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Post by thegerbilgirl on Mar 3, 2023 17:56:16 GMT -8
Can someone please help? My gerbil, Patches, is doing very poorly. He is very off balance and keeps tipping over, and he sleeps all day. He will run around on the bed and up my sleeve, but he mostly stays in bed. He still chews his chew toys, grooms himself etc. However, I think he has lost weight. He’s always been skinny and small, but he seems even more skin-and-bones than before. When I offer him blueberries, raisins, etc, he takes a few bites (half a blueberry, most of a raisin), and then drops it, but will sometimes keep eating in bursts when I give the floor to him again. I believe that he is drinking, and he still pees and probably poos but I haven’t seen any for the last couple of days. This all started about a week ago. He was really bad, suddenly, and I didn’t think that he was going to make it through the night, but he did. He got better, then got wobbly, and once walked in circles. He is nearly 3, around 2 years 10 months. His brothers are fine. (We keep them all separated now because they all fight with each other and reintroduction isn’t working, so we have 3 cage systems that we swap the gerbils in every night). We don’t have any vets near us (we took him in to our local vet and she said that he’s too exotic), but can drive for a bit if we really need to, but would prefer if he could stay with us. He isn’t in any pain luckily, but it’s sad seeing him like this. However, he is still a happy little boy, and that makes me feel better to know. Btw my initial guess was a stroke. Does that seem right?
Thanks in advance🙂
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Post by Markpd on Mar 4, 2023 8:52:41 GMT -8
You might be right, but it could be something affecting his digestion seeing as he isn't eating properly. Can he still use his front paws ok to manipulate his food?
Will he eat properly if you feed him mushed up food?
You really need to take him to see an exotic vet unfortunately.
Btw, it's always useful to weigh them every 2 weeks or so, sometimes you'll catch ailments earlier on, if nothing else, at least you'd know if he had lost weight or not.
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Post by betty on Mar 4, 2023 11:51:42 GMT -8
There is always the chance of it having been a stroke and he just needs to relearn his coordination and pick up his appetite.
Moist foods (baby food, ebsilac formula, egg biscuits, pinenuts/sunflower hearts/oats) are all good for reviving a poorly gerbil for a few days - along with warmth and a smaller enclosure.
Do keep us updated in him poor chap. I assume you have already checked his front teeth are all still there and lined up?
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Post by thegerbilgirl on Mar 4, 2023 12:40:46 GMT -8
Patches update! He ate a whole blueberry today! It was a small one, but still! I know he finished it because he ate it in my sleeve lol. There was no blueberry in my sleeve after 30 seconds. I let him run around on the couch, and he went for a run! His balance also seems better. Also, he seems to have gained a little weight! I’m still not getting my hopes up, but he seems better! I will keep you updated! Thank you both!
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Post by Markpd on Mar 4, 2023 14:00:22 GMT -8
Sounds promising  You said he's gained weight, from what to what? Or is it just visible apparent? |
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Post by thegerbilgirl on Mar 4, 2023 16:14:58 GMT -8
It’s kinda just visible! But now that a few hours have passed, he seems a little tired again. He just kind of seems a bit blah if that makes sense. But he could just be tired after all the running around he did today… I’ll keep you updated further! |
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Post by betty on Mar 5, 2023 10:32:11 GMT -8
Yes indeed - there could well be some energy loss with such a condition/episode. Just take it easy on him for a few days at least to help him eat his way better...
Glad that there is good news at least in such a short time.
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Post by thegerbilgirl on Mar 20, 2023 17:02:24 GMT -8
Hi! Sorry it’s been a while! Patches is now absolutely fine! I let him run on my bed yesterday, and he went zoomiez and took huge bounds! He’s eating, chewing, drinking, and doing normal gerbil stuff! He does seem a little more tired recently, but he is getting older so I think that’s normal. Thanks for all your help!
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Post by betty on Mar 24, 2023 1:33:47 GMT -8
Great news - so happy to hear that. 'Doing normal gerbil stuff' is music to our ears after a poorly episode.
Thanks again for the updates - it is is always good to be able to search for the condition and see the symptoms - the progress - and then the outcome.
Fantastic.
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Post by thegerbilgirl on Mar 28, 2023 11:45:28 GMT -8
My mum and I are just so surprised (in a good way of course!) that he survived! And the bounds when I let him run on the bed are HUGE! It’s so nice to see!
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Post by Markpd on Mar 28, 2023 12:46:25 GMT -8
Video it? |
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Post by thegerbilgirl on May 11, 2023 14:49:50 GMT -8
I have lots of videos but don’t know how to post them!
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Post by Markpd on May 12, 2023 16:01:31 GMT -8
If the videos are already online somewhere you can embed (show) videos here via the 'Insert video' icon just above where we write (will work for Youtube, not sure about others), or just post a link to them (for Google vids you'll need to hit the share icon after you've clicked the video and copy that link, not the one in the address bar).
If your videos are only stored on the device then you could upload them to Google, Youtube or others (create an account if need be), then do the above.
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