gabi had a pneumonia that went untreated, it certainly would have damaged her lungs and made it tremendously difficult to successfully treat any future infections. I do remember reading (on the forum) about a degu that died recently, and the vet determined that his lungs must have been diseased rather than infected. All attempts to help him through antibiotics completely failed. I suspose that could have been Gabi's trouble as well . . . in which case she shouldn't be contagious you'd think. I really hope that whatever Dexter has will very soon be overcome and never again appear.

I expect that Sue will be very glad to have teeth that don't curve in anymore. That would be terribly uncomfortable!

Will you be posting any photos of the three of them? Hint hint

[mja241281]

yes i will be posting photos soon lol