urgent decision - treatment for liquid retention or not

[ps25]

Hi

My 2.6 yr old female is currently sat in the vets office, just diagnosed with excessive liquid retention due to a heart condition.  Apart from the bloating, she is still a very active gerbil and isnt showing any signs of being ill.  The only option the vet can offer is draining of the liquid and giving diuretic for the reminder of her life.  However, the vet has never actually treated a gerbil like this and isnt sure about the effectiveness of this approach.

Has anyone else had experience of treating a gerbil with diuretics to manage heart related fluid retention?  Obviously its not treating the source of the problem (the heart condition).  But it might relieve the bloating and allow her to live the rest of her days in more comfort.  Or is it likely to be cause more problems in the long run, or prolong her discomfort from the bloating.  Like I say, she seems pretty happy and active otherwise so we are just looking at managing the liquid retention.

I'd love to hear anyone else's experience of this treatment before I make a final decision.
Thanks

[LilyandDaisy]

Hello,

I have some experience with using diuretics for heart failure. My gerbil Lily had heart failure towards the end of her life, but unlike your gerbil it caused her breathing difficulties. I believe it depends on the type of heart failure, as one type causes fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema, a very serious and unpleasant condition), and another tends to just cause fluid in the abdomen (ascites).

My vet was unsure about prescribing a diuretic as she was worried about dehydration and electrolyte imbalances, but in the end she did prescribe furosemide. I think it was 0.1ml twice a day. I found it difficult to give because 0.1ml is a large dose for a gerbil and my gerbil found the taste very unpleasant. It took a few days to have an effect, but when it did kick in, the effect was quite dramatic. However I then found that when I reduced the dose to avoid dehydrating her, the fluid in her lungs returned very suddenly and she died. In the end she lived about a week or ten days after starting the medication. I don't think it shortened her life but I don't think it extended it by much either. In fact, knowing what I know now about pulmonary edema and having watched a gerbil die from it, if I ever have another animal diagnosed with it I will probably have them put to sleep immediately because it is a very unpleasant way to die. That doesn't necessarily apply here if your gerbil's fluid is only in her abdomen though.

I think in your situation I would consider how much the fluid in her abdomen is affecting her, whether it's affecting her function or causing her pain etc and then weigh that against the downsides of treatment. Your vet will be able to advise better on side effects, but essentially it's a balancing act between reducing the fluid and avoiding dehydration, with the added risk of electrolyte imbalances (which can cause seizures and heart problems). In the long term, diuretics can also damage the kidneys.

Please do let us know what you decide and how it goes. I don't think there's an easy answer here and whatever we decide, we always wonder if it could have gone differently, but we can only do the best with what we know at the time.

[ps25]

I opted for the drainage and furosemide treatment. She's still just too full of life for the other option so I wanted to give this a try, at least while she doesnt appear to be suffering.
We'll see how it works out and I'll definitely post updates.

[betty]

How's things - has the medication been easy to give - I haven't had to give furosemide before - is it well accepted?

[ps25]

Update - unfortunately the diuretic didnt work. She started gaining weight again and also showing signs of distress due to dehydration. So we made the decision today to end her suffering. Its so sad because she was still so full of life and wanting to play. But we couldnt let her go on like that.

[catnut]

soo sorry to hear about your girl, may she rest in peace. My Tristan passed of some type of heart condition (age related). Take great care and know you did all you could for her.

[LilyandDaisy]

I'm so sorry. Heart failure is a very difficult condition to treat but at least she had a chance and was full of life until close to the end.

[tanzanyte]

I'm so sorry to hear this. It's always is difficult and non gerbil owners never seem to understand just how difficult.
They always have a big personality for such a small animal and it's hard. You've done your absolute best and that's all you can do. Whilst she was probably showing signs of being full of life it will have been affecting her far more than she will have shown. Tae care of yourself and give yourself some time to grieve.