For Anyone With a Gerbil Who Looks ill...

[maxthegerbil]

Hi. I hav`nt been online for a wee while but thought I would post on a subject that may be useful to others. Three days ago, one of my four gerbils looked very ill. He was lethargic, cold and not eating or drinking. I thought right away that his shallow breathing was a true sign that he had a bad respiratory problem and if I could`nt pull him through, he would almost certainly deteriorate. However, apart from the shallow breathing, listlessness and the fact that he showed no signs of wanting to eat or drink, there were no clicking sounds from his nose or chest. For two days, I kept him close to me because body heat is very important and I came to the conclusion that the weather here in Scotland went below zero recently and Bertie was obviously affected by this. After two days of drip feeding him water, feeding him apple, dry porridge, bread dipped in milk and trying so hard to get him to eat and drink, I kept the central heating on over night and he was in his tank with his brother at all times during this episode. I woke this morning to find he was much better and almost back to his normal self! So what I`m saying is, if anyone sees these symptoms in their gerbil and their body feels cold, fluffed up and they are off food and drink, please get them warmed up as soon as you can. Keep them hydrated and offer soft foods to tempt them to eat. They won`t eat for a few days sometimes, but as I have just witnessed, this does`nt matter too much. Water IS important though. I am so pleased Bertie has come though this as when I held him, I could actually feel his intenal organs pulse.... I thought i was losing him. gerbils on the whole are healthy, strong and robust little animals and I witnessed this same thing in another gerbil earlier this year, only dehydration was to blame and again, a few days later, keeping him with his brother, drip feeding him water, apple and soaked bread, he recovered.
Anyway, it`s nice to be able to post a positive result! Thanks for reading this and I hope it may shed some light for others who may think their gerbil is at deaths door, when all that`s really wrong is a severe tempretaure change and a gerbil who needs intensive nursing for a few days. Hope this helps!

[ashgerbil]

aww, great advice max! ;D and nice to hear a positive result too i'm glad that Bertie is better now too ;D

[maxthegerbil]

Thanks ashgerbil. I can report that Bertie is looking very well now and has been out on the hall landing floor with his brother Barney playing this afternoon and none the worse for his few days of illness. It always amazes me how gerbils get through a lot when they seem to be at deaths door. I remember my first gerbil years ago when I was a teenager. His name was Max and he was a black self. He too took a turn for the worst and I remember all I had in the way of heating was a one bar electric fire before the central heating was fitted. I laid him in front of this in a blanket to keep him warm and again, the same thing happened. he came through and lived to be the ripe old age of four!

I just wanted to remind others that if they see these symptoms in any of their gerbils, before racing off to a vet for antibiotics that they might not need! If the gerbil is cold, fluffed up, eyes closed with very slow, laboured breathing, do what I have suggested above in my first post for a good few days and don`t isolate the gerbil from his cage mate(s) unless it`s for short periods of time to use an animal heating pad or to administer fluids from a drip feeder when the gerbil wakes.

Vets are obviously the first port of call if you hear clicking noises from your gerbil or suspect something more serious may be wrong.

[AndreaS15]

I have also found I have had the same results as you.

I had a pair of black females when i was younger, the one passed away for no reason at the age of 3 (age? cancer?). A year later the remaining sister came down with a Bladder Infection, we went to the vets for meds and cleared it right up!
Just before her 4th birhtday I came to see her 'dead' in her tank, I though poor ol girl 'almost' made it to four. When i opened the tank lid she wealky looked up at me, and dropped back down. i couldn't believe it she was barley alive. I canncelled my plans for that evening right away, and held her wrapped in a blanket. I placed the blanket on the heating vent and rubbed her. Soon she started showing signs she was awake, tryed to walk, but her left side just wasn't moving. it was apparnt to me then, she had had a major stroke, and her left side was parazlized. I soon had her eating Apple Sauce.
She pretty much lived off of apple sauce and cat food for a few days. I belvie the warmth, extra protine and the moisture and natural sugars (for energy) really helped her make it.
She lived to be four, though paralized, had a good rest of her little gerbil life.

They trully are strong little guys, and with a little help can overcome almost any illness

[maxthegerbil]

Hi Andrea. It`s funny you should mention stroke as when Bertie was first showing these signs of illness, he could`nt walk well and looked to me as though one of his hind legs was`nt working properly. He was wabbling around but was showing signs that `may` have indicated a mild stroke, but I`ve ruled that out now because he`s fighting fit again and showing no signs of any paralysis. All of my gerbils were recsues as youngters and are brothers. They won`t be a year old until February next year and for such a young animal to be showing these signs can be concerning. But I know now that heat is the key to keeping their body tempreture up and even though they have hardly any appetite, using a dropper to administer water and offering either small slices of apple or mashed up apple and other softened foods like bread soaked in milk lightly squeezed out, can help. Bertie was always a big, introverted gerbil who would attack your hand when placing it in his tank, but since his illness and recovery, I hav`nt been bitten once?! I wonder if he remembers who nursed him back to health? He seems like a different animal. Seeing him well again is the best Christmas present I could have wished for. x Thanks for your replies guys.

[lizzy]

Glad to hear Bertie is getting better.

however one of my gerbils (Connor) suffered from the exact symptoms as him- fluffed up, cold, not eating/drinking. Even though is breathing was shallow there weren't any clicking sounds from his nose/chest, either. I took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with a respiratory infection. The vet told me his outlook wasn't good as he was so young but she gave me some medicine to give to him daily and after I had given the medicine to him for a few days he slowly got better. He was picky over his food for a couple of weeks and would only eat sweet things. In this case I don't think just keeping him warm would have helped clear up his RI and had I not taken him to the vet he would have probably died.

There was no temperature change either being as Connor was ill last April/springtime.

Its good advice but i think it may be misleading, because I think symptoms like that can be signs of more than one problem.

[AndreaS15]

Lizzy you have a good point.
I think though if you are giving your gerbil fluids and keeping it warm and it dosn't show any sign of getting better after a day (even half a day) then it's definetly time to see a Vet.
In my case, I knew what was wrong (Maybe it's my gerbils experaince, maybe it's my training as vet assist.) but I knew there was nothing my Vet could do for her that I couldn't. When she had the bladder infection, I new I could not help her without the help of my Vet (and antibiotics).
So I think it has to do alot of each persons situation, and there own knowledge or training.

[maxthegerbil]

Hi. I totally agree that if you feel a gerbil is in need of a vets assistance, it should be seen straight away and my vets are very good. But having seen these same symptoms in one of my other gerbils (Grub) at the beginning of this summer, I knew immediately I was facing the same kind of situation. I have no idea why these symptoms suddenly appear in one gerbil and not the others? Bertie is in full health again I`m pleased to report and is the spitting image of the gerbil in lizzy`s avatar photo! A big light cream, dark eyed boy!

Bertie was looking very ill for two days and his symptoms definately resembled something respiratory. With good nursing, he pulled through with no antibiotics whatsoever. Baytril is usually prescribed for small animals and I recently had to give it for seven days to one of my degus who had a urinary tract infection after a small operation he went through. So I know the importance of drugs when they are needed. But using them when it`s not necessary can only help to build a resistance.

As andrea rightly said, when you have dealt with cases of illness in the same instance on numerous occassions, you have a built in instinct and know whether a vet is needed, or indeed whether they will only tell you to do what was done in the first place. Good nursing, warmth and monitoring. If these measures do not prove successful after 24 hours, then a vets assistance should be sought, definately. Thanks for replying guys.

[zouave]

This thread reminds me to get out some heating pads not just for the gerbs but for the spiny mice who harte the cold.

maxthegerbil, how cold was it where the gerbils were? (In fahrenheit) I have seen gerbs show no particular reaction to temps indoors getting as low as 60 degrees F.

[maxthegerbil]

Hi Zouave. The temperature here in Scotland is fluctuating quite a lot right now. We had a good two weeks of really cold weather and now it`s slightly milder again, but the temperatures drop again at night. We have central heating, which I keep regulated as not too hot and my bedroom door is open most of the time. The temperature at night outside can go as low as -5 sometimes. Right now, the thermometer is at 12 degrees centigrade ( about 50 farenheit?) but as i said, it`s very cold at night.

Bertie is doing great now and the nesting material is being overused at the moment! I`m making sure they have cosy toes while this winter weather is upon us. Like you though, I presumed gerbils to bare changes in temperature, but I think sometimes they can be caught out by extremes and acute weather changes as we are tending to have right now.

[ashgerbil]

yes, i had a gerbil (rocky) who caught a respiratory infection from a sudden drop in temperature. it's ok if the temperature slowly changes (the gerbils temperature can adjust far more easily) but a sudden drop of temperature means that the gerbils find it difficult to change their body temperature so quick, so become cold and open to diseases...i think ;D
and i'm glad to hear that Bertie is ok now, i'm sure all your gerbils appreciate the extra bedding!