What to I give an old gerbil?

[Sami]

My male gerbil is only braely over a year old, but he has lost so much weight and his fur looks list and just...doesn't have a healthy sheen anymore. He's very active and clever and eats like a pig, but is losing soo much weight and hardly weighs anything at all, he's more then 1/2 the size smaller then his son, which is an enormous difference looking at them. He looks so thin, what should I feed him?

Their are no vets that will look at rodents in our area, I know you're supposed to give less fat and protein as they get older, but what should I give him more of?

Like fresh fruits? Or not, or maybe oatmeal or linseed? I just need him to gain some weight, no problem with activity he's just scaring me because he's so tiny.

[abbey]

1yr isn't old, so he must be ill..

Have you checked his teeth aren't overgrown? Is he eating or drinking at all?

[Sami]

he's eating and drinking fine, his condition has been slowly deteriorating over the last 6 months or so. I got him from a petstore, my male gerbils from breeders are still big, bulky boys but not him When I found him he was on pine or cedar bedding and had a big red nose but was healthy otherwise, but might have been really young, maybe only 4 weeks old, he was all by himself. When I put him on carefresh his nose got better, but that was last year.

While he gets skinner the fur on the base of his tail seems to be rubbing off also. I don't think it's overgrooming his son can knock him down accidently running into him, he has almost no mass at all. But I don't think he has a disease or anything, no wet tail, no RI, and I checked for mites to.

He seems so delicate now, is their something I can feed him to put some weight back on him? I thought he might have an inner ear infection because sometimes he looks up with his head tilted, but sometimes it's not and I guess it would have to be permenant. I never see him scratching or rubbing his ears either, he's just losing a lot of weight. I was going to give him extra peanuts, but then I thought he might just be aging faster.

[meganb52]

you could try giving him some all natural peanut butter... To me it sounds like either a parasitic problem (worms) or a teeth problem. Have you picked him up and really taken a good look at his front teeth? If they are overgrown he may be trying to eat, but nothing is making it in. It would really help if you could convince a vet to take a look at his teeth if they look overgrown to you.

The lower teeth should rest just below and behind where the upper teeth come out on top. If they look long, some human fingernail clippers can take them down with someone restraining him well.

If he's wormy, they should be able to do a fecal exam to look for eggs. all you would need to do is collect fecal pellets from him by getting him out a few times in a day and putting the pellets in a plastic baggie in the fridge. when you have 15-20 pellets, you can take them to the vet and tell them you want them to do a fecal flotation. Rodents often get pinworms, and it's something that can be easily treated with a cheap dewormer like strongid at a dose of 10-15mg/kg which is repeated in 2-3 weeks.

In either case, all they would have to do is take a quick look at the gerb, and get a weight to dose the medicine or quickly cut back the teeth. I don't think they'd refuse your money if you were able to tell them exactly what you wanted done, especially if you've done the initial exam. Take a look at his teeth, and if they look like all your other gerbils teeth, collect some feces and take them to the vet along with your gerbil. Have them weigh him and give you the dewormer. You can tell them the dose I gave you is from Plumb's Veterinary Drug handbook. Good luck, and let us know how he does!

-Megan
3rd year veterinary student

[Sami]

Thank you for your advice!! I didn't know gerbils could get worms before. I gave him some peanut butter on a spoon, I didn't think he'd like it but he grabbed the spoon with both paws and started nibbling it as fast as he could. When he looked bored his son woke up and came to eat some, and it made the dad jealous and he went back to wolfing it down. He ate some oatmeal flakes, I watched carefully to make sure he was actually eating them and had him stand on his hind legs, but his teeth look normal. I couldn't really see them at all even though he was nibbling, but I don't think they've fallen out or anything because he's been like this for so long and is able to eat the food and crack shells quickly.

I didn't want to give him to much but he ate a whole tipful off a small plastic spoon. His coat isn't looking good so I'll try giving him a chinahilla sand bath to.

I have a question, if the dad has worms wouldn't his son have gotten it after all this time, or some of the other gerbils? I switch toys and jars so everyone gets something new, and no one else looks like him I took him out but he didn't defeceate, he and his son only go in a glass jar. I'll keep trying though and try to find a vet who will check it for me, but all the clinics here are canine or feline, and one bird, no other specialties.

Is their any other way to tell if he has worms?

[meganb52]

There really isn't another way other than having a vet do a fecal exam. Most worms, even in dogs and cats, aren't readily seen in their feces. You can only see the worm eggs under a microscope. If his teeth look fine, I'd look into begging a vet to do a fecal for you and dispense medicine to treat it. Doing a fecal exam on a gerbil isn't any different than doing one on a cat or dog. I would say his son would be at greatest risk, because most worms are transmitted fecal-oral. De-worming medications are so cheap it would be easy to deworm everyone if that's your problem. Another thing to consider would be cancer, but he's really not that old. Peanut butter will be a good source of fat and protein if you give him a little every day, just watch his stools to make sure he doesn't overhydrate or anything like that. Hopefully he'll start putting on some weight and start looking better soon!

-Megan