Sick pet, feel so helpless

[givemushypeasachance]

This post will be a bit of a vent, and a long, rambling and over-emotional one at that, so apologies in advance.

I have two gerbils - my first gerbils and my first adult pets though I had a rat as a teenager and dogs/cats as family pets. The girls were rescues from a local breeder and both around a year old when I got them. I've had them for over a year and a half and Fruit Loops (the slightly older one) will be three next month. Unfortunately the poor little sweetie is quite ill at the moment and I'm not sure she's going to make it - I have been doing what I can for her but I just feel so helpless and sorry for both her and her cagemate.

I saw that Fruits was looking a bit lethargic last Monday, although still interested in treats and not in any obvious distress. But she was still listless on Tuesday and I then saw she was breathing quite heavily so I took her to the vet who diagnosed an RI. The vet said you can never known whether it is viral or bacterial without cultures which aren't practical in gerbs, but since Fruits still had a bit of fight in her and was accepting treats so eating/drinking it was worth trying antibiotics. She prescribed baytril which I've had to syringe each day since Fruits isn't interested in apple sauce or veggie baby food or anything else I've tried to tempt her with so I could mix the dose into something tasty.

Today is Friday, so only three full days since the vet visit and the fourth dose of baytril which I guess takes time to work if it is going to, but poor Fruits has just seemed to get more and more sleepy and unenthusiastic with things each day. Her and Shreddie usually live in a four foot tank with a topper, but I've moved them to their "holiday home" bin cage so I can get to them easily and everything is on one level. Fruits always seems to be lying in the nestbox and doesn't come out voluntarily when I take the lid off to try to tempt her with treats. If I hold a pumpkin seed or bit of dried banana right in front of her nose she has generally been taking it, but each day she seems to get less enthusiastic and weaker. This evening I tried her with a bit of broccoli and she didn't even hold it - just nibbled a little as I held it. I tried syringing a bit of baby food after her dose of baytril but she has never been confident about being picked up and hates being "pinned down" effectively, as well as the syringe. I don't know if the small amount I got in her was worth stressing her so much when she looked so exhausted and unhappy afterwards.

I have tried looking around for any other advice and know that by trying to encourage her to eat and drink, keeping things accessible, trying to stress her as little as possible, there isn't much else I can do. She still has Shreddie for company and to help keep her warm - Shreds seems a bit confused about the whole situation but is staying cuddled up with her most of the time. If the antibiotics are going to work then Fruits needs to just keep her energy up to give them time; if the drugs won't help or she's just too weak to fight it then she will pass away having been given the best shot and having had a not bad run for a gerbil, as well as a loving home. But I feel so bad for her and have been crying on and off whenever I think about her looking so weak and listless, and so unlike her previously springy gerbil self, plus what poor Shreddie must be thinking about her friend being so different.

All but one of my previous pet experiences has ended in one-way vet trips, with untreatable illnesses or increasingly distressed pets being PTS, so I don't have much history in pets going into a slow decline and dying peacefully at home. I guess I'm just not sure at what point I should say that Fruits is too weak and unlikely to recover, so why prolong things and just take her to the vet again and ask for her to be PTS if she isn't going to make it, or whether that would actually be me just being selfish and upset at watching her get more ill. If she isn't actively distressed then surely it would be better for her to her to go quietly in her own time, with her cagemate there till the end? I just don't know, and this has set me off crying again, so I will leave it at that and try to take each day as it comes.

I wish I didn't work myself up into such a state over things like this! That's the trouble with lovely little furries like gerbs - their lifespans are so short, once they've burrowed into your heart you just know that a sad parting is never too far away.

I'm so sorry for you, Fruits and Shreddie

They sound like very well loved little furries.

Hopefully some-one with some actual knowledge will come by soon. Take Care.

Thanks for your post - I'm just feeling pretty sorry for myself at the moment. I know that a sick gerbil, and particularly a sick nearly three year old gerbil who has had a good life, isn't much in the scheme of things. But understanding that all little furries have their time and emotionally processing that when it looks close to the end are two different things.

I've just gone downstairs and checked on them again, now Fruits has had some time to calm down from the antibiotics and attempted baby food dosing! The poor wee lamb was in the same spot in the cage as when I last saw her an hour or so ago, and has definite clicking now and then when she breathes (a sign of RI's in gerbs). But with a bit of persuasion she did take a piece of walnut and nibble at it, and some dried banana. She's back in the nestbox now and probably all tuckered out. Taking on some food is obviously good, but my sister's hamster was gladly accepting treats right up to being PTS even when he was peeing blood and had lost fur and was badly ill with a bladder tumour. Oh little rodents, the emotional trauma that you can induce!

You love them, of course its sad and it hurts when they are unwell and you are waiting for them to recover with your fingers crossed. We don't feel less because they are small

I hope that Fruits surprises you and bounces back, are your vets open tomorrow to speak to?

They are open on Saturday mornings, but I'm not sure what else they could do/say. The vet initially gave me ten days worth of baytril and said if she responded to that she could have a longer course, or if she didn't then they could try a different antibiotic. Since I'm only four days into the ten days I expect they would say to just carry on with what I'm doing. I guess while she is still taking some food and doesn't seem to be in pain then I should persevere.

On Tuesday I took Shreddie along with Fruits to the vet to keep her company, and the vet offered to take a look at her as well to double check she was okay. Shreddie responded to this kind concern by biting the poor woman several times and making the her bleed! She has never done that with me - I was very apologetic but the vet did say it was all part of the job. The man with the big dog sat in the waiting room looked suspiciously at the carrying box when I came out accompanied by a bleeding vet who asked one of the receptionists to help plaster her up! Bless their fluffy little hearts - I am going to keep sending them positive vibes and try to stay hopeful.

Feisty little things aren't they

Have a good night, will keep my fingers crossed for you.

I don't know if it is wishful thinking or my imagination, but Fruits did seem a little perkier this morning. I still had to bring treats to her in the nestbox but there was a definite sense of "oh, yum, banana chip!" in the way she grabbed it - no holding things for her to eat, although it still seemed to take quite a bit of effort to soldier her way through it. I guess even when people have a cold or chest infection it is quite labourious to try to breathe and eat at the same time!

Thanks for the crossed fingers Altaria - I have everything crossed that this is hopefully the start of the antibiotics kicking in and not just a temporary blip of improvement.

Good news, tbh from your description it sounded touch and go last night.

Hopefully antibiotics are working

Thanks! She seems about the same again today - a bit more interested in things, and she even came and had a little wander around the box while I was changing water, etc. She still looks like a sick gerbil - eyes not fully open, and nowhere near as springy as a gerb should be, but I really hope she's on the mend.

Although she seemed to perk up a bit over the weekend, Fruit Loops went downhill again yesterday. I made another appointment with the vet for this afternoon, but when I came down to check on the gerbs this morning I found that she had passed away in the night. Not entirely unexpected - she'd taken herself off to sit in a jar on her own yesterday night rather than going in the nestbox with Shreddie, so I think she just knew that it was time and wanted to quietly slip away. RIP little Fruit Loops. xxx

I'm going to talk to the rescuer/breeder that I got them from in a few days about possibly getting some young females to introduce to Shreddie since she's a social little thing and I don't want her to pine away being on her own, bless her heart. The emotional trauma definitely hasn't put me off gerbils - they're adorable little bundles of fun! I am going to try to remember all the good times with Fruits.

I am so sorry to hear this. You sound like such a caring and loving owner. Fruit Loops was lucky to have you looking after him. I hope you have lots of happy memories.

her (sorry Fruit Loops!)

Don't worry about the him/her mixup; I get people at working asking how my hamsters are so the right species and name is closer than most! Thank you for the condolences.

A friend came over for company after work and we buried Fruits in the garden with some pumpkin seeds (her fave treats when she was ill). I hope she is off in gerbil paradise gnawing on a mountain-sized pile of cardboard tubes - the gerbil dream!

Shreddie doesn't seem to be pining too much - she's eating and gnawing on cardboard with enthusiasm, so hopefully she is of a practical nature and is moving on with important gerbilly tasks such as destroying everything she can get her paws on. I'm going to think about whether to intro some little ones or not - my advisor hasn't had much luck with females in this senario, though males are easygoing and accept a pair of new friends quite happily. It's balancing whether Shreds would be happier with the chance of company versus the stress of an intro that might not work, and potentially quite a long time in split cages. Something to think about.