ARRGH ARRGH ARRGH!!! Took Grimmy (our cat for you not following the fate of
the Keil household) to the vet today for his scabby belly and vomiting.
Turns out he has mites, which kind the vet could not tell (it appeared to be
something of a professional curiosity in the office, actually) but they
appeared about the time we got Miranda.
So the cat gets a shot and some hairball remedy (the vomiting is from a
hairball, caused by excessive grooming (from whence came the scabs) caused
by the mite bites.
For those of you who don't know, mites like humans. A lot. Itch, itch,
itch. Arrgh arrgh arrgh.
So I mention this happened about the time of the new gerbil, among other
possible causes. The vet doesn't know, but says a small injection of the
same stuff the cat got couldn't hurt. $11 a shot isn't bad, but for 7
gerbils...
So I ask the sage gerblers out there the following -
1. What are the odds Miranda was the carrier?
2. If so, what are the odds casual handling would have transmitted it to
the others? (handling the gerbils in succession, and such. No actual
contact between cages.)
3. Are there any other remidies you know of (say, something I could put
in their water, or a flea dip or something?
Advice would be much appriciated. I've a vet appointment for tommorow
afternoon for the gerbs, they may just get those shots. I'd rather not,
there must be some alternate solution, but until then, I sit writing in
itchy agony. Doctor appointmebnt for me too, it seems.
