Older Female Gerbil Having Trouble Walking

[friskysmomma]

Hello All!

I’ve read several post on this forum in the past, but this is my first post, so please forgive any mistakes!

I have a 4 year old female gerbil (Fern) who I noticed was occasionally walking very strangely. While she can walk completely normally, about half of the time, she seems to be avoiding using her left back paw and will twist her lower body so that her left paw is facing up while her front paws are flat against the ground. Occasionally it looks like her hips are protruding and her lower abdomen is contracted. While this is happening, she stretches out and drags her back legs behind her.

At first I thought it could be a dislocated hip or something similar, but the fact that she can walk normally makes that seem unlikely. She did suffer a short fall earlier today, but my family members said she had been acting strangely before then. I’ve checked her for injuries, but found nothing.

The strangest thing is that I vaguely remember one of my other gerbils doing something similar, but I can’t remember which one and if we found out why she was doing it (I’ve owned 33 gerbils over the past 10 ish years, as my family had 4 gerbil litters). I’m not actually too concerned about Fern as she does not appear to be in pain or even uncomfortable and is able to do all her normal activities. I was just wondering if any of you have had gerbils with something similar and if it was related to something more serious.

Thanks!

[betty]

Hello there - and there are no mistakes on here - so no need to apologise for anything.

As for your little lady Fern - the first thing that I thought of was a gynological issue - perhaps an extreme heat cycle which can make the back end of a female twitch, fluff up, have increased sensitivity to touch and 'strange feelings' (that the females can't quite figure out and so try different poses etc) - but also possibly an infection/cystic issue. remember as well that gerbils often don't show pain or discomfort - they just carry on regardless until it is 'too' bad.

However, added to the fact that she is 4 and had a recent fall (even if the fall isn't the cause - the reason she had a fall could itself be connected (more nervous, more twitchy, more aggitated)). I myself would certainly be looking out more closely with her for these reasons.

So, if you wanted to be more sure of what symptoms she actually had - rather than just not being able to see any just with a visual 'physical' - it might be worth using a sort of hospital set up where you could view her in a smaller more visible set up with just (mainly) whole sheets of kitchen roll as a substrate for example. That way you can see how she moves on flat ground, assess her 1s and 2s, see how she sits, stands, eats and grooms herself.

All of these actions are really important to help you find out if there is more to this than just that back leg stretching. It will also allow you to record how long and how often she does the leg thing - and what comes before or after it as there could be a connection that is impossbile to see in the normal set up or when handling her.

Is she alone of with a friend currently, as you don't want her apart for too long from them - but also, you need to be aware of a possible declan situation (which could either be the cause of this behaviour and/or could cause the declan in of itself).

[friskysmomma]

Thank you for your reply!

I also thought it could be a gynecological problem, so it’s nice to have a second opinion to let me know I’m not crazy. I’ve already moved her to a smaller cage and put her in my room for better observation, so I’ll definitely look out for the things you mentioned. In addition, the more I think about it, the more I think the gerbil I previously saw this behavior in was January, who we eventually had to put down due to what I believe was an ovarian cyst.

Unfortunately, she is alone as her two sisters she was living with died a few months ago.

[LilyandDaisy]

I had a gerbil with an ovarian cyst who also would intermittently drag one or both of her back legs behind her so I believe there is a connection. I think she also had trouble standing and stretching up.

[friskysmomma]

Yeah, upon closer inspection, I noticed some abnormalities around her genital area which makes me fairly certain it’s some sort of cyst or cancer. I’ll continue keeping a close eye on her until she dies or we determine it’s time to put her to sleep.

Thanks for your help!

[betty]

Bless her. Well at least you have spotted 'something' even if we aren't 100% sure what it is.

Certainly your observations over the next few days and weeks will give you a better idea of how often it affects her and any other things that may be connected so that if you do need to visit a vet at some point - you will have much more info to give them to make a more precise diagnosis.