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Post by sugarspice on Jul 1, 2020 6:53:47 GMT -8
Sugar was at the vet this morning, they are concerned about a noise that she's making in her chest when she's breathing. Vet's given her antibiotics and said to put it in her water (which I have done) but i'm worried that she won't get the antibiotics from the water, particularly as gerbils are desert animals and wont drink much (vet herself said they are desert animals)
She's got a respiratory infection vet said and vet also said if the antibiotics fail they might not be able tp do much more to help her
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Post by betty on Jul 1, 2020 7:56:31 GMT -8
Hello sugarspice - and this is not good news.
Antibiotics in water aren't the best for sure as like you say - they don't drink too much - so perhaps make sure you call the vet back and look at other options if she doesn't improve in a day or two or gets worse at all. I would make contact so that they take you more seriously next time you call.
Give her some other support if you can too, so remove all bedding that could be dusty or go up her nose, or anything scented in the set up or the room. Potentially also lower the level of edding in the enclosure so she can't be sleeping in a 'dust cave'.
Keep her free from drafts or any swings in temperature, offering her a warmer corner if you can if you are cold or a cooler bowl of sand if you are warm right now. Also, try to stop playing with her or having her out for a run as this can make her over exert herself when she needs to recover.
Also offering her a variety of easy-to-eat nutritious foods scatter fed at all levels would be great - like kale, brocolli, sunflower hearts, pumpkin seed hearts, scrambled egg, fruit-only baby food, waxworms/mealworms, etc. to help her body for the least amount of effort.
Fingers crossed...
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Post by sugarspice on Jul 1, 2020 8:04:42 GMT -8
ok does the broccoli need to be cooked, or is it best raw?
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Post by betty on Jul 1, 2020 8:14:48 GMT -8
I feed it raw - just a tiny floret from the very tip of the head.
Mine totally love it...
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Post by sugarspice on Jul 1, 2020 9:31:46 GMT -8
Spice dived on the bit of broccoli so I put a second bit in there so Sugar's nibbling a bit of her piece <3
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Post by sugarspice on Jul 2, 2020 8:38:00 GMT -8
How can I tell if Sugar's had anything to drink?
she's ate some normal food this morning, refused normal food when i got home from work but accepted broccoli, i don't know if she's had anything to drink (one girl has but due to having been at work i cannot know who had a drink)
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Post by jal on Jul 2, 2020 10:22:43 GMT -8
Sugar was at the vet this morning, they are concerned about a noise that she's making in her chest when she's breathing. Vet's given her antibiotics and said to put it in her water (which I have done) but i'm worried that she won't get the antibiotics from the water, particularly as gerbils are desert animals and wont drink much (vet herself said they are desert animals)
She's got a respiratory infection vet said and vet also said if the antibiotics fail they might not be able tp do much more to help her The vet may be able to give your gerbil an injection of antibiotic. In the past I've found this often works really well for gerbils and dwarf hamsters who have an infection. It gives them a head start then you can give them the rest of the course of antibiotics yourself from a small syringe or mixed in with a little baby food. It is hard to understand why the vet told you to put it in their water!
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Post by sugarspice on Jul 3, 2020 2:41:47 GMT -8
Sugar was at the vet this morning, they are concerned about a noise that she's making in her chest when she's breathing. Vet's given her antibiotics and said to put it in her water (which I have done) but i'm worried that she won't get the antibiotics from the water, particularly as gerbils are desert animals and wont drink much (vet herself said they are desert animals)
She's got a respiratory infection vet said and vet also said if the antibiotics fail they might not be able tp do much more to help her The vet may be able to give your gerbil an injection of antibiotic. In the past I've found this often works really well for gerbils and dwarf hamsters who have an infection. It gives them a head start then you can give them the rest of the course of antibiotics yourself from a small syringe or mixed in with a little baby food. It is hard to understand why the vet told you to put it in their water! I ended up syringing a few drops of it into her cause i am not convinced she is getting any of it from the water
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Post by jal on Jul 3, 2020 9:30:22 GMT -8
That's a good idea. It will be too dilute in the water even if she drank quite a lot and you don't really want Spice getting the antibiotic. A little bit won't hurt her but it's similar to when humans take antibiotics, it can wipe out the good bacteria as well as the bad bacteria. I hope the antibiotic does the trick.
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Post by ps25 on Jul 3, 2020 9:46:54 GMT -8
One trick I've found that works well is to dilute the antibiotic dose in a small amount of honey water. Just a 0.1-0.2 ml of honey water (a drop of two if you cant measure it that accurately). But even my sickest gerbils have lapped up the honey water when they would refuse the antibiotic straight up. Plus if they are dehydrated (which they often are if they are that sick) it helps re-hydrate them as well.
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Post by sugarspice on Jul 5, 2020 2:22:39 GMT -8
Today, Sugar resisted having the antibiotic, up until this point she's been taking it without a struggle, can i take this to mean its helping her?
Going to continue with it until she runs out of it.
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Post by jal on Jul 5, 2020 5:04:31 GMT -8
Probably! It sounds as though she's got a bit of fight in her which is good news. (Fingers crossed).
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Post by catnut on Jul 5, 2020 14:10:29 GMT -8
does she look better, eating and drinking? keep up with the antibiotics until she is done, what the vet said, and if she still doesn't look right, call the vet to see if she needs it longer or a different type. fingers crossed she will keep improving.
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Post by sugarspice on Jul 6, 2020 1:18:44 GMT -8
does she look better, eating and drinking? keep up with the antibiotics until she is done, what the vet said, and if she still doesn't look right, call the vet to see if she needs it longer or a different type. fingers crossed she will keep improving. She's eating, I don't know about drinking (she does not like there being anyone in the room with her when she's having a drink), she seems to have felt from day 1 that drinking is a top secret action and if she realises I'm watching her, although she will eat she will refuse to go have a drink.
I know one at least is drinking, the water does go down a bit.
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Thea
Member
Posts: 1,012
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Post by Thea on Jul 19, 2020 8:19:07 GMT -8
how is she doing now? Have you brought her back to the vet or is she ok?
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