Respiratory Infection??

[cinnycinnamon]

Hi you guys!

I know it's been a while since I've posted here. But until now, everything has been peachy with my gerbils. I need to know what are the signs of a respiratory infection in gerbils. Sally gerbil (who is almost 2 years old) has been making a clicking sound when she breathes, she seems to be breathing fast and she really isn't doing much of anything. If she does have a respiratory infection, how do I give her the ornacycline??

Thanx so much for your help!!!!

[doomgerbiluk]

That does sound like respiratory infection I'm afriad. She needs a trip to the vet and a course of baytril or marbocyl.
I know many people do buy ornacycline (which is mainly used for birds) but this is not likely to be as effective.

[cinnycinnamon]

Thank you, Doom for your speedy reply. Much appreciated! I will see about getting some baytril. In the mean time, my husband is gonna buy some ornacycline. So my question is, how do I give her the ornacycline? And how much do I give her?

Since my last post, I wanted to see if Sally would eat anything so I tried giving her a yogurt chip and she ate that. This was about an hour ago. I moved her to the top level of her house that she shares with her mom, Peaches cuz that's where the food and water is located. But I guess she didn't want to be there cuz she climbed the tube to go back to the bottom level. I also changed the bedding on the top level because I thought maybe that had something to do with it. I use the Kaytee Aspen, but in a pinch, I bought an off brand of aspen bedding and used it for the top level. I hope she will be alright.

I just checked on her again and she came to me when I called for her. She does appear to look sick, but she isn't totally listless. She's now moving about. I'm so confused!!!

[meganb52]

I would wait and use what the vet gives you for antibiotics. My gerbs went on Trimethoprim Sulfa when they got sick. You can read my long and extensive post about what to do for sick gerbils in this thread
It may be a bit overkill for what's going on with your gerbil, but there's good info there. Hope it helps.

-Megan

[cinnycinnamon]

Hi Meganb52!

Thank you for your reply. I most certainly will give my vet a call first thing in the morning. Hopefully, he will be able to help lil Sally. And I do happen to have an extra heating pad from my hermit crabs.

Yes, your post was very helpful. I will keep you all posted.

Thanx again!

[cinnycinnamon]

*Update*

Just got back from the vet. Sally has pneumonia. I wasn't able to to take her to my regular vet because they don't treat small animals. The place I took her to were really nice and thankfully, they were close by my house too. At any rate, the vet gave Sally a shot of subcutaneous fluids with vitamin B in it since she was slighty dehydrated. The vet also told me to treat her tank mate as well and to run the shower so they can breath in the steam. I haven't given her or Peaches their medicine yet. The vet has them on enrofloxacin which they are to have twice a day. Is it difficult to give gerbils meds by mouth? Any advice??

I'm afraid to keep on disturbing Sally since it causes stress. But I know she needs to have her second dose of meds. She's not looking too well. I gave her a banana chip and she was only able to take a bite of it. It was too much effort to chew, I guess. I also gave her a small slice of an apple and she only took a bite of that as well. *Sighs* I'm so worried........

I need to get them out of the shower now. Will keep you posted. So glad I took her to the vet!

[meganb52]

Did the vet give you crushed pills or the clear injectible form to give orally (btw-for those who don't know, Baytril is the trade name for enrofloxacin) It tastes pretty terrible, so expect some resistance. That's why I like TMS. It comes as a syrup that tastes better. I usually restrain them by scruffing them in my left hand, and giving them meds in the syringe in my right hand. I'll see if I can take some pics to post for you. Fluid supplementation goes a long way when they are sick. I would recommend going out and getting some pedialyte and letting her drink as much as she wants from a syringe a few times a day. Since it is sweet and fruity it is more readily accepted than just plain water. The humidifyer setup I have is really great for treating them 15 mins twice per day. I would remove all bedding and toys and line the cage with paper towels changed every day to every other day. Try different types of food, like uncooked oatmeal, brown rice, rice krispies, shelled sunflower/pumpkin seeds, yogurt, no-sugar-added (natural) peanut butter, etc. Let me know if you have any other questions about treating your sickies. I hope thye feel better soon!

-Megan

[cinnycinnamon]

The vet gave us the clear injectable form. It smells kinda fruity, too. She took it rather easily and Peaches was wanting more of it. I dunno if it's because of me stressing Sally out that she is getting worse......she looking rather bad and now has no energy. When I took her out of the steam shower, she was clicking alot more and breathing rapidly. I have not seen her poop or pee, either and she is looking rather bloated. This can't be a good sign.





I did go to the store and I bought some pedialyte and adminstered some to Sally. And now she isn't eating at all. Last night, she was grabbing the rice krispies away from my hand. And she is feeling cool to the touch. For the time being, I have her and her mom Peaches together in a 10 gallon tank with tissues and have lined the tank with paper towels. They are away from the rest of the other gerbils in a room and I've closed the door (there is nightlight in there as well). I hope she makes it through the night. *sniffle sniffle* I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight.

Thanx Megan for all of your help.

[meganb52]

Do you have a heating pad set on low under her tank? That'll help her keep her energy focused on healing and not on keeping herself warm. As long as they have a 'cool' side to go to, it should be fine, and it's normal for them to stretch out on the warm side and soak up the heat. Keep trying to offer food and water. Trust me, when my little Mogwai was sick, she looked worse than your pics and she got better. She was down to weighing around 30 grams (less than half of her healthy weight) and she had a HUGE eye issue where her eye swelled up and I had to separate her from her companion gerbil to keep her from chewing the eye out (I know, gross!). She amazingly pulled through, the only reminder of her disease is the fact that the injured eye basicly died and shrunk down into her eye socket, so it looks like she is always winking at you Now she's fat, happy and running on her wheel like there's no tomorrow! You just have to keep trying several times per day to get food and water into her. It may take some intensive nursing care, but the antibiotics should start helping soon. Baytril is a good drug. Just make sure you give it for the entire time prescribed by your vet, even if they begin looking better before the course is up. You could end up with an even worse infection reoccurring that doesn't respond to antibiotics if you don't. I hope she feels better soon and feel free to PM me with questions if you'd like. I'm here to help, and I've been through it before. Good luck with the girls!

-Megan

[cinnycinnamon]

I know it's early (4AM est)- I wasn't able to sleep and I wanted to check on Sally. Well she died sometime during the night I'm sorry to say. Maybe if I brought her to the vet sooner this may have not happened?? I did have a heating pad under the tank. When I found her, she was on the other side of the tank.

What should I do about Peaches since she lost her tank mate? I'm guessing she's about 2 1/2 years old. Should I try to find her another mate? Should I continue to give Peaches the medicine? I'm not hearing any clicking noises from her and she seems fine otherwise.

Thank you Megan for all of your help-you've been really great I really do appreciate it.

Rest in Peace my Little Sally gerbil. You were the nicest gerbie girl a mommy could ask for!!!!!!!

[mice]

Aww I'm so sorry to hear that, don't blame yourself, you did everything you could for her, it was just her time to go.

As for Peaches I would be inclined to give her the mediciation for a while because she might have picked something up but just not be showing any signs of it and I'd probably wait a few weeks before considering getting her a friend so that you're completely sure she's illness free.

[RW not signed in]

Aw, cinny, so sorry for your loss. Please don't blame yourself--it's really hard to pull an older gerbil through pneumonia. You did all the right things and Sally was lucky to have such a caring mommy.

Yes, as mice says, keep giving Rose the antibiotic for the full time specified by your vet. Once started, an antibiotic should be given for the full course of treatment.

RW

[doomgerbiluk]

What a shame.
As an older gerbil it is very likely she succumbed to the illness due an underlying stress on her imune system and that acting faster would have made no difference.
As for Rose you must continue the course. Once that is completed you have difficult decisions to make. At 2 1/2 she may have years left in her and that's a long time to be alone BUT female gerbils are notoriously difficult to introduce a new partner too.
Add to that if you intro a gerbl her own age your chances are extremely slim, if you intro a pup you may end up with that pup on it's own sooner or later, if you intro two pups you may get dominance issues as they grow up.
So you have to decide what is best for Rose and also what is best for you. If you buy a pup or pups and she won't take to them what will you do with them? Some breeders may be prepared to let you have a pup and try the intro for a month or so and take the pup back if the intro doesn't work, but most would be unwilling to be stuck with an older pup.
If you have space for a new tank/cage then the two pup option might be best but you will have to be prepared for the possibility you will gain a two girl colony rather than companions for Rose.
If you decide to do an intro you must be prepared for a LONG split cage, maybe as long as two months.

[cinnycinnamon]

Thank you Mice, RW and Doom for your kind words.. I'm still trying to get over the loss. Yes, what a shame indeed as Sally was only 1 1/2 years old. I remember her when she was born. She really was thee nicest gerbie girl, too! *sniffle, sniffle*

Alright then, I shall continue the med course on Peaches. At least she likes the medicine.

As for a tank mate for Peaches....well I dunno what I'm gonna do as Doom made alot of sense. I have 8 gerbils currently. I will hafta give it some thought when my head is a bit clearer. And right now, it hurts too much.

Cindy

[meganb52]

So sorry to hear about Sally Don't blame yourself. I've had birds in the hospital (I rehabilitate birds of prey) That looked fine and then dropped over dead for no apparent reason from respiratory infections that I couldn't even tell they were sick. Animals are really good at hiding the fact that they're sick for as long as possible as a survival instinct. You did everything right. I hope you feel better soon, and again, I'm really sorry about Sally.

-Megan