any clue how much this would cost?

[abrad]

recently i had one of my gerbils die and the other is on his own, i was going to look for a new friend for him but the store doesn't have any new boys yet! anyway right now the one that is left (Red.... I don't know why i named him that....he's gray with black eyes) has gotten diarrhea suddenly! He was fine the other day, but he seems a little more tired and is very messy on his butt and tail. he's not very warm, not cold, but he's not as warm feeling as usual. so right now i'm keeping him on a warm plate and heating it up every few minutes. he got off the first time cause i got it too hot, but after that he laid down next to it and gets in it right away each time right now.

how much would it cost me to take him to a vet and get whatever treatment would help him get better?? he's only a few months old right now.

[ohmylokix]

My vet charged $20 for the vet fee and $10 for the medicine. He needs to see a vet ASAP. This could be a disease communicable to people.

[abrad]

he just got up to get some water so i took his bowl upstairs to put in the microwave again, i came downstairs while waiting for it to heat up and cool some and he was standing where the bowl was kinda funny.... he wasn't sitting, just kinda standing up in an odd way on all his feet.... i came back down with the bowl and he was in his food dish!!11 then he climbed into the bowl like it was hard to and started acting kinda like he was scared... is he getting really bad? he was fine this morning he keeps moving positions in the bowl and jumping a little

[abrad]

How would i get the disease from him??

[ohmylokix]

If it is E. Coli or Salmonella, then you could get it from touching him and not disinfecting your hands RIGHT after.

[abrad]

o.k. I washed my hands right after i first noticed his diarrhea and everytime I touch something he's messed with since I saw that earlier today, i'll keep it in mind til tomorrow when i can get him to the vet.

[abrad]

actually I dont think it could be e coli or salmonella. more info on this, I had him and his brother for about 2 months, but a week ago their aquarium was knocked off the corner of the table it was on and his brother had 2 open fractures (? where the bone is out) but i didn't know the bone was out til I was looking at his broken legs again the next day, i read that you could only really do amputation for them like that and to try to keep it from being infected so i was washing it with a q tip that had a little rubbing alchohol on it each morning and night, and when mom was going to let me take him to the vet i found him dead that morning. that was about 4 days ago and Red seemed sad so i was saving my money to buy him a new friend and another cage to try to do a split cage with (i read all about it and seperating them) and Red seemed just fine until today aside from being depressed looking after he saw his brother was gone

so i think there must have been some infection that killed his brother and now he's sick from it too??/ his leg also got hurt but he was walking fine the next day after it happened unlike his brother pete so i think it was something from this.

[ohmylokix]

4 diseases cause diarrhea in gerbils.

E. Coli- humans can get
Salmonella- humans can get
Staph- humans can get
Tyzzer's- deadly within 24 hours

Staph would infect both of them, and you.

[abrad]

so how would he have gotten one of these? he seemed fine before now

[ohmylokix]

Staph is the bacteria that causes infected wounds. So if your boy tried to clean the other's leg, he would have ingested it. And staph causes food poisoning.. which causes diarrhea.

[abrad]

That makes me feel bad because I was encouraging him to comfort his brother when he was hurt. and now i cant sleep tonight :\ gonna get him to the vet at 7 tomorrow but Im scared now he wont make it to the morning because he's gotten more and more slow and is just standing around with his eyes half open or shut but still standing