Worried sick, please help :(

[ettolrahc]

I'm going out of my mind with worry and since it's late at night where I live I can't take my degu to the vets until tomorrow. I was hoping that someone could give me an idea of what's wrong with him and how best to make him comfortable until then .

This evening when I opened the cage door to refill the degu food I noticed one of my boys (Brian) didn't come rushing up to greet me the second it opened like he normally would. I didn't think too much of it, but even after I put the food in he didn't go for it and just stood still so I started to worry.

When I picked him up to see how he was he didn't squirm or try to avoid me and when I sat him on my lap he didn't try to run away, which is another weird thing because normally the 2 of them are so full of beans and aren't overly keen on being handled (I know that must make me sound like a horrible owner ).

Looking closer I noticed that his face seemed poofy, especially under his eyes which looked more squinted than normal, and his spine felt awful - far more prominent than usual toward his legs and back end. I tried to hand feed him a pellet which he did take but it took so much longer than usual; he's normally a right greedy man! And then worst of all, when I put him back into his cage he started walking all lop-sided like he had no balance, and one time he even fell over entirely.

It breaks my heart so much to see him like this, I don't know what it could be . Nothing new has been put in his cage, no change of diet, no new substrates! He seemed fine yesterday so it's not like there's been any warning . I feel so so terrible, I hope that the vets can fix him up tomorrow but I can't shake this feeling that they won't be able to and it'll be my fault .

[abirose]

I'm not to great with goo health but I'm pretty clued up about rats, is the little fella holding his head at a funny angle? Is he an older degu? I'm just wondering if it was maybe a stroke, just as it seems to have come on quite quickly. I imagine if it was an infection it would have been something that would have got worse and not just suddenly happened. He might have had a bad fall or something?

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you hun! Try not to beat yourself up it sounds like your doing the best you can

[ettolrahc]

I'm not sure about the head thing, his whole body seems a little lopsided so it's hard to tell...he's only around 2 year old so I'd guess he'd be too young for a stroke? I think you're probably right with the bad fall thing - earlier today he tried to jump onto a ledge and instead just crashed into it and fell down, though I'm not sure if that's the cause or the symptom...

Vets tomorrow anyway hopefully they can shine some light on the situation. Thanks for the advice and concern . I've put his snugglesafe in for the night so I'm going to try get some sleep myself now, here's hoping Brian's improved a little when I wake up!

[deguconvert]

It's difficult to say what the trouble may be, as there seem to be lots of different issues that can cause this kind of behavior. Ear infections, jaw and tooth issues, diabetes that has come on aggressively, trouble in the digestive tract to name a few. Keep him warm, and with as little stress as possible. Warming a brick and wrapping it in cloth, or rice in a sock and micrwaved, hot water bottle also wrapped in a cloth are all ways that you can use to help him stay warm.

Please let us know how he is doing! I'll be thinking of you.

[jayner27]

just read this and it made me feel so sad, just wanted to wish you all the best at the vets today hun and hope brian has improved this morning xxxxxx

[malteser60]

Please let us know how he got on at the vets.

[Kins]

Dec 14, 2011 9:19:43 GMT malteser60 said:

Please let us know how he got on at the vets.

Ditto. Thinking of you.

[blossombrooks]

I only just read this, is there any news? Hope he's doing better.

[ettolrahc]

Thank you everyone for the kind words.

I rang to book an appointment with our vets this morning but the only person comfortable with degus is out of town until tomorrow, and since none of the other vets I rang in the area were willing to see him either, Brian won't be getting seen to until early tomorrow morning.

He seems to be doing a little better today though - he's still not moving an awful lot, instead opting to keep himself toasty on his snugglesafe, but when I have seen him move he seems a bit sturdier than he did yesterday. His appetite hasn't really came back though...I have no idea where all his weight went, he seemed quite portly like his brother until just a couple of days ago! So I'm going to go out soon and get some things in to make the treats DC posted in the "Recipe for food to entice a sick degu to eat" thread, which will hopefully pique his interest !

I'll let everyone know how he is getting on after his trip to the vets tomorrow. Thank you all again for being so kind, it really makes a difference knowing other people are hoping my little man is okay too.

[hellsbells]

Thinking about you. Hope he's doing ok

[ettolrahc]

Brian and I have just gotten back from the vets, and nothing too terrible seems to be wrong! He'd already perked up a lot in the past 2 days, so by the time I'd gotten to the vets he was acting right as rain, which makes me think maybe his funny walking was just from the knock to his head .

Anyway, we got told that everything in his mouth is fine and his teeth look really healthy even at the back, though he is a little underweight! He's now being syringe fed 3 times daily in case its a pain in his mouth/jaw which is stopping him from eating, and should be back to his usual self in 4-5 days. Failing that he'll be put on antibiotics to treat any possible infection and if that doesn't work he'll be put on painkillers, but I don't think it will get that far since he's already looking much happier .

Overall a pretty pain-free trip, although he did leap heroically out of the veterinarians hands at one point, narrowly missing landing on the floor ! He's taken to syringe feeding okay and is back running around with his brother .

Very relieved it's not something more serious, thanks everyone for the support ;D.

[Kins]

Great news! Well done Brian.

[coronasol]

Such wonderful news he is doing so much better Hopefully once he puts the weight back on he'll be right as rain, it must be such a relief for you

[hellsbells]

Fab news :-)

[deguconvert]

So glad to hear he is doing so much better!! Thanks for letting us know. Keep going strong, Brian!!

[jayner27]

bless the little fella... lovely news xx

[smithomatic]

haha, my baby degu did this to me aswell !

Degus are like small children, they make a huge fuss about being ill but as soon as you take them to the doctors they miraculously recover..

CRAZY GOOS