Very sick degu. =[

It's a very, very sad day. =[

As you probably know, Morrissey (one of my degus) has been very, very ill with pneumonia (which was diagnosed on July 17th). Although he had been taking his medicine (cefalexin) and he seemed to be getting better, his head was still really tilty and he was walking round in circles. I was getting increasingly worried about him, so I took him to the vets once again.

I knew something was wrong, but not as wrong as it actually is. The infection has apparently spread to his inner ear or something, which is why he's walking around in circles and stuff. The vet said it didn't look good at all and after she weighed him, said that it was probably best to put him to sleep. He had lost over a quarter of his body weight over two weeks. I was sure he'd started eating and stuff again, but he obviously hadn't been eating enough. He wasn't as heavy as he should have been two weeks ago either. The vet said she was willing to try him with a new medicine (baytril) for five days as long as I was prepared to put him to sleep if there is not an improvement. He has to have gained weight and be looking better by I go see her again, otherwise he will have to be put to sleep. She said there's a very small chance the new medicine will work, so there's a big chance he will die. I have to be prepared for the worst. =[

In the car on the way home, I was pondering how to make him eat. I knew he liked to take his medicine from the syringe, so I had the idea of getting some degu food, crushing it up and mixing it with a bit of water so it was syringeable. I just tried feeding him that way and it made him so happy. He must have been so hungry. He was eating (or drinking?) like he hadn't been fed for years. Poor thing. =[ I even fed him some off a spoon and he liked that too. I think he had been trying to eat but either couldn't balance enough for it to work, or he just didn't have enough energy to chew things. He ate quite a lot of it, so I'm going to try feeding him like that every few hours 0r so. Hopefully we will see a weight increase by Wednesday!

I have now had to spend a lot of my money on Morrissey, but I dont care. I will do anything to keep him alive. The next 5 days are crucial. I'm going to look after him hoobloads.

I put up the most recent picture with Morrissey in it. It was taken last night. Please ignore the fact that I look terrible, I'm wearing no make-up or anything and look rather like a 12 year old. And gosh, since being pregnant, my face has become dead fat! But yeah...Morrissey looks so small and sad in it, hopefully he'll look happier soon though! I'm trying to be optimistic about this. =]