I need some thoughts on this sad pet-related problem

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

One of DD's gerbils woke up this morning with its hind end paralyzed. This is our sweetest gerbil, and I'm more upset about it than the kids are (of course they're upset too, but I spent most of the day crying off and on :001_rolleyes: ). We took him to the vet today expecting her to put him down, but she suggested that we might see if a steroid shot would help, so we let her do that and brought him home. 

 

Since we've gotten him home, he has perked up considerably. He wants to be running around, climbing things and exploring the way he normally does. He's dragging his back end around everywhere, but he seems to be finding a way to do most of what he needs to do, even though a lot of it would require sitting on his bottom normally. He figured out how to clean his face and groom himself a bit, and he has a good appetite. We just put him back into his cage (he spent the day out while we made sure he was *ahem* eliminating normally), so we'll see how he manages.

 

It almost feels cruel to expect him to live like this. Even assuming he figures out how to feed himself and get water and navigate around his cage, is it fair to condemn him to a life this difficult if we have an alternative? It just makes me want to cry watching him drag himself around :( But then again, if he can keep himself alive, what right do we have to euthanize him? He's not in pain, he's just struggling. 

 

Anyway, I know it probably seems kind of silly because he's just a gerbil, but I'm really going through the wringer about what to do with him. The kids understand either way; it seems to be mostly up to me. 

 

So WWYD? Would you end his (presumed) suffering or let him live as best he can as long as he can care for himself? Has anyone with a small pet been through anything like this? Is there a chance his cagemate (thankfully, the submissive gerbil in the pair) might try to hurt him? 

 

Thanks for any thoughts you might have. 

[Liz CA]

Do their bodies manufacture Vitamin C or do they need a diet fortified in C? I am asking this odd question because we had a guinea that displayed those same symptoms. After Vitamin C injections, he could walk again. Our vet wanted to know what we fed and I had to bring the food in. It was clearly labeled for guineas but had no Vit C. He immediately called the manufacturer / distributor and needless to say we changed the food.

Now note that we had a guinea pig and you are talking gerbil and I have no clue if the two are even remotely related...just thought I throw this at you.

[Pawz4me]

Since he doesn't appear to be in pain, I would give it at least a couple of days before deciding.  I assume the steroid injection means the vet suspects inflammation somewhere.  I'm not sure how long it would take to see improvement, but I'd want to give the steroid 48 hours or so to do its job before making any decisions.

[BigMamaBird]

I'd make sure that all food and water was easily accessible and that it had plenty of hiding spaces for privacy, then I'd let nature take its course.

 

I'm sorry your family is experiencing this.  Our furry little critters get such a place in our hearts, no matter how small.

[MercyA]

I admire you for taking your responsibility to your pet so seriously.  It's not at all silly, and I'd be upset, too.

 

Because he doesn't seem to be in pain and is eating well, grooming, etc., I'd leave him be for now.  Do keep an eye out for any scuffles between the gerbils. 

 

Bless you for taking such good care of him.  :grouphug:

[nd293]

I would take a wait-and-see approach. We had to do that with a pet chicken recently. She was clearly ill, and moving with difficulty, but still eating, laying eggs etc. We gave her special care, bringing her food closer to her, and trying to be sure she wasn't suffering. After about 4 days we felt that we were simply delaying the inevitable, and that she had no quality of life, and we euthanised her. For us this was a part of responsible pet ownership, and not an easy part, at that.

[TrixieB]

Maybe try the Gerbil Forum.

 

There are gerbil owners on that forum who seem to know just about everything gerbil-related. 

 

Dd says if your gerbil is older, it's possible that he had a stroke.  Some gerbils who have strokes make a nearly-complete recovery.

 

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

 

I'm glad to hear you took him to the vet.  Pocket pets deserve vet care just as much as bigger pets do.

 

Keep an eye on the relationship between him and his cagemate.  You may need to separate them and it would be good to have an extra cage of some sort & water bottle on hand.

 

 

[Sisyphus]

I don't know about gerbils, but we had rats and one became paralyzed. They were nearly 3, quite old for rats, and had always been together. We waited a day to see what was what, but she didn't defecate at all so we figured this was quite bad. It took some calling around to find a vet who could euthanize humanely, many have no experience with rodents and they need special care- it isn't like a dog or cat. I had them both put down, I couldn't bear leaving one alone, and darned if I didn't bawl, over rats, lol.

 

Not gerbils, and probably not helpful, but google or find a forum for the specific needs of euthanizing small animals. It can take some legwork to find a vet with experience who uses proper methods so it is most humane, should it come to that. Hopefully it won't, if he is eating and defecating that is good. Be aware they can easily get infections if he remains paralyzed though.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Thanks, everyone. He settled back into his cage pretty well. He feels little and fragile, though, instead of his usual robust self. DD11 gave him a sunflower seed and he managed to crack it and eat it, so we're assuming he can feed himself. We'll see how today goes. He keeps turning his head when we offer him water, but they don't tend to drink a lot, so maybe that's normal. He can't make himself a warm, soft nest like he usually does, but his brother isn't either, so again, maybe it's just because it's so warm in here today. He did find a way to chew some cardboard on his own, which was one of the things I was worried about. 

 

He's definitely not in pain. He feels nothing past a certain point--the doctor checked his feet, and he didn't even flinch at the shot. He's only a year old, but he may still have had a stroke or something else. I was actually thinking to myself just the other day that he felt thinner and cooler than his usual self. Then again, DD8 admitted to me that she did drop him accidentally last night, but she said when she put him back in his cage, he ran normally to the corner of his cage and moved around just fine. So I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if he was injured in the fall. 

 

Anyway, thank you all for your thoughts and advice. I'm not sure why I'm so invested in this little guy. Even DD11 just patted me on the arm and said, "You know, mom, I hate to say it, but he IS just a gerbil."  :toetap05: I have an overactive empathy trait or something! We'll keep an eye on him and see how he does. I don't have much hope for the steroid shot, but you never know, I guess. 

[Guest submarines]

:grouphug: I hope he gets better. We have rats, and two died recently, and I know what you mean. They get under your skin, these little critters. Even DH cried when the first one died. DD11 was very upset, but then rationalized the death and bounced back quickly with her attention to the new rat. I think this is how she was coping, and I rationalized it as not the worst way to cope. She's a very caring and responsible pet owner.

 

Let us know how he's doing. And how *you* are doing. :grouphug:

 

[MercyA]

I have an overactive empathy trait or something!

 

That's a *good* thing to have!  :grouphug: 

 

It sounds like maybe the gerbil was injured in the fall; hopefully he'll recover with help from the anti-inflammatory shot.  I know someone whose dachshund had a spinal cord injury.  He was paralysed in his back end and couldn't even urinate without help, but he recovered in a few months.  So, there is hope.  Please keep us updated.

 

[celticmom]

I don't have any experience with injured pocket pets but I do have a paralyzed dachshund. He was injured over five years ago and is still going strong. He does seem to be aging faster than his litter mate that my mother owns. He seems to be fairly happy and he was very athletic before his injury. We had alot of physical therapy done for him and he still needs help with urinating.

[DawnM]

I am googling "gerbil dropped paralyzed" and finding many links, many indicate a back break and no visible pain.  They also indicate the injuries came a day or even days after the actual fall.

 

You might want to google more about it.  However, I wouldn't mention it to your child, it was an accident and no need to place a lot of blame if that is the case.

 

Dawn

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

Well, I can hardly believe it, but he seems to be regaining feeling! I'm truly stunned. Around midday, when we had him out, I noticed that his feet were twitching forward ever so slightly as he dragged himself around the table, and when I picked him up to hold him, his toes curled. By the end of the day, his back was starting to round up again, he was using his feet in a floppy kind of way to help propel himself around, and he was waddling instead of just dragging himself by his front paws. He figured out how to eat by leaning on one front paw and holding food with the other, but he was clearly frustrated with trying to groom his face, which he would normally do in a sitting position. His brother took over some of the grooming, though, and gave him a tip-to-tail going-over that made us all laugh. Even if he only regains as much functionality as he did today, I feel much, much better about his chances of survival and having a happier life.

 

Of course, while all of this was going on, oldest DD's gerbils somehow managed to unbond again, so they needed to be separated and given the vanilla treatment. They went back together at bedtime, so hopefully they don't get all messed up again tomorrow.

 

Honestly, gerbils are supposed to be easy pets! I've now spent the majority of the last two days stressing over these little creatures. 

 

Thanks again, everyone, for your advice and sympathy. I am so, so relieved that he seems to be improving. Thank goodness the vet gave me hope when we went in yesterday. I truly didn't envision there being a recovery for this little guy. I'm so glad to be wrong!

[alef]

So glad to hear he is doing better!

[MercyA]

His brother took over some of the grooming, though, and gave him a tip-to-tail going-over that made us all laugh.

So smart and sweet!  :)

 

Thanks for the happy update!  :hurray:

[amo_mea_filiis.]

We're currently going through gerbil drama (I don't mean drama in a bad way!).

 

Hugs. I hope he continues to improve.

[Tammyla]

I'm late reading this, but glad he is doing better.  It is hard to be the adult in charge of pet situations, and stress and worry are the price.  Anyway, I hope today he show more signs of recovery and you can stress a bit less.

[Night Elf]

 

Anyway, thank you all for your thoughts and advice. I'm not sure why I'm so invested in this little guy. Even DD11 just patted me on the arm and said, "You know, mom, I hate to say it, but he IS just a gerbil."  :toetap05: I have an overactive empathy trait or something! We'll keep an eye on him and see how he does. I don't have much hope for the steroid shot, but you never know, I guess. 

 

I had 3 rats and took them to the vet when they were showing signs of illness. It's not just "rats or gerbils", they're pets we assume responsibility for when we bring them into our family. I was as attached to those rats as my cats and dogs. One rat especially broke my heart. She was clearly dying, but I didn't know if it was time to put her down. All she did was lay there. I gave her water with a dropper and she held onto the tip of my finger. I was so hoping she would make a recovery. Unfortunately, she didn't. After our last rat died, we decided against anymore small pets. I was upset that they lived only a couple of years. But I do miss them. They were smart and sweet little ladies.

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

I had 3 rats and took them to the vet when they were showing signs of illness. It's not just "rats or gerbils", they're pets we assume responsibility for when we bring them into our family. I was as attached to those rats as my cats and dogs. One rat especially broke my heart. She was clearly dying, but I didn't know if it was time to put her down. All she did was lay there. I gave her water with a dropper and she held onto the tip of my finger. I was so hoping she would make a recovery. Unfortunately, she didn't. After our last rat died, we decided against anymore small pets. I was upset that they lived only a couple of years. But I do miss them. They were smart and sweet little ladies.

 

:grouphug:  It is so hard to watch them suffer, and the not knowing what to do makes it all so much worse. If it was up to me, the gerbil would have been put down on Sunday--things looked that bad. I actually found a vet who was open on a Sunday so he wouldn't have to suffer needlessly. I'm glad I was wrong, but the uncertainty about the right thing to do was just wrecking me over those two days. 

 

I completely agree with you. One of the girls said again last night that I shouldn't be so attached and they're just gerbils. I said I didn't believe that. They didn't ask to be born, or to be sold, or to be brought home to our family. We chose to be responsible for their little lives and love them and care for them, and we had to take that responsibility seriously. Of course, I remember not feeling that way when I had gerbils as a kid, so maybe that sense of responsibility grows with age. Or maybe they just compartmentalize better than we do? 

[jenn-]

I am sorry your little fellow took a spill and got hurt.  We have gotten lucky a couple of times when ours were dropped by a kid (in their defense some of ours have decided they are not afraid of heights and will try and jump).  I hope he continues to improve.

 

I hope nothing like this ever happens with our little guys.  I already know my dh would not be of the opinion to take them to the vet.  In our first set of gerbils, our favorite started losing weight and going downhill around 2 but that isn't abnormal for the species and he eventually died.  When his litter mate started showing the same symptoms, we thought maybe the first guy had had a virus or something and eventually the second one died pretty much like the first guy.  The third one in the bunch (the grouchy one of course) though lived another year without his buddies and he went downhill overnight and died within 24hrs of looking unhealthy.  In each of their cases, we assumed it was just their time.  If something happened to them when they were younger, I just know I would be fighting to get them help and DH would be rolling his eyes at me. 

 

These little rodents have a way to worm directly into our hearts.  They are fun to watch and each have a personality all of their own.  It is hard to see them in pain and suffering.