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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 10, 2021 23:47:59 GMT -8
Lily's not doing too well. Late Saturday night she started to seem very tired. She spent all of Sunday in her nest (which conveniently is right next to the tank wall so I can watch her), emerging at the surface occasionally. She was slightly unsteady on her feet, seemed breathless and her eyes were sometimes half-closed.
She did have one day about 3 weeks ago when she was tired, and then she was fine the next day. That day she had had two episodes so I put it down to that. Perhaps this is something that will pass, but last night I had a very bad feeling so when she emerged from her tunnels I made sure to hold her for a bit and have a chat with her. This morning she seems a little brighter though. Her breathing seems more normal, her eyes are open and her appetite seems better.
I was concerned about the possibility of heart failure but she has no bloating and hasn't gained any weight which means I don't think a vet could do anything (if she had fluid build up they could prescribe a diuretic but I don't see any sign of that and I don't want to disturb her without good cause). I'll check her again later today but for now I plan to keep her at home. I'm giving her metacam so hopefully she isn't in pain. I don't think she seems in pain anyway. She looks really snug and peaceful resting in her nest, cuddled up with Daisy.
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Post by yeti218 on Oct 11, 2021 3:30:50 GMT -8
Oh I'm so sorry to hear. I'm glad she doesn't appear to be in any pain and that daisy's keeping her company.
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Post by Markpd on Oct 11, 2021 10:26:47 GMT -8
Oh sorry to hear that , well at least she's been well looked after by you and Daisy, and isn't in pain. Hoping she picks up...
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 11, 2021 14:14:39 GMT -8
Lily got worse again after perking up this morning. She went back to bed and refused food and water. I gave her some apple for moisture but she wasn't interested. She stayed in bed all day.
And then just now she perked up again. She took a piece of apple from her nest and carried it to the sand bath to eat it. Then I gave her a big pile of every kind of food I could find to try to entice her to eat more, and she ate some bread, cheese, a pea and some sunflower seeds. She rejected raisins which are usually her favourite food. I gave her another dose of metacam and water with rehydration solution by syringe (although she has eaten fresh food, she doesn't seem keen to drink water from either the bottle or the bowl) and then she went back to bed.
She's still clearly not well. Her right eye is closed more than the left. Perhaps she had a stroke? I don't know what's going to happen to her, but I'll just have to wait and see.
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Post by catnut on Oct 11, 2021 14:22:15 GMT -8
soo sorry to hear about Lily not feeling well- she could have a heart issue/lungs or it could be something else going on internally. My Sophie who passed away over 2 years ago was very lethargic for 4 days, breathing really heavy and wouldn't eat much, she passed away before i got her to a vet but i knew they wouldn't be able to do much. She didn't have any fluid buildup( that i could see, she was always small)or any clicking.Fingers crossed she will improve, just try to get her to keep eating/drinking. Take care.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 12, 2021 11:21:40 GMT -8
Lily seems better today. She woke up just now, went up to the platform to find a gerbil banquet laid out for her, and ate some cheese and I think some oats. She also rolled in the sand bath and visited the upper floor of the topper. She seems to be quite specific in what she wants to eat so I wanted to make she has something she fancies. They've got everything I thought a gerbil might want to eat! She didn't drink anything but I'll keep giving her fresh foods.
Her right eye is half closed but her left eye is fully open when she's alert so I'm thinking a stroke is a strong possibility, in which case she may recover, at least in the short term. I'm feeling better about her though trying not to let myself get optimistic as she's very up and down. I wondered if a stroke could be causing swallowing problems which might explain why despite having a good appetite when she does eat (she ate a huge chunk of bread last night), she's picky about the foods she wants to eat, and doesn't seem willing to drink liquids. But she is eating something and getting some liquid from food so that's good.
Daisy seems quite anxious. She gets scared every time she hears a noise from Storm across the room. She is very dependent on Lily for confidence so maybe Lily being ill is making her feel more vulnerable. Perhaps she also senses that Rocket is gone and everything is just too confusing for her right now.
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Post by Markpd on Oct 12, 2021 11:56:14 GMT -8
Wow! Very up and down indeed! Glad to hear she's eating atm anyway!
Re stroke, is she having any difficulty using any of her limbs? Including her tail?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 12, 2021 12:59:37 GMT -8
On Sunday and yesterday she was unsteady on her feet and I thought her right back foot seemed particularly weak. I haven't noticed anything off with her tail. I've set up a motion-activated camera to watch her. This is when she came out earlier: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjPXTOAJjhM
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Post by tanzanyte on Oct 12, 2021 13:40:31 GMT -8
I'm so sorry to hear about Lily having more difficulties. It definitely doesn't look like she's her normal self, especially from all of the antics you've described her previously getting up to. Can I just say that the motion sensor camera is genius! It's positive that she is eating something. Is her weight still the same today?
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Post by catnut on Oct 12, 2021 13:59:39 GMT -8
glad she is a little better, fingers crossed she will improve more with rest and food.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 12, 2021 14:04:11 GMT -8
I haven't weighed her today. I meant to, but forgot. Hopefully next time she makes an appearance I'll remember. I don't want to disturb their nest because I'm worried if I do, they'll move it somewhere else where I can't watch them.
The camera is an Amazon Blink Mini. It connects to an app on my tablet and it saves a clip every time there's motion. I can also access a live view from the app. The camera has two-way audio so if I wanted to I could also talk to the gerbils remotely but I think that would be weird!
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 13, 2021 10:24:13 GMT -8
The news is still good! I managed to weigh her today. On Monday she was 84g and today she was 83g so no great change there. She's eaten again today. Both eyes are open and she looks almost normal although she's still not her usual self. She has no interest in any activities other than the essentials (sleeping, eating, sand bathing, going to the toilet), but I hope if she continues to feel better that will improve. I've still seen no evidence of her drinking water but she doesn't seem dehydrated, she's peeing and she's not lost a significant amount of weight so I think she must be getting enough fluid from somewhere.
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Post by tanzanyte on Oct 13, 2021 13:15:50 GMT -8
I'm so pleased Lily seems to have stabilised. At least it all seems to be going in the right direction. It is so strange how they have these funny turns. We recently had some health issue with Little My, yet she now seems to have fully recovered from her mysterious illness. She honestly didn't look like she was going to make it and is now back to her usual self so they never cease to amaze me how resilient they are.
I love the camera set up. I reckon the gerbils would probably like it if you spoke to them remotely. They definitely respond to our voices and I think it would be helpful for any lone gerbil.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Oct 13, 2021 14:15:12 GMT -8
I'm so glad Little My recovered from her illness. Do you know what was wrong with her?
In the past couple of hours Lily's been taking more interest in her surroundings again. She climbed up the vertical mesh to get to the top floor (because using the steps would be too easy), had a squabble with Daisy over some food, and chewed a cardboard tube.
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Post by Markpd on Oct 14, 2021 14:01:50 GMT -8
Good to hear! I wish I'd had a camera like that before my boys de-clanned, maybe I would of seen trouble coming?? I'll have to look into it, although it's too late for that side of things.
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