extremely bloated gerbil

[maddie]

hello all!


    my gerbil, Phoebe, has been really bloated for about two weeks, it was super sudden and happened seemingly overnight. she's eating perfectly fine and everything like that so i wasnt sure what it was. i know she's not pregnant because she's never been held with male gerbils nor is she being held with any. in fact, as of right now she does not have a cage mate because her cage mate (Nyx) passed a bit ago :/. anyway, i took her to a vet about a week ago and she did a few x rays and found a lot of fluid, but since gerbils are so small it was unclear why, so she gave me some medication to give her to help maybe drain the fluid a bit to give her some relief. she is a bit older (about 2yrs and 3 months), so it could be something related to her old age like heart failure or a tumor. i weighed her after i noticed her big belly and she was about 128g, which is definitely not the weight a gerbil should be, shes always been on the smaller side too, so it was kind of shocking to see her so large. i moved her to a hospital cage to keep her from getting stuck in her burrows or injuring herself any other way because of her size. she has been sleeping for the most part, which i guess is good if she needs to get better, so ive just been trying to make her as comfy as i can. the vet said that because shes old this could be one of the thngs leading to her passing, so ive had to keep that in mind too. i was just wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what i can do with her to help her how i can, or any idea as to what it might be so i can maybe figure a way to help her. thanks!

[catnut]

Phoebe could just have fluid due to a organ issue or maybe a ovarian cyst- did she mention that? What kind of med. did she give you? the vet couldn't feel a lump? did you see an exotic vet who may know more about gerbils?

[maddie]

thanks for replying so quickly, we did see an exotic vet and she said she didn't see any other signs of a tumor, but its tough to tell. she didn't mention anything about an ovarian cyst, but I did do some research before i brought phoebe to the vet and i considered that as a possible cause for her bloating, but I'm still not 100% sure. the vet gave her some kind of injection at the appointment and the bottle says she sent home a mix of furosemide and enrofloxacin...im not exactly sure what those are but that's what she gave us. if you're asking what kind of med in terms of means by which its taken, its liquid given through a syringe taken by mouth, but I've been mixing it with a bit of peanut butter to make it easier for both phoebe and I.

[LilyandDaisy]

Enrofloxacin is an antibiotic and furosemide is a diuretic. I imagine the vet's thinking was that if she has retained fluid in her abdomen or around her heart, a diuretic may help her pee it out which may relieve any discomfort or other symptoms it was causing, and the antibiotic will treat any infection that may be present.

If you're using peanut butter to give the medication, make sure it's watered down so it isn't too sticky. When fed straight it's a common choking hazard. You can also put the medication on a bit of bread or cracker. Don't give it with any dairy products like yoghurt as it will make the antibiotic less effective.

[maddie]

thank you that makes a lot of sense! phoebe is still not looking great though, and im trying to just keep her as comfortable as i an because im not sure how much more time she has

[maddie]

update: it took some time, but she is almost completely back to how she was before! I'm not exactly sure what it was that made her sick, but I am glad she's better

[Markpd]

Good to hear she's better