Draco and Damian
Today's post is going to be us introducing two of our permanent resident degus - Draco and Damian. They arrived on the 10th of October 2018. Regrettably, due to other commitments, we've only now gotten round to writing them their own blog post.
Draco and Damian arrived into our care after a long distance friend could no longer keep their elderly degus due to unforeseen circumstances. Despite their efforts to try and keep them, it sadly wasn't possible. We agreed to provide them sanctuary here with us.
We were warned in advance about ongoing eye issues. Damian had a cataract and Draco had recently developed a discharge from one of his eyes. The vet had advised their previous owner to bathe the eye with salt water. Sadly, the salt baths didn't appear to be very helpful.
Draco and Damian arrived into our care after a long distance friend could no longer keep their elderly degus due to unforeseen circumstances. Despite their efforts to try and keep them, it sadly wasn't possible. We agreed to provide them sanctuary here with us.
We were warned in advance about ongoing eye issues. Damian had a cataract and Draco had recently developed a discharge from one of his eyes. The vet had advised their previous owner to bathe the eye with salt water. Sadly, the salt baths didn't appear to be very helpful.
Meet the Degus:
Damian:
Damian is a standard male degu who is approximately 6-7 years old. As we've previously highlighted, Damian arrived with a cataract in one of his eyes. The cataract clouded most of the lens within Damian's eye, resulting in significant vision impairment - this did not affect his quality of life.
Shortly after his arrival, we noticed a change to Damian's other eye. Once his eye was illuminated, we could see another cataract had developed. Although we had not noticed any other health issues that could've been attributed to diabetes, we decided it was appropriate to run some urinalysis. The dipstick urinalysis results were normal; a negative glucose reading made diabetes unlikely. With diabetes being unlikely, we concluded that the newly developed cataract must be age-related. With both eyes now being affected by cataracts, Damian has lost nearly all of his vision as a result. Fortunately, Damian doesn't let his vision impairment hold him back.
Newly developing cataract
Otherwise, Damian is a happy and healthy degu who is really enjoying his retirement home.
Draco:
Draco is a standard male degu who is approximately 6-7 years old. Draco arrived with a considerable amount of discharge from one of his eyes.
We made sure a thorough investigation was carried out ASAP. Our vet had concerns that Draco may have corneal ulceration, these ulcers can rarely be seen without staining the eye.
We obtained some fluorescein sodium: fluorescein is a manufactured organic compound and dye, fluorescein sodium is the sodium salt of fluorescein, and is used extensively in the field of ophthalmology and optometry. We administered topical fluorescein sodium 1% drops to be used as a diagnostic tool prior to illuminating Draco's eye.
Once Draco's eye had been illuminated, several superficial corneal ulcers could be seen. We were unsure how the ulceration originated, but the most likely scenario would be that Draco somehow damaged the surface membrane of his eye while eating hay, or even when rolling in his dust bath.
Draco was then prescribed 'Remend' corneal repair gel and 'Isathal' antibiotic eye drops.
After several weeks of treatment, Draco was finally cleared of any corneal ulceration.
It is hard to measure if Draco has sustained any permanent vision changes, but regardless, he lives his best life. He's a very gentle and easily pleased degu who is an absolute treasure to have.
You can keep up with Draco and Damian on our social media!
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