Whitmoregirl's Wombles

Not having much luck with my oldies this year. Two more of my girls passed July 13th, Bea and Delu.

Bea had been stuck with a partially bald nose after the fur refused to grow back, and recently gained a headtilt. However, she then went on to suffer a stroke that worsened the headtilt and made her weight drop dramatically. However, she was still able to get around, chew, burrow, eat and drink, so I decided not to have her PTS just yet.

The night before she passed (12/7), she suffered a number of small strokes during the course of the night. Thinking she would pass soon, I bundled her up away from her tankmate and placed her in a small hospital tank on a hot water bottle and a number of tissues. I was amazed in the morning to find her still alive, weakened though she was. I offered her water and syringed food but she refused both. I rang the vets and made an appointment to have her PTS. Sadly, she passed away during the day.

Delu’s story is not so dissimilar. She suddenly lost a large amount of weight, going from a hefty 120g+ female down to her mother’s minature 50-60g weight range. She had wet faeces and thinking it may have been something viral, I immediately quarantined the tank and started her on a course of antibiotics while her faeces were tested. There was no response and her faeces came back clear. I tried her on some panacur, in case it was worms. Nothing. The diarrhoea caused the fur around her bum to fall out, and she was extremely boney despite still eating relatively normally.

All in all, she was a sorry sight to behold. In the end, the vet reckoned that her blood was leaking extra proteins into her stomach, and there was nothing we could do.

It was a tough decision to make, but the day that Bea was ill, I booked both her and Delu to be taken to the vets for the last time. Delu was PTS.

Like all my passed gerbils, they are sorely missed.