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Post by LilyandDaisy on Feb 14, 2023 13:05:31 GMT -8
Yes, I tend to put them on the sides of tanks and they still give a lot of warmth (maybe more as the heat doesn't have to make its way through bedding)
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Post by Markpd on Feb 14, 2023 13:12:23 GMT -8
I just managed to tilt the tank up after all and slip the mat underneath  , I set the stat to 23C, is that about right? I only hope now that Blake notices the warm spot, as it's probably not by his nest, although it does cover the area of the main entrance. I couldn't think of a good way of putting it on the side of the tank, I thought sellotape would hold it, but that the mat wouldn't lie flat against the glass (and then I realised I could tilt the tank anyway).
He's up and about again....
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Post by catnut on Feb 14, 2023 14:35:24 GMT -8
Sorry to hear about Blake, he does look sick- stretching can be pain and clicking could be RI so he may need to see a vet again. Just offer him food and water and see how he is tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed he will improve.
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Post by Markpd on Feb 14, 2023 23:46:51 GMT -8
I was 1/2 expecting to find him passed away this morning, but he is still alive. Although I found him asleep on the wheel, and when he did wake he was very wobbly, sometimes shaky and seemed reluctant/not properly able to use his front legs, or maybe one of them  . I'm wondering now if he's had a stroke? But then that wouldn't explain the stretching would it? (which I didn't see him do in the brief time he was up this morning). On the plus side I see he has eaten the 4 peas I left out for him, and a mealworm which was left up on the glass ledge! And I did see him handling a sunflower seed with his front paws, so is able to use them for eating anyway.
I was going to wait to go to the vets after work (get home ~6pm), but I think I'm going see if I can get time off to take him earlier. It's a bit tricky as I only started this job last month.
But if it's a stroke then a bit more time would be useful to see if he recovers a bit.....
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Post by icecontroller2529 on Feb 15, 2023 5:50:28 GMT -8
So sorry to hear the bad news! The photo is breaking my heart, and the stretching ... this is not good.  |
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Post by Markpd on Feb 15, 2023 14:19:07 GMT -8
I took him to the vets earlier, she said his heart sounded good, but she could hear the (breathing) clicking noises I'd mentioned. She wasn't sure what was up with him, but suggested either an infection or cancer, and that an X-ray should show what's the problem, unfortunately they couldn't do it there and then. She prescribed some antibiotics, in case it is an infection. The trouble is he hasn't eaten anything tonight, not even metacam on bread I wish now I had finished work early so they could have x rayed him today.... I've booked him in tomorrow for the x-ray, my stepmother will be able to take him in around mid day. He's really not doing well now, the breathing clicking noises has turned into a kind of squeak/squawk on breathing in and out, I think he maybe dieing and now I wish I'd had him PTS to sleep earlier He had moved away from the heat mat a little earlier, and when I picked him up he was cold! , I warmed him up in my hand before I put him in the transport cage with the heat mat 1/2 under it, and him on top. He hasn't moved since. I gotta shoot and take him to my father's/step mothers place, although I don't think he'll make the night... |
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Post by catnut on Feb 15, 2023 14:26:53 GMT -8
Soo sorry to hear about Blake, that does not sound like he is well at all.( I wouldn't put him through the xray and just keep him at home but it's up to you.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Feb 15, 2023 14:27:40 GMT -8
Poor Blake, I'm so sorry |
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Post by Markpd on Feb 16, 2023 0:07:44 GMT -8
Soo sorry to hear about Blake, that does not sound like he is well at all.( I wouldn't put him through the xray and just keep him at home but it's up to you. I was thinking that if he made it through the night, that when the vet saw him they would just PTS and not bother with the X-ray (which btw she thought he wouldn't need anaesthetic as he wasn't really moving anyway). Anyway, as I thought, he didn't make it through the night and passed away sometime in the early hours of this morning (my step mum found rigour mortis had set in by 7-8am), RIP Blake . I'll do a memorial thread later.
Thank you for your sympathy guys. |
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Post by icecontroller2529 on Feb 16, 2023 3:04:38 GMT -8
R.I.P. Blake |
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Post by catnut on Feb 16, 2023 14:01:00 GMT -8
RIP Blake, soo sorry he passed. Take care and know you gave him a good life and he's back with Avon.
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Post by betty on Feb 17, 2023 4:28:58 GMT -8
Oh no - so sad for you...
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Feb 17, 2023 11:34:17 GMT -8
I'm so sorry for your loss.
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Post by Markpd on Feb 22, 2023 10:22:25 GMT -8
A little update, I picked up Blake's body from the vets earlier (following a post mortem). It turns out he had multiple small lesions on his lungs, likely to be cancer (which were small but diffuse), and likely from the SGT which was probably in fact cancer (but we don't know for sure as I didn't ask to have a sample sent off of the SGT to the lab). A secondary thing she found is blood clots on the heart, likely caused by a heart attack, probably from his difficulties breathing near the end . Trying to think how this could be better dealt with in the future, should I (or anyone for that matter) have this scenario again. I think next time, if I have a gerbil which has had a SGT removal, and suddenly falls ill, I'll get off work just a little early the next day so the vets can do an x-ray on that day (unlike with Blake where I was too late at the vets to get an x-ray that evening). And then if lesions are found on the lungs (for example), have the gerbil PTS there and then, had this happened for Blake he wouldn't have suffered that last day . Also, if I'd been able to hang on just 5-10 minutes after work on that next day (I couldn't, I had to rush him off to the appointment), and attempted to feed him more than 1 little treat (which he didn't eat much/any of anyway) I would've discovered that he wasn't eating at all at that point, and perhaps between me and the vet armed with that knowledge, we might have decided to have him PTS then anyway. I'm also toying with the idea as whether to pre-emptively get any future gerbils x-rayed at about 2+ yrs old, in an attempt to better reduce the impact of any SGTs for example (I'm going to start a separate thread for that) [edit] This thread. |
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Post by betty on Feb 27, 2023 13:35:30 GMT -8
Bless him - and don't be so hard on yourself. We all run things like this over and over in ours heads when we rethink all the possible things - you have done so much more than many a gerbil gets to experience. Blake was always in good hands.
I was always under the impression that SGTs were all cancerous themselves - but that it never spread - mainly because noone really reports any other main noticable symptoms once the SGT was already growing and large - but perhaps this hasn't been true - just a coincidence. I personally don't remember ever noticing any other health concerns on any of my SGTs - apart from weight loss - but of course I can't see on the inside and didn't ever have a PM on an animal I had either had surgery on or opted for PTS with.
Willingness of vets to regularly (and without question) carry out these procedures these days certainly makes me think hard about everything I have ever thought about gerbil health.
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, I set the stat to 23C, is that about right? 
), late 70s
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