R.I.P Wayne, Wilson and Winston
Hello again, readers,
We wanted to write about three 'brothers' (who were actually sisters, but we weren't aware at the time) who passed away within a close time-frame - Wayne, Wilson and Winston. We bought the three amigos from a pet shop long before we went off doing our own thing. Originally, they all lived as a trio - Wayne had other ideas. Sadly, they de-clanned resulting in a 2:1 split; Wilson and Winston remained living together, and lived happily until Wilson passed away. Wayne never found another permanent friend, but enjoyed living next to a few different gerbils throughout his life.
We wanted to write about three 'brothers' (who were actually sisters, but we weren't aware at the time) who passed away within a close time-frame - Wayne, Wilson and Winston. We bought the three amigos from a pet shop long before we went off doing our own thing. Originally, they all lived as a trio - Wayne had other ideas. Sadly, they de-clanned resulting in a 2:1 split; Wilson and Winston remained living together, and lived happily until Wilson passed away. Wayne never found another permanent friend, but enjoyed living next to a few different gerbils throughout his life.
A forewarning: throughout this post, we will be discussing topics and events that some readers may find distressing and/or upsetting.
Wilson and Wayne developed internal tumours:
We noticed Wayne was in a pretty bad way very late in the evening on Easter weekend, we actually thought he was dying at the time - he had a large internal mass/bloat within his abdomen. He was in a fair amount of discomfort, so we gave him some pain relief. We'd hoped it would've made his passing as 'painless' as possible.
He was hanging in there by the morning. We decided it would've been best to contact the out of hours vet. We couldn't bare the thought of dragging out his suffering any more - we couldn't wait until the long-weekend was over.
That morning, we also noticed Wilson had developed a less significant bloat/mass around his abdomen area, though, in Wilson's case, this mass was impacting his bladder, causing him urinate in some of his fur. Judging the speed in which the siblings masses/bloat both developed, we thought Wilson could've very quickly taken a turn for the worse. We decided it would be appropriate for them both to see the out of hours vet.
The vet agreed to open the practice up and give the gerbils an assessment to decide the best move for them. The vet said both gerbils were breathing rapidly, and were then given the diagnosis of GI crisis and Neoplasia. By the time we were at the vet, Wayne had also gone into shock. Humane euthanasia was the kindest option for the pair of them. We were devastated to lose two gerbils at the same time, but it was for their best.
Both Wilson and Wayne crossed the rainbow bridge on 2nd April 2018.
Winston's suspected URI:
When any of our residents lose a beloved friend, we always allow a grieving period. Often, grief and stress can bring on sudden illnesses. This is what we believed happened with Winson.
Winston had very recently lost Wilson, his sibling, and life long cage mate - they'd never been apart. Understandably, Winston took his siblings passing very poorly.
When the time came for us to decide if Winston should be reintroduced to a different companion (another gerbil), he seemed... different. He wasn't showing signs of illness, but I could tell something wasn't quite right with him - it was brewing. We decided to give Winston a little longer on his own before making a decision. The last thing we wanted was to cause more upset for not just Winston, but his potential cage mate as well.
Within a few days, whatever illness he had been harboring came to light. Winston started with a suspected URI (upper respiratory infection). He had an increased respiratory rate and increased respiratory effort. He had also started to go off his food.
Winston was taken to the vet. They decided to trial Winston with a Dexadreson (steroidal anti-inflammatory) injection and Doxycycline/Ronaxan (antibiotic) - we could add the Enrofloxacin/Baytril (antibiotic) in later if appropriate.
Winston didn't respond to the medication and became a lot worse within 24-48 hours - his lungs were now crackling and he was increasingly lethargic. We took Winston back to the vet where he had some X-Rays taken. The X-Ray showed some clouding of the lungs, though it is hard to say what the clouding actually was due to Winston's tiny size.
We were very limited in regards to treatment. The vet had previously discussed the potential for adding the Enrofloxacin, however, how effective it would've been in Winston's case is extremely hard to say. The vet didn't believe Winston was a very good candidate for further treatment, and in both our previous experiences, cases like Winston's often only end one way. Sadly, we decided it was within Winston's best interest to be humanely euthanized.
Winston crossed the rainbow bridge on 26th April 2018.
Winston had very recently lost Wilson, his sibling, and life long cage mate - they'd never been apart. Understandably, Winston took his siblings passing very poorly.
When the time came for us to decide if Winston should be reintroduced to a different companion (another gerbil), he seemed... different. He wasn't showing signs of illness, but I could tell something wasn't quite right with him - it was brewing. We decided to give Winston a little longer on his own before making a decision. The last thing we wanted was to cause more upset for not just Winston, but his potential cage mate as well.
Within a few days, whatever illness he had been harboring came to light. Winston started with a suspected URI (upper respiratory infection). He had an increased respiratory rate and increased respiratory effort. He had also started to go off his food.
Winston was taken to the vet. They decided to trial Winston with a Dexadreson (steroidal anti-inflammatory) injection and Doxycycline/Ronaxan (antibiotic) - we could add the Enrofloxacin/Baytril (antibiotic) in later if appropriate.
Winston didn't respond to the medication and became a lot worse within 24-48 hours - his lungs were now crackling and he was increasingly lethargic. We took Winston back to the vet where he had some X-Rays taken. The X-Ray showed some clouding of the lungs, though it is hard to say what the clouding actually was due to Winston's tiny size.
Winston crossed the rainbow bridge on 26th April 2018.
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