Gerb "binge drinking," heh

[pepandmax]

Excessive time at the water bottle (60 seconds +) can be a symptom of diabetes or renal failure, correct?

What are other characteristics of diabetic gerbils & gerbils with kidney problems?

What are the treatments for these ailments?

Pep's drinking problem has been getting steadily worse... also he's noticeably more lethargic than Max. Getting old, I guess. I just want to know if there's anything simple that I can do to help him.

P.S. Clever title is not my own, but it's a good description of what's happening at home in our tank (and on college campuses all across America LOL)

[RitzieAnn]

I have no idea. How old is he? Sometimes one of my gerbils will spend forever at the waterbottle. But my oldest gerbie turned 1 just this past January.

[malabui]

I once had 2 diabetic russian hamsters. Apparently there wasn't anything we could do for them (well this was back in 94). Though, they still lived roughtly as long as they would have if they weren't diabetic.
I suppose the way I think about it if it is diabeties is that if you don't know the genetic history they are just as likely to die from a genetic heartattack/stroke than one induced by the diabeties.

Though on the good side, there may not be anything wrong with them. I know that most gerbils I have had (and still have) only take a long drink once or twice a day and don't go near the water bottle at any other times.

[RW]

Several of my gerbils have been drinking a little more than normal lately. In my case, I think it might be because my house is drier than it was over the winter. The weather has been warmer here, so our furnace (and therefore the humidifier) hasn't been running as much. I have a humidity gauge in my gerbil room and it's been staying in the low range of the "comfort zone" instead of the higher range.

RW

[pepandmax]

The reason that I think something is up is because the gerbil in question (Peppie) drinks from the waterbottle both more frequently and for a longer period of time than Max, his bro. Since they are about 2.5 years old, have the same diet, are bros, etc, I would expect them to drink roughly the same amount.

Oh, and Pep is very chubby, if that makes a difference (110, maybe 115 grams). Max isn't (he's maybe 90-100 g, I haven't put him on the scale in a while).

I have thought about the humidity factor--I know I drink more in the winter months--but there hasn't been a change as the winter ait has given way to spring.

Anyway... I put a call into my friendly local vet, and I think I may go for a visit next week, depending on his advice.

[pepandmax]

When I talked to the vet, he said to bring him in, "for interest." I.e. they don't get to see gerbils that are potentially diabetic or having kidney troubles that often. Instead of one vet student attending, there were three that observed at various times. Pep is famous!

Anyway, they agreed that diabetes or kidney trouble were the most likely reasons. They drew a small sample of blood. The glucose level was right on, so no diabetes. The values to measure kidney function were "within the normal range," but I guess with the test they used, the "normal" range is very broad, so there's no way to tell if he is at the low or high end of normal.

The vet concluded that it's likely the early stages of kidney trouble. Drinking extra and being less active are coping mechanisms to make up for the kidneys' decreased function, and since it's working for Pep, then things are ok for now.

I need to watch out for excessive drinking along with dehydration, because that means that he can't drink enough to keep up with the removal of junk from his blood by his kidneys. Since this has been going on for some months without drastic deterioration, I'm not too worried.

Unfortunately, there really isn't anything you can do for diabetic gerbils or gerbs with kidney failure, besides a few diet tweaks and supportive services (i.e. hydration, etc).

So, there's more than you ever wanted to know about gerbil kidneys