dying pet and sick to my stomach

I am having a very terrible day.First of all one of my degus is very very sick and I'm pretty sure she's not going to get better, and I have no money to take her to a vet. I barely slept all night cause I had her in a box and I was holding her all night trying to get her to eat or drink and she wont. then I had to drive to my dr's appointment all sleepy and worried about leaving my degu  behind. And then while I was outside smoking my son decided to make his own hamburger and started a fire on the stove so it smells so aweful I feel like I'm going to vomit, literally, I an barely move cause I know I will throw up if I do. I dont know how I'm going to cope when my baby degu dies, her sisters are going to be sad and so are my kids and especailly me, and I dont want her to suffer, but I dont have a penny to my name. Do you guys know of any programs or something that may possibly pay for a vet visit for an excotic animal?? thank you for listening.

-hellokitty

Do an on-line search for an animal rescue group called "moose" it supposed to help pay for emergency vet bills
for those that can't afford too.. Look into it... I just found out about this group at a recent cat show, but they help all types animals...
Good luck to you, I know what it is like to loose a pet so you have my sympathies..
soft hugz

Well I just woke up from a long nap, things have gotten so messy around here all I could do was shut down. My degu is still alive but not any better, she will eat raisins but I cant feed her more then one cause the sugar in it can kill her, which I guess doesnt matter much anymore. I cant tell what her bowel movements look like, I dont know which is hers, but now I think about it, she didnt poop when I had her in the box last night, maybe thats her problem. For now I have her back with her sisters, they're worried about her, except for the fact they keep stepping on her. Also my friend called me today, I guess this morning while she was out shopping she saw this prescription bottle out in the parking lot, she opened it and noticed right away that they are oxy's 40s, there where 26 full pills and 2 halfs, there was no name on the bottle, so she freaked out and flushed them down the toilet cause she didnt know what else to do, I told her next time she should of taken them to the pharmacy to discard of, cause it sounded me like someone was selling them or something, and maybe they could use the store's cameras to look for suspecious activites or something. She said she was just scared, and didnt know what made her pick up the bottle. But I guess it was better then her leaving leaving it there for some teenager to abuse or something like that. But I told her who ever they belonged to was not taking them right cause their should of been a lable on the bottle and they shouldnt be cutting them half. My friend is also a hgih school teacher so all she thought was that some teenager probably stole it from their mom or grandmother and was selling them, so I told her she'll be fine, she was really freaking out over it. And I will call around, we dont seem to have very many vets around here, and I'm sure their are probably hardly any that will do rodents. I know our humane society has nothing to offer cause I called them when I found someone's bunny that a bunch of little kids where abusing (they where sticking a stick up it's bottom and down it's throat) and I asked if anyone lost a bunny cause this was someone's pet cause it was all black and soft and didnt look or acted like a wild rabbit. So I yelled at the little kids and took it to my father's house and he bought it a cage and we tried to find the owners, and the humane society wouldn't help at all cause they said they where strictly for cats and dogs. But in the end nobody claimed it so we gave it away to one of my dad's workers for his kids, which made me feel good that I helped and found a home for him. I'm a very very big animal person, I cant stand to watch them suffer, but now it makes me feel like a bad person casue I cant afford a vet bill. We can have cats or dogs in my apartment so my degus make up for it. She's not acting like she's in pain yet, and I hope she isnt, it would kill me.

-hellokitty

Hi Kitty,

I'm so sorry to hear that your degu is sick! I'm the biggest animal lover. It is awful having a sick animal, especially an exotic, as there are not too many vets that are really very knowledgeable about exotics, unless perhaps you are in a big city. I just had a snake with bad eye problems & scale problems the other month. I decided to wait to take him to the vet until after he shed next, in case the shedding helped resolve the problem (which fortunately, along with lots of warm soaks & topical glycerin, it did), but I was pretty frantic for a while, because his eyes looked so horrible & he did not act like himself and I was having a hard time finding a vet that works with herps.

I've actually worked part time as a vet tech for going on 7 yrs. Probably 99% of what we see are dogs, cats, and large animals, but people do bring us chickens & other birds, rats, rabbits, guinea pigs, iguanas, and other exotics from time to time. We're also certified to treat wildlife & get a lot of injured wild animals that good samaritans, animal control, or the police bring us. So if you don't have a vet in your area that specializes in exotics, you could call around to clinic that work on dogs & cats, and they may see exotics on the side (although they will not be nearly as knowledgeable as a specialist, but may still be able to offer you some help -- we will even operate on birds & mammalian exotics). Someplace like this may also be cheaper. Vets that specialize in exotics tend to be very expensive. I'd suggest calling up some clinics in your area & find out about their pricing & if they would be willing to help you out or set up a payment plan for you. Also, you could try calling & leaving a message for the vet about what is going on with your little guy. They may not be able to tell you anything over the phone, if they feel that they really need to see it first. But, on the other hand, they may be able to give you some advice as to what you could do, or suggest a medication that you could pick up from them. We have people do this all the time, and many are people who want to help their animal, but don't have to money to bring it in for a full exam or tests.

Good luck! I hope your degu gets better! I'll be saying a prayer for her! I hope your stomach starts feeling better too! Feeling nauseous is awful!

Skeye

my poor poor baby, she has shallow breathing, and I gave her a raisin and she acted like she was struggling to chew. She wont take water at all. Hern ame is Shorty cause I got her for a discount casue she was missing half her tail and some back toes so nobody really wanted her, but I really did. My other two degus very much know she's not doing well, they only leave her to eat, casue usually they play nonstop and are really loud, but not today. I'm going to call around first thing tomorrow, hopwfully some places are open on saturdays, atleast maybe they can stop her from suffering. Life just isnt fair, she's not even a year old yet. I really wish I knew what was wrong, I hope she doesnt got something contageous cause if the other 2 die I will be devestated and will probably go into severe depression, they mean the world to me just like my kids. I will keep you guys updated, thank you so much for the support and advice, I really need it right now more then anything.

-hellokitty

I have cared for Chinchillas for a long time and if one of my girls had those symptoms I would say it is bloat. Can you feel her tummy and tell if it is swollen? Also, do you have a farm store or a good pet store in your area, if so, call them ASAP and see if they have a thing called Bene Bac - it is a high calarie suppliement for rodents that helps when they are having tummy trouble.

I would also stop feeding her raisens and pellets and do hay only, anything else can cause more gas which can be really bad.

please feel free to e-mail me and I can give you my phone number and maybe together we can figure out what is going on and get her feeling better.

Take care,
Sarrah