stuffed

My server doesn't carry any degu groups, and I have a very sick one here.

He's got a suspected respiratory infection, but after the trip to the vets
(45 mins each way) he's very bloated and lifeless. The suspicion is he's
been swallowing air while getting stressed on the journey (he was OK before
going), and the vet has said it's best to leave alone. However, he doesn't
seem to be improving at all, if anything he's getting worse.

I know the general way of treating mild cases in guinea pigs (gripe water or
vet prescribed equivalent, pineapple juice to get things moving and clear
any potential blockages), but this is a serious case and I don't know if the
same treatment applies. I can't trust any of the local vets to deal with
this, and I genuinely don't think he'll survive another long journey in his
condition

Any suggestions or pointers to relelvent sources of info?

stuffed

I altered the doseage of gripewater I'd give to a guinea (so I gave him
0.4ml), and it didn't seem to help. After about an hour I gave him another
..4ml, he was looking seriously ill (and though he's not well anyway, he was
reasonably fit before the trip/ swallowed air incident).

Phoned the CCT (Cambridge Cavy Trust - I strongly recommend anyone in the UK
who reads this group joins them, don't know if they're open to international
membership though) who advised Dentinox infant colic drops. I rushed out and
bought a bottle, but when I syringed up the dose and went to get him out the
cage, he felt very saggy and not at all tight like he was earlier. I tried
to get at least a little of the Dentinox in him as there's still an element
of hollowness when lightly tapping his side, but he was obviously feeling
much fitter as I simply couldn't get him to keep his head still and take
any. Gave up, he scampered along my arm and looked most displeased with the
world, so plonked him back in the cage, in his hammock
(http://www.hammockyhammocks.co.uk - Some pigs also like them, but it's important
to get the height etc just right with piggies!). He stumbled around
sleepily, refused the half raison I offered him (cause my fingers smelt of
stinky colic drops), then clambered out and wandered to the food platform.
That's much better than he's managed since around half 6pm when he got home,
so fingers crossed he's feeling a bit better. Still a long way to go with
the infection (or possible tumour, have to face the possibility), but at
least the critical bloat seems to be subsiding, thankfully!

ladysown

so..how did things turn out with your little fella?

stuffed

Not good

Got the first bloat incident under control and cured, so it looked like it
was a matter of him getting stressed and swallowing asir on the drive (the
vet is *very* good, which is why I go there, but also 30 minutes further
away than the local but useless ones). Though that vet is good, I'm not so
sure the advice to let him sort himself bloat wise was really ideal, but it
was easy to treat that time so I'll let that pass.

However, he'd been making a dry rasping sneeze for a while, started a week
before I took him in but I wanted to see if he'd improve without antibiotics
(as I try to avoid giving small furries anything that harsh to them unless
it's necessary). When he wasn't getting any better he ended up on 0.1ml
Septrin twice daily, but I didn't seem to help at all. From experience that
sort of dose should be making a difference within 2 or 3 days, and it simply
wasn't.

Yesterday he felt a little swollen when I gave him his morning medication,
but he was still alert, bright eyed and active, and in the afternoon I saw
him at the food bowl and bouncing around as he had been for the last couple
of weeks - Not fully fit, but certainly not seriously ill looking. Then I
had to pop out for an hour early evening, got back and checked on him
straight away - He was seriously bloated, but not quite as bad as he was the
other night. I gave him 1ml of the colic drops I've got in, and left him an
hour. He was clearly in discomfort, and starting to stretch and jerk. I gave
him some gripe water after an hour as it worked last time, but this time he
was clearly getting more and more bloated. I ended up massaging him to try
and get his gut moving, but he was really losing the battle quite quickly.

Called teh local vet as it was an emergency and he wouldn't make the trip to
the good vets, and rushed him in. This time they did everything that could
be done (venting his stomach with a fine needle - a lot of gas came out, as
he was about twice his normal size at this point), but he wasn't picking up.
He had a steroid shot, but as she was preparing a fluid jab I realised he
wasn't moving at all any more in my hands

It seems whatever caused the bloat this time was either terminal itself, or
led to his gut twisting, which is terminal. Even after he'd died he
continued to swell again, so there was something very wrong with his poor
little stomach. After venting, though the pressure was released from his
body, he still couldn't breathe properly - Though he was in shock by this
point I would still have expected him to have been able to breathe with more
success than he was managing.

So it looks like he had something stopping him breathing properly that the
usual antibiotics couldn't treat. There's a suspicion he may have developed
a tumour or other growth in his airways, or I think it could have been
somethnig as simple as a foreign body (bit of hay for example) gettign
****ed up and stuck where it couldn't be found and removed. Whatever, I
think this led to him falling more and more ill as he simply couldn't
breathe as he should, so his whole body would've started to go wrong over
time, possibly leading to a very serious infection setting in or other
severe conditions (I don't know *that* much about the internal goings on
with these critters). He did really well to go the last couple of weeks, and
though he was clearly not well he was still quite happy until the last 5 or
6 hours. I never want to see an animal go through what he did at the end
though, it was truly horrible, I wish he had stopped fighting instead of
dragginmg it out so painfully as he did. But at least at the end he was back
to his normal size and full of steroids and pain relief, so though the
eveningmust have been agony, the end was fairly painless for him. Though I'm
sure like me, he'd have preferred to pull through and be back at the food
bowl this morning

And now I have to worry about his cagemate, who started the year with a
severe respiratory infection (cured very quickly with Septrin, which is why
I rate it highly), and has now had 2 dental operations. He's looking rather
miserable, he was with Another for a great deal of last night, and knew he
was very ill, but he still looks at me hoping I'll bring him back I've
got to concentrate on keeping him happy enough to eat, as any break in
eating properly could flare his teeth up again, and mean he'll need another
operation.

All in all, not the best end to the year - And not the best end to Another,
seems so unfair after he fought so damned hard and was so bright and alive
right up until yesterday

ladysown

so sorry to hear.... poor little fellow. hope your other fellow does
just fine....

stuffed

He's deciding to scare me by having a slightly damp looking nose - I've
cleaned and sterilised the cage and everything in it (other than him of
course, as I don't think he'd be impressed!), and I also weighed him and
he's showing 20g less than he was a couple of months ago. But then there's
been a change of season and I was using new scales, so can't be sure how
much to read into that.

I give him one nut (almond or hazlenut) a week as a treat that will make him
have to work his teeth - And today he decided he had to bury it. So gave him
another, which he buried. Dug out the first one, gave it him, he buried
it...

He's been through quite a lot and isn't all that young in degu years, so I'm
always worried. Just a bit more so right now with everything that's happened
recently

kelvyn

What is a 'degu'?

No Guinea Pigs were harmed during the writing or sending of this post.


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ladysown

hey kelvyn

go check out here:
http://www.google.ca/search?q=degu+-+picture&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official
http://www.degus.org/english/fotk.asp?zalozka=foto&FotoAlbum=0
pics of degus. They are a small little rodent.

stuffed

I've actually been asked that by vets in the past...

They're genetically sort of in between a chinchilla and a guinea pig - Think
short haired chinchilla with a bit of a guinea pig like head. Or guinea pig
with a tail, yellow teeth and the ability to jump and climb very well.

Terrible lap pets, but pretty intelligent, inquisitive and friendly. And
sadly, prone to various illnesses

kelvyn

Funny little things (but cute)...look like wanabee guinea pigs to me...what
you get when you can't be the real thing !
kelvyn.

No Guinea Pigs were harmed during the writing or sending of this post.


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