Wet fur and urine scalding on feet?

[doday]

Hello, I have recently noticed a blackish stain/scald? on the foot of one of my gerbils (female, 2y8m).  I first noticed it about a week ago, and the area has slowly increased in size.  A closer look has revealed that it appears to be the result of wetness dripping down her leg (assuming urine).  The other foot has a similar but much smaller affected area around her ankle. She does not seem to be visibly favoring the leg, but the area may be a bit tender (when I have picked her up and run my finger over the area, she sometimes pulls the foot away, but that might just be slight hand-shyness or a general uncomfortableness with me handling her legs).

I have also recently noticed that the fur around her bottom has been wet lately, say maybe half the time she is awake.  She does not seem to be going to the bathroom noticeably more often, and seems to be drinking normally.  She does seem to be a bit bothered by the wetness sometimes, and she may not be flexible enough to clean herself fully (she had a very nasty "clicking" respiratory sickness which she slowly fought off a little over a month ago, so she may still be recuperating from that).  Her sister is a spirited cleaner , but does not seem to be doing much around this area.  She has access to a sand bath, but does not seem to use it much.

On the whole, she is acting normal, and seems happy .  I am wondering if anyone has any information or tips that could help me?  Should I try cleaning her foot somehow?

Thanks in advance!

[tanzanyte]

Welcome to the forum doday

I'm sorry to hear about your little one. Poor thing having just got over one thing to have to cope with another, although I'm glad to hear it doesn't seem to be affected her negatively at the moment.

To be honest these symptoms are best being checked out by a vet.
One of my gerbils had kidney issues and didn't drink more than usual so it isn't always an indication of whether or not there are kidney issues. It is also hard to check for extra urine output when they are in their tank.

It does sound as though it might be helpful to use some water and a clean cloth to wipe her feet if they are that sore and it is due to the urine.

Hopefully betty and beachbumgerbils will be able to offer some advice.

[betty]

Hello and yes - this sounds very much like it could be a kidney issue - or loss of control downstairs. Carkening skin though can be a sign of irritation or swelling - does she have bars anywhere underfoot in her enclosure or wheel? If it is irritation like this - it won't clean off anyway - it is the skin itself that has changed.

The wetness underneath is most likely urine - and sometimes a permanent dust (cornflour) bath can help absorb most of the moisture from her underside if she is 'going' in there. Often compromised toileters prefer a flat surface (like ledge or tray) to toilet on so this can sometimes get stained just as much as their undersides.

Best to check her out at the vets if you think it could be urine - as I think there are some medications that could help her. And potentially a change in diet (although I hope BeachBumGerbils can elaborate on that).


Unfortunately though - and always remember this everyone - gerbils don't show they are anything but tip top healthy (until it is often too late - or they are having a uncontrolled stroke or seizure). Gerbils will just keep going and going and going - so it is always up to us to give them or get them treatment, where we can, before they look like they actually are ill.

Let's hope we can pin down what is causing this for her soon.

[doday]

Thank you all for your welcome and for your support.  Yes, she does not seem to be too affected by it right now, but betty I recognize what you said about "tip top healthy".

The thing is, the respiratory sickness she had was really rough on her; she still seems to get out of breath sometimes.  I actually thought it was cardio related until her sister caught it, she had it much milder and seems fully recovered.  I am not sure if the problems now are a result of the strain on her body, or whether they came up completely independently.

To be honest, I feel more tempted to wipe her with a dry cloth than a wet one these days, any thoughts?  The patch on her foot is most definitely related to the wetness, she is in a tank with no bars anywhere.  However, the patch size seems to have stabilized; it seems to be only along the path of the urine to the ground.  betty are you suggesting I give her more of a flat surface to go on?  As for her wet fur, I am wondering if I should try to part her fur so that she doesn't always wet herself when she goes? I have tried examining the area and spreading the wet clumps of fur out, but she doesn't like being flipped on her back that much and that would naturally be a sensitive area anyway.

Corn flour sounds like a good idea, should I try providing some as a bath, or maybe try sprinkling some on her underside?

[betty]

It is a difficult one as there are lots of options and considerations, but my first thoughts on your questions are:

One strain on the body wil nearly always lead to another strain somewhere else - that is why humans with health conditions often need to take steps to prevent the next most likely thing. Can't always do that with gerbils though, we can only try to holistically care for them from that moment on (make everything easier and more organ-friendly whether they need it or not).

Wiping with a dry absorbant cloth would be great - and more of a patting motion - holding it against her fur and skin would be even better. This has the same effect - but is much more skin-friendly.

The fact the dark skin is along the wee line could mean that the darkened skin is irritated by the urine itself and the darkened skin is a way of the body reacting to that condition. Not ideal, but in this case might be unavoidable.

Most of my older, bladder-compromised gerbils tended to start weeing voluntarily on flat surfaces - however, this may have been because I always lower a poorly gerbils enclosure height to save them too much stretching and leaping. In a deeper or more upright enclosure there might not be such a surface for them to use. So I don't know if they would choose a flat surface for their ablutions if there were other options. However, in shallow substrate - they always choose the smooth ledge in my experience. No science to that - just observation under my own conditions.

Holding her doesn't need to be upside down - you can certainly pat her dry in your hand the normal way up if you practice what works for you. Certainly having the absorbant cloth on the hand you hold her with could allow you to pat upwards through her legs with 2 fingers (while stroking her head or giving a tasty treat)?

Parting the fur would help it dry faster over time, but I am sure as soon as she is back in substrate it would re-clump therefore not actually helping long term.

Cornflour was suggested as an alternative to dust a long way back - but it never really took off - sand did. However BeachBumGerbils has been trialling it for us - and added their results to a thread on here - and it seems to be just as effective as a sand bath? And as it is a light flour consistancy it wil be very absorbant (like a talcum powder or wound powder would be) so could well reduce the dampness. You could sprinkly this one her if you wanted - but I think it would be more effecting in a dish or tray that she had to walk through might have a better sustained effect.

Hopefully you have read back through some of the other threads on here about kidney issues, and can see if there are any shared symptoms or treament suggestions that could help you further if you aren't quite ready to go to a vets yet.

[doday]

Hello again everyone, its been a while since I gave an update on this.  A month ago I took her to the vet with fluid buildup in the abdomen, and the same wet underside problem.  The vet didn't do x-rays or anything, but she drained the fluid and said that she probably has a tumor in her abdomen, that might be pressing on her bladder or her kidneys.

Unfortunately she has gotten to the point where her underside is absolutely filthy.  Her skin is discolored, and her fur is either soaked and in clumps or dry in weird stiff batches that I can't even spread out easily.  Do you advise using water to clean her, and if so, how?  This bearing in mind that it would take quite a lot to clean things up.

Also, is there anything a vet could do about the staining and wetness?  Is there an anti-irritant or something that she could have?  Also, while there is not much that can be done if there is a tumor, do you think that there is anything they could do for her bladder/kidneys, to make her more comfortable? (Do you think that a tumor pushing on things is a likely diagnosis? The vet said that they felt a lump, but I am wondering if maybe it is just a kidney problem gone really bad?  Just curious of peoples thoughts.)

Thank You.

[tanzanyte]

I'm so sorry your little girl is still having difficulties. I don't know regarding the diagnoses that you've been given, hopefully someone else with more knowledge will be able to comment on that.

I know there is little that can be done for kidney failure. The only thing they can offer is a fluid injection at the back of the neck - it can make a huge difference if this is one of the main issues. I went to 2 different vets for a second opinion with Vanilla, both mentioned a low protein diet, however they said they weren't sure how possible this would be for a gerbil. I have a thread regarding kidney disease with protein amounts for UK based foods here. I'm not sure where you are based as to whether it would be any good for you. One thing I would say is that if she is that ill, changing food can be very stressful so you will need to consider if that is going to be the best course of action.
If they can inject a good dose of fluid in her neck it will help for a while, although it will be something you will need to book in regularly for.

[doday]

Thank you for your reply tanzanyte. Unfortunately, she died yesterday, peacefully in her nest with her sister beside her.  Thank you for your input everyone (both in this thread and another), it has been a great help.

doday

[catnut]

soo sorry to hear about your girl but at least she had her sister there to comfort her. Take care of yourself.

[betty]

Ah bless. Together asleep is so lovely...