Already went to the vet 3 times. Something is wrong. Advice?

[care4gerbils]

hi gerbilforum, my name is loïs (F/23) and i have two male gerbils olli (white) and otto (grey) that i recently adopted (start april 2022) from a stranger. they are about 1 year old. i have had gerbils before but I am lost as to what to do from here.



i went on a short trip at the end of may april/start may and my neighbor looked after them. when i got back i noticed they had chewed open and broken the water bottle and there was water under the bedding on one of the platforms in the tank so i removed it right away (including this in case it is relevant)

13th may: started noticing olli acting not like himself, sitting hunched in a corner, looking sleepy. otto is now more active than olli when it used to be the other way around. later in the evening (when my gerbils are most active), he seemed mostly fine then. i started working from home more to be able to watch his behavior. he wasn’t eating pellets or chewing on toys or toilet rolls anymore.

15th may: acting not like himself again, sometimes accepting food, other times not. sleepy all the time. noticed that he has lost weight.

16 may:

• otto 90gr
  
• olli 75-80 gr

17th may: freaking out because i noticed olli’s stool has changed in consistency and odor which made me worry he might have tyzzer’s disease. took him to the vet asap the next day. vet weighed him, checked his temperature, and checked his bum. checked his poops and ruled out e. colli because she didn’t see anything unusual or find any eggs (she checked it herself, not at a lab). she also didn’t think it was tyzzer’s because he seemed more active that day. i wasn’t prescripted any antibiotics “because it could do more harm than good”. but she recommended Science Selected gerbil food to avoid selective eating and to make sure olli gets all his nutrients in the future. deep cleaned and disinfected their tank just in case.

20 may:

• otto 85gr
  
• olli 70 gr

picture of olli yawning 20th of may


22nd may: again not acting like himself still and not eating properly. he keeps touching his mouth and something seems to be bothering him. i gave him a peanut half and he desperately tried to eat it but then gave up after half a minute and walks away. had to wait until after the weekend to take him to the vet for the second time. was softening up pellet food with water and grinding pellets up to make it more easy for him to eat.

23 may: second vet visit. told me i would have to come back for an appointment for them to put olli under anesthesia so they can check his mouth properly. they prescribed me daily small doses of Meloxicam to help him with his pain and also it is anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing.

• otto 85gr

• olli 64 gr
  

24 may: came back the next day for his treatment. they put him to sleep and the vet reported back to me that both his front teeth had broken off completely and his gums seemed irritated. she also told me that she trimmed his bottom teeth so they wouldn’t be in the way. it didn’t fully make sense to me how this could be the case when his teeth still looked fine the friday before. giving olli the oral medicine each day was stressful for both of us but i continued and also crushed up food for him to eat. sometimes he refused, sometimes he’d start eating from it.



27th may: continued medication for about a week and offered him ground-up food.

29th may: olli gained 3 grams again and was at 67 grams total.

31th may: olli at a whole mealworm. still not solid foods. drinking occasionally

3rd june:

• otto 90gr

• olli 73 gr

6th june: let the boys out for their evening runs around the room. olli keeps licking the walls and my hand. still not eating properly so restarted Meloxicam. his front teeth are coming in strong again but are uneven.

close up of olli's teeth june


7th june: olli is sleeping a lot and only really gets up at night in the evening, he is slower and weaker than his brother but still wants to come out to play and climbs on my hand. he is not interested much in food or fruit i offer him but sometimes reacts and eats a little bit. he gets up during the day only to go to his sandbox. seems to be chewing his nails. otto is active and happy as always but seems concerned for his brother.

a video of olli looking sick getting up today and then going right back to sleep a few minutes later, acts fine in the evening.
youtu.be/hb0xB-K1tkU

Any thoughts as to what to do from here? i have spend $200+ euros on vet bills so far and I don't know if they will be able to help me any further or if I can afford it. I really don't wanna lose this little guy. Maybe any of you recognize some aspects of this story and can share your thoughts with me?

[Markpd]

Aww poor fella, (and poor you, this has been going on for a while) .
He seems to be having discomfort with his mouth, and weak (presumably from not eating much), hopefully the meloxicam will help with the mouth discomfort.

I really don't have much experience here though, so hopefully you'll get a fuller/better answer from others soon.

You mentioned you fed him mushed up pellets, have you tried babyfood? Or maybe you could try the following suggestion from an older thread.

So the entire tooth was extracted, meaning he'll need the opposite tooth trimmed when it gets too long? I've had two gerbils who had a tooth that stopped growing, and they both lived long and happy lives after that. Tooth trims are no big deal most of the time—at least no more than nail trims. If he has trouble with solid food, there are soft alternatives that he can have. Mine went crazy for Harrison's juvenile hand-feeding formula for birds, and my elderly gerb with no teeth lived on that alone for over a year.

By sandybadlands gerbilforum.proboards.com/post/292785/thread

Btw, welcome to the forum, even though not under the happiest of circumstances!

[betty]

How is he today?

It isn't easy to say sometimes what causes these types of things - but we do know that rodent teeth can sometimes just break or fall out completely - and although it would be something related to diet/metabolism - there isn't usually a way to pin it down really. All we can do short term is concentrate of building their weight back up and seeing them through the worst of it.

Feeding ground down or moistened foods is great if those foods are high in easily absorbed nutrients - we can also reduce exercise too as a double weight-gain whammy (as too much exercise/disturbance can burn calories). And keeping them warm can also save calories too. All common 'hospital cage' tricks.

Sounds like your vets are trying all they know how to do - more than most (although I hope they also checked inside the mouth fully incase with was an issue with the back teeth or soft tissue in there). I would potentially have a teeny clear-sided carrier or tub to hand and at least once every other day, pop Olli in there with just a sheet of kitchen roll as a base and a few sunflower seeds in shells for about 10 minutes. This way you can watch him more closely, see how/if he is eating AND check his poo and pee. That way you are building up a bitter picture of where he is with himself each time - as it is very difficult to gauge things like this when they are in a big enclosure with other gerbils. It gives you a sort of bench mark too for the future should things not improve.

Fingers crossed it will all be fine again after the teeth grow back and even off.

[care4gerbils]

Hello

Thank you so much Mark & Betty for your kind and helpful responses. I really appreciated it.

Unfortunately, through the day of writing this post, things took a turn for the worse.. Even though i was able to find a third vet for a 4th appointment. Olli passed away around 11:30PM the same night. We had administered his first dose of antibiotics via injection as a last resort but it was too late.. The last vet told me she believed it might have been his other teeth (molars) in which case, no treatment would have been possible and euthanesia would have been the only options but she was still surprised that olli had not been prescribed antibiotics sooner..

My worst fear came true and I had to say goodbye to my little angel baby. Even though we only got to spend time together for a few weeks, he was always so sweet and curious. I am relieved he no longer is in pain but regret not finding out the cause of his suffering.

Now i will be looking into all the necessary information to find otto a new best friend!

[Markpd]

Sorry to hear the loss of your Olli
RIP little fella.