Gerbil hunched up could she have a blockage

[milly]

Saw Artemis at lunchtime today and she was hunched up. I took her to the vets but they're not sure what it is. She is breathing oddly but not fast breathing. She was given an injection of baytril and metacam and She's an xray tomorrow to see if they can find anything.
What I wondered was could she have a blockage. She's a habit of chewing clothes when out for a run. She goes up the inside of sleeve of my son's sweatshirt and out at the top. However on the way she chews it often. I'm not sure if she chewed it last time though. She is 8 months old. Also she is dehydrated slightly should I give her water in a syringe or will it stress her too much. Thanks

[LilyandDaisy]

Hello,

Sorry to hear this. A blockage is a possibility but many illness which cause a gerbil to hunch up (it's how they tend to sit when they feel unwell). They usually don't swallow what they chew though.

I would try to get her to take fluids voluntarily before giving it from a syringe. Try giving her some pureed fruit or a fruity baby food, or some fresh foods such as cucumber or grapes. If a blockage is a possibility I would actually be wary of forcing her to swallow anything until she has had an x-ray because gerbils can't vomit so it could make things worse. If she will voluntarily eat or drink I would let her because I doubt she would do that if she had an obstruction (she would feel too sick or be in too much pain).

[milly]

Thanks for your reply I'll see if I've babyfood as I recently had an I'll hamster so bought it up to put his medicine on. Should I just offer her the waterbottle then as she didn't appear to take it earlier today or put it on my finger?. Any idea how long it takes for baytril to start working it's its going to. Would she show signs of improvement tomorrow morning? She seems really young to be this ill.

[LilyandDaisy]

May 5, 2022 13:01:53 GMT -8 milly said:

Thanks for your reply I'll see if I've babyfood as I recently had an I'll hamster so bought it up to put his medicine on. Should I just offer her the waterbottle then as she didn't appear to take it earlier today or put it on my finger?. Any idea how long it takes for baytril to start working it's its going to. Would she show signs of improvement tomorrow morning? She seems really young to be this ill.

I'd do both, offer her the water bottle and if she won't take that, offer some water on your finger.

Baytril is an antibiotic so if the problem is an infection you should see an improvement within a couple of days. 

It is unusual for such a young gerbil to be ill but hopefully the medications will help or the x-ray will show what's wrong. 

[milly]

Just to keep you updated, Artemis was given an injection of Baytil and metacam. She was booked in for the xray the next day as the vet didn't think she would survive an anesthetic that day as she was so ill. She told us she was very concerned about her and wasn't sure what it was. The next day I expected to find her gone but when I looked for she was digging and moving around as normal! She had her xray which showed stress on her lungs which could be a tumour or pneumonia. Since then she's been fine so im hoping it was pneumonia which being young means she's recovered. She has to go back Wednesday so will be having baytril and metacam until then. Luckily Artemis eats banana and Aurora and Astra don't which is helpful when giving her medication. Any idea how gerbils would get pneumonia if it was that.? Thanks.

[Markpd]

Did the vet have no ideas?

Afraid I can't be much help, I know in people it tends to happen when someone's immune system is significantly weakened (and/or being very cold).

[milly]

Thanks for your help, no apparently the vet didn't know what caused it. The gerbils are not near a window but are opposite a living room door but there is a settee between them and the door though, but if one became ill because of it wouldnt they all?. I'm presuming she's not got a weakened immune system as she's 8/9 months old. However apparently she's not out of the woods until the 3 weeks of baytril and metacam are up. So we've a little longer yet. I'm hoping that she will be fine once it's finished.

[Markpd]

but if one became ill because of it wouldn't they all?
Yea I would have thought so, assuming at least equal age and health.

What temperature does that room drop to during the night?

[LilyandDaisy]

I don't think cold temperatures would have caused this, not if they were indoors. Gerbils are very hardy and can tolerate quite low temperatures. I don't necessarily endorse the following, but when I was a child we kept our gerbils in a small outdoor shed with no insulation, due to my mum's allergies, and they were fine. One of them lived to nearly 5, although we took him back indoors when he started to get old!

I would lean more towards this being either a very unlucky event (she just happened to get pneumonia - unusual in a young gerbil but probably not impossible) or perhaps a manifestation of an issue she was born with, whether that be a structural issue in her chest or an immune issue etc.

[Markpd]

I was remembering a case we had recently where it seemed the likely cause of some pups dying was from the cold.

Amazing your old Gerbils did ok in the shed! I guess they had loads of nesting

[milly]

Thankyou. Doesn't look like this is the end of it though. Now it's a possible abcess in her lung so have done a new post as I wasnt sure whether to carry on posting in this one as a while back.