You can put the medication right in the gerbils mouth if it will let you
handle it to do this. We just mix the dose into a small amount of water
(you can add a drop of syrup to help it go down easier) and then we give it
via an eyedropper. go slow and make sure they swallow, otherwise it may
just dribble out the sides.
Often times, a dehydrated animal actually doesnt realize its thirsty and
will not drink or eat! Dont wait for a dehydrated animal to start drinking
on its own, get fluids into it yourself! In addition tothe meds you give by
eye dropper, you may want to also see if you can follow that up after a
little time to rest with soem gatoraide to replenish fluid and electrolites
(if no gatoraide then just soem plain water, add soem vitamins if youd like
if you have it. Avoid apple juice etc because this can make diahrea worse
actually in large amounts. Avoid any kind of juice or milk that has calcium
or "added calcium". Calcium can bind with the antibiotics used with gerbils
to make them ineffective).
Also, make sure your gerbil is kept warm. You may want to put a heating pad
under the cage or a lamp over it to give warmth etc. This isimportant
because an animal that is sick/dehydrated often looses body temp. If a
creatures body temp is too low- it CAN NOT digest or properly process the
foods ro liquids you try to get into it!
Id also be worried about why the gerbil is ill. Did it eat soemthign that
could eb bad? can they have an illness? The drytail can help with "common"
diahrea, but if you have an illness that is starting to hit the colony you
need to get everyoen on antibiotics (Actually drytail IS an antibiotic but
not necissarily te best one for whatever illness is goign around, IF an
illness is going around).
Maybe soemeone else can fill me in here, but with rats, we can also give
them bananas and/or blueberries to help reduce the diahrea. Can this work
for gerbils also if they eat it- or do these fruits cause problems?
ag
http://www.rodentfancy.com
>From: "[Angela] [Hull]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Subject: help please
>Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 13:39:52 EST
>
>One of my 6 week old pups has diarrhea. What can I do for it? I have some
>medication for it, but haven't seen the pup drink any of the water. Can I
>make up some replacement formula or some type of juice to put it in? What
>I
>have is Dri Tail..won't that clear up diarrhea, or should I pick up
>something
>else? Thanks for any help.
>
>
>
>Angie
>The Gerbil Guide
>http://members.aol.com/angh2715/index.htm
>Adorable ~N~ Gentle Gerbils
>The Ang Clan
>AGS Member
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