|
Post by Enadriel on Jul 23, 2011 22:02:00 GMT
Hello all! So,my lil' Moki didn't have any health problems until a month ago. He is almost 4 years old. It all started with sneezing and milky tear drop from his left eye. It went away after 2 days,but not long after he started having his left eye teary again (not milky this time) and the worst of all - breathing problems. Sometimes he sneezes few times in a row,his left eye was teary,his nose is stuffy and a bit dry,and he has trouble breathing because of it. Sometimes hes squaling and its breaking my heart. He is eating and drinking,driving his wheel,running around,but sometimes hes also lazy and very tired,usually when he has problems breathing (mostly at night). There are times when he is fine for the whole morning and day and usually at night he really breathes heavy and I am very concerned. Also,I don't think this is allergy,cause I didn't use any new product since I got him,but who knows... :/ He is taking Baytril for 3rd day now and nothing is gone except teary eye. Vet gave me Baytril at my own risk because they told me they don't know much about degus. I don't know how to help him more so I would highly appreciate any help I can get. Thank you!
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Jul 23, 2011 22:36:25 GMT
Keep on with the Baytril . . . if you can do it for a full 10 days, do! Next I would advize you do get some Olbas Oil. It is a vapour for helping with breathing. What you need to do is put a drop on your finger, and then apply it to the underside of any ledges . . . so that the vapour is mildly available, but no where that the degus can get into it so that it is on them. Another thing you can do is, assemble these things Hot water Deep bowl A straining bowl or sieve, two if you have two is great A tea towel Olbas Oil drops
Put hot (not boiling) water in the deep bowl, then place 3 drops of Olbas Oil in hot water. Put first strainer over top of the water but not touching/in the water, place second strainer upside down over top of the first strainer, and over all this, drape the tea towel. Once you have this arranged, put Moki inside for 10 minutes. This will provide a vapour bath that will help to open up the lungs, and drain out mucus that is building up in sinuses etc. Remove Moki, and make sure he is not damp. Return him to his cage, and esure he is a warm and dry. This is something you can do once or twice daily, for the first say four days, and then slowly do less as he is getting better.
Once he is fully well, be sure that you wash down all the surfaces in the cage so that there is no contaminants left that may make him ill again. In fact, you would be wise to wipe down the surfaces daily with a non-toxic, safe cleanser for cages.
I hope that you will see tremendous improvement in Moki very soon. Please let us know how he is doing. Hugs!
|
|
|
Post by Enadriel on Jul 23, 2011 23:18:09 GMT
Thank you guys,much much much appreciated. I will try everything you mentioned. I lubs my little boy "too much".
|
|
|
Post by emz on Jul 24, 2011 18:21:09 GMT
You already got the advice you need but I wanted to give my love and hope Moki recovers. Respiratory issues in small animals can be quite dangerous but it sounds like he is getting a lot of love and care so will hopefully be ok.
|
|
|
Post by Enadriel on Jul 26, 2011 10:52:44 GMT
I wanted to let you know that Moki isn't doing well. This morning I found him sitting in one spot with huge belly,swollen,inflated (i'm not sure about the word) and he's breathing very hard. I called vet again and a lady picked up the phone saying that there MIGHT be someone who knows a little bit something about degu (at least this time they knew what a degu is :/). Maybe they took a book and learned something about them since I called bunch of times. xD Anyhow,she told me to hurry asap to catch the doc. So,Moki and I are waiting for our ride to the vet station,I will let you know how did that go. Thanx for your support. I hope there will be no need to put him to sleep.
|
|
|
Post by nuttz on Jul 26, 2011 11:57:07 GMT
oh dear, im very sorry to hear that moki isnt feeling well.. i really hope everything goes ok at the vets and moki makes a swift recovery! please let us know how you get on xx
|
|
|
Post by malteser60 on Jul 26, 2011 12:53:23 GMT
Oh no enadriel, I really hope that the vet can try something.
Right, I don't know if you'll read this in time but I've had a look on the degutopia website. So, if he's been breathing through his mouth a lot then the air is getting trapped in his stomach causing the bloating.
From degutopia: Mouth breathing is the process by which degus attempt to suck in air through the mouth due to obstruction in the nasal passages. Air ends up in the stomach and trapped in the intestines, causing excessive bloating. Degus do not usually recover from this stage. Monitor your degu's teeth regularly, if necessary ask your vet to x-ray the skull to monitor molar tooth roots (elodontoma). Maintain good cage hygiene to help prevent sinus infections.
Also under bloating: Bloating- unsanitary living conditions, stress, feeding too much green vegetable matter. May also be caused by protozoal parasite infection56. Bloating develops secondary to mouth-breathing (see mouth section above). Maintain good cage hygiene, avoid unnecessary stress, feed fresh greens in small amounts twice a week. Isolate infected degus. Avoid handling bloated degus, if lethargic seek veterinary attention immediately.
Unfortunately there are no treatment suggestions apart from seeking vet help, which is what you're doing.
|
|
|
Post by Enadriel on Jul 26, 2011 14:48:22 GMT
Hey! We are back. Yet again they proved that I am living in a fucked up country. Not a single person wanted to check him out,cause they don't know anything. I was happy to see that Moki demolished cage he was in at vets,he was proper wild man. His tummy is changing so I hope he will get well. Thanx everyone!
|
|
|
Post by fred on Jul 26, 2011 15:22:55 GMT
So glad to hear this Do you know or suspect what may have been wrong?
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Jul 26, 2011 19:24:51 GMT
I want to know too, although I don't know if I'll have another chance to be on line again before I return home.
|
|
|
Post by Enadriel on Jul 27, 2011 9:31:17 GMT
Sorry,I couldn't reach my computer before now. I have no idea what was/is wrong. So,today he has teary eye again,his swollen tummy is gone,hes back to skinny,he's driving his wheel,had fight with a hammock and hes very social. He is still breathing hard thou. I need to give him Baytril until Friday (that's the last day),so we'll see. I'm so very disappointed in vets thou. They called us to the station,we got in,main doctor sent us to another doctor and he said to go to another. lol,seriously?!
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Jul 28, 2011 4:08:53 GMT
Have you been using the Olbas oil and steam bath I described?
|
|
|
Post by Enadriel on Jul 29, 2011 10:00:38 GMT
smux - Yep,I know,I agree. I didn't find any exotic pets vets either. It's just "bah" Country. deguconvert - I didn't find the Olbas oil,I wanted to order it online,it will take some time to arrive. BUT the great thing is : Moki is totally getting better. No stuffy nose anymore,tummy is fine. There are 2 things left : Teary left eye (came back :/) and breathing. He is breathing like he ran around a bit,but he's not struggling to breathe like before. Hes on Baytril until tomorrow so I'll let you know whats happening.
|
|
|
Post by malteser60 on Jul 29, 2011 14:16:26 GMT
enadriel, the teary left eye seems to be a tooth problem in all honesty. Degus are prone to two types of tooth problem: 1) malocclusion - where the teeth are misaligned 2) they can get a tumour-like growth (stress NOT a tumour as in cancer) at the roots of their teeth. Point 2 normally causes sinsus infections (stuffy nose), breathing through the mouth (bloated tummy) and teary eye (caused by sinus infection). The vet would need to take an x-ray to determine if this is the cause and possibly be examined under general anasthetic. From what I've been reading Baytril and Metacam are first used to try and shrink the growth. Surgery is always a last resort. However that always leaves you with the problem of finding a good vet! Oh, and meant to say that Olbas oil can be bought at boots.
|
|
|
Post by malteser60 on Jul 29, 2011 21:56:09 GMT
Boots is in the US too smux, unless enadriel is not from the UK or US. Must admit took a gamble there that she's from one of the two. ;D Ok, thing is if it's malocclusion then more things to chew on will help to an extent. But if it's a growth then only medication or surgery will fix it. Chewing more won't solve it. However it sounds like Moki is reacting positively to the medication which is a big relief. I must say, I know he was ill in the pic but that is one cute degu!
|
|
|
Post by Enadriel on Jul 30, 2011 10:22:48 GMT
Nice try with "Enad". I will murder your dearest flatmate. Back on topic...You are a bit evil to say that Moki isn't really the pet for me,but I get your point. There are degus in pet shops,there are people who are giving them away (thats how I got mine),and we for sure didn't bring them to Croatia (aka I wouldn't go to lets say UK to buy a degu knowing that no one knows thing about it). We are all in the same position when this thing happens,and I wasn't really aware that vets don't know thing when I got my Moki. TBH,I will probably go and get one from the shop cause I saw him last week,hes so cute and young. He is in a small white box with food and water. It is horrible how he's locked up with no space at all. There,he can get in the hands of other family who's kid pointed finger at him saying "he's so cute,I want that one",and lets say they don't know thing about degus and they would probably never do all the things I did for Moki. People accidently buy female and male and in no time,they have bunch of lil degus they don't know what to do with. I would rather have them in my house than left alone in the woods/streets/even in houses where people don't really care about them. I assure you,no matter what,I am trying and giving all I am able to,and I know its not enough,but no one around here would or cared to do the same. I know some people with degus and thats why I am saying all this,cause I know how they treat them,etc.
|
|
|
Post by malteser60 on Jul 30, 2011 11:34:52 GMT
sorry i got your country completely wrong enadriel! it really wasn't good of me to assume where you were from. Whatever happens to Moki he really is the best hands possible with you as you are looking after him really well. And it sounds like getting the other degu from the shop is a great idea as not only are you going to give him a better life than either the shop or some family buying him with no knowledge of degus, but Moki will also have a friend to cuddle up to... that is if introductions go well! Please do keep us informed of Moki, keep on with the antibiotics also as it will help rid of any possible infections (seeing as it's difficult to find a vet to accurately diagnose Moki). Also see if you can find somebody with an apple or pear tree (assuming here that they grow in Croatia ) and get some twigs for him to chew on. Otherwise you can do what smux says and get some kiln dried pine and chop them up into small pieces. I put pieces of wood on a small chain going across the cage and my goos go mad over twirling them round and trying to chew them off.
|
|
|
Post by fred on Jul 30, 2011 11:35:29 GMT
You are a bit evil to say that Moki isn't really the pet for me I couldn't agree more. You are in the unfortunate situation that you don't have a vet who knows about degus and we all (well, most of us anyway) feel with you. You just have to try to make the best of it. It is irresponsible (and does not belong on this forum, moderators!) to suggest that no vet may be an option. Malteser has made some good points about tooth problems, and if it were a growth you would to have to have him seen by a vet. If necessary, I can offer to discuss it with a specialist vet here at the Vet School. They may be able to suggest information that your local vet can access. How is Moki doing at the moment?
|
|
|
Post by malteser60 on Jul 30, 2011 11:40:39 GMT
If necessary, I can offer to discuss it with a specialist vet here at the Vet School. They may be able to suggest information that your local vet can access. That is an excellent idea fred! I know that for vets who are unsure of how to treat a degu, chloe from degutopia recommends telling the vet that the closest animal to a degu is the guniea pig (I believe it's a guniea pig - somebody correct me otherwise). I know for neutering that's the case. But having information from a vet who knows how to treat a degu is even better. Thanks for suggesting that fred.
|
|
|
Post by Enadriel on Jul 30, 2011 13:03:48 GMT
@malteaser - Np about the Country thing,you are actually giving me a compliment (I must be speaking English at least well than). Moki has apple tree sticks and loads of toys to chew. He destroys em in no time I ordered this yesterday cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200612176998&ssPageName=STRK ,mate said its safe. I hope Moki will love it. @fred - Thank you. Moki is breathing through his nose,he sneezed 2 times today and that's it.His eye wasn't teary at all...not even yesterday (yeeey). His tummy got bigger again this morning,but its gone again. :/ He is/looks much better than few days ago,but I am still worried. This is the last day of Baytril. I got told to get him a vitamin "therapy" after,and I do own a bottle of vitamins for rodents,so I will start with that tomorrow. He was taking em already,so they are safe. This is Moki yesterday : He's funny...his posing when being tickled...
|
|