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Post by malabui on Jul 17, 2005 2:46:52 GMT -8
Jade (black female, age about 3) seems to have had a stroke yestoday/last night.
-Shes not opening her eyes
-She is wobbly on her paws
-Se hasn't managed to drink at the water bottle, but she has nibbled some apple and has a small dish of water down stairs
-She kept getting her back paw stuck in the ladder (she insists on going upstairs) so I have replased it with this wooden sticks like thing which creates a ladder for her which she can't get her paws stuck in
-She has lost wieght cos shes not really eating, but she is taking pine nuts which are softish
But is there anything else I can do to help her?
Has anyone else had a gerbil who has had a stroke before?
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Post by maxthegerbil on Jul 17, 2005 10:51:16 GMT -8
Hi. I`m sorry to hear about Jade. Have a look at this link which explains some gerbil ailments aswell as strokes: www.gerbils.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/gerbils/ailments.htmIn rats who have suffered a stroke, treatment can consist of steroid injection, antibiotics such as Baytril combined with Amoxicillin and/or an anti-infamatory. However, apart from Baytril, the others are not listed as being used in gerbil treatment on any charts I have seen. Your vet would advise you on this. I wish jade the best of luck and hope she does`nt take any more follow up attacks. make sure she can eat and drink because otherwise she will deteriorate quickly. Use a dropper/pippet to offer her a few drops of water if she is`nt strong enough to reach her regular water bottle. Apple should be good and does`nt cause runny poos as other veg might, so I would`nt feed too many veggies right now, if at all, since gerbils don`t need them anyway. Good luck. |
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Post by malabui on Jul 17, 2005 13:29:16 GMT -8
-I moved Jade's water bottle down a few rungs (the bars on cage are horizonal) so it is easier for her to reach and I have seen her drink from it. (Jade says that shes NOT taking water from a hand!)
-She only has the apple downstairs because she may not feel like haveing water
-She does seem to like putting her teeth around and into things at the moment. Like, the wooden 'bridge' (which replaced her ladder) and the broccoi and an Ice-cream cone (that never had any ice-cream in it)
-Her Eyes are still closed, but she IS still alive.
-Would it be worth taking her to the vet? I mean the stress of going there verses the limited treatment for her
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Post by AndreaS15 on Jul 17, 2005 16:38:00 GMT -8
One of my first gerbils was almost 4 years old when she had a stroke.
I made sure to up her protine by feeding her extra cat/kitten food, and added apple sauce every day (no suger added kind) to keep her hydrated.
Being she was paralized down her left side it was hard for her to get around, and to eat. So i fed her more soft foods (like the apple sauce) and opened seeds.
I would suggest having a one level home for your older gerbil, just like older people stairs and such can be hard work and can hurt them (fall off, get stuck, sore back and legs). Make sure the water bottle is low (very low) and feed apple sauce in a small dish for her (most love it) the water and natural sugars will keep her hydrated and give her energy (to eat and such).
Good luck!
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Post by malabui on Jul 18, 2005 12:39:35 GMT -8
I would have Jade on one level, but she has always had 2 levels and she will go upstairs and sit on her wooden block listening to the radio. If I took a level away, not only would she get confused not knowing where stuff is, she'd also be rather annoyed that I took her favorite seat away.
The water bottle is low, but not too low cos she finds haveing to tilt her head when drinking uncomfortable.
She also seems to be likeing the wood thing I put in instead of the ladder and is finding that soo much easier to get up and down on, she also can't trap her legs in it.
She has been eating the pine nuts and a few shelled pumkin seeds, but I'm wonderin how I would be able to get her to eat the apple sauce. She doesn't like putting her face in her food. Shes too full of dignerty.
Her eyes are still closed tight. Any ideas of why that is or what I should do about it?
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Jul 18, 2005 13:56:11 GMT -8
I have also had a gerbil with a stroke! She was after that paralized at one size of her face! One eye was always stucked! I had to wash her eye almost daily with nice warm water to open it! But that was the only problem she had, and she lives still for more than a year. Here a photo of her:  You can see that one ear is not upright, and that one eye is not as clean as the other. But your gerbil had a much more severe stroke than mine! Sometimes it will improve after a while, but sometimes not! Are the eyes stuck? You know the best what to do, how she is now. Good luck, and keep us updated! |
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Post by malabui on Jul 18, 2005 14:04:49 GMT -8
-Could the stroke have blinded her and thats why she isn't opening her eyes?
-I know that her full brother (Kinks) died of a stroke, so perhaps its heirditory.
-She seems livelyer this evening and shes eaten some more apple and moved about.
-She still seems to fall asleep alot even when she has is eating.
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Post by Ritzie/Admin on Jul 18, 2005 14:10:23 GMT -8
The stroke can indeed have blinded her! The cause is a brain haemorrhage or a blood clot in a blood vessel in the gerbil's brain. It depends on where this brain haemorrhage or a blood clot is in the brain. If it is the part that controls sight, it can get blinded because of it. I think it can indeed be heirditory.
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