Post by mahala on Apr 15, 2015 12:32:20 GMT -8
Hi. We got my son three gerbils a month ago. They were 6 weeks old at the time. Two weeks later, the most dominant of the three broke her front right paw. We took her to the vet who suggested euthanasia, or alternatively, amputation. My son was horrified! We eventually agreed to try putting her in a small separate cage, to try and minimise her use of the leg. She was given painkillers each day. The vert warned it might not work and if the break became an open fracture said are only option would be euthanasia. We went for a check up a week later, and she had made a remarkable recovery. We began introducing her back to her sisters, and two days later, she went back into the main cage.
That was Friday afternoon. On Monday morning, I noticed her hobbling again, and it seems that this time she has broken her back right leg. I've moved her into the smaller cage again, and have resumed the painkillers.
She's got a calcium supplement snack.
We had changed the main cage after she broke her leg the first time, fearful that the set-up we had wasn't ideal, and we bought a gerbilarium. I don't know if she's particularly clumsy, catching her feet in the ladders or platforms (the other two, who regularly climb the bars, have had no issues), or if there might be a deeper problem with her.
I know we probably need to take her back to the vet, but I wanted to ask whether anyone has experience of a gerbil with repeated broken bones, or a gerbil who went on to live a happy life after breaking a rear leg. After last time, I did some research and found that amputation and euthanasia seemed very much last resorts rather than first options. Last time our vet seemed to suggest that a broken rear leg would mean we could only put the gerbil to sleep, and I'm keen to avoid that if there's a (humane) route to her getting through this (ie, I don't want to put her through unnecessary pain, but don't want to cut short her life needlessly either!).
Apologies for the essay.
That was Friday afternoon. On Monday morning, I noticed her hobbling again, and it seems that this time she has broken her back right leg. I've moved her into the smaller cage again, and have resumed the painkillers.
She's got a calcium supplement snack.
We had changed the main cage after she broke her leg the first time, fearful that the set-up we had wasn't ideal, and we bought a gerbilarium. I don't know if she's particularly clumsy, catching her feet in the ladders or platforms (the other two, who regularly climb the bars, have had no issues), or if there might be a deeper problem with her.
I know we probably need to take her back to the vet, but I wanted to ask whether anyone has experience of a gerbil with repeated broken bones, or a gerbil who went on to live a happy life after breaking a rear leg. After last time, I did some research and found that amputation and euthanasia seemed very much last resorts rather than first options. Last time our vet seemed to suggest that a broken rear leg would mean we could only put the gerbil to sleep, and I'm keen to avoid that if there's a (humane) route to her getting through this (ie, I don't want to put her through unnecessary pain, but don't want to cut short her life needlessly either!).
Apologies for the essay.