>Without having seen them (especially as you discovered them,
>when you discovered them) and without your taking one or
>both to a veternarian for a necropsy (animal autopsy) it can
>be difficult.
No vets around here do small animal necropsy, so I didn't even try.
>1. When you found them, was the one still alive cold and curled
>up near/with the dead one. The alive one was ice cold feeling
>to the touch and stayed that way?
She was curled up around the dead one. She was cool to the touch but not as
cold as the black.
>2. Did you try to warm up the still alive one or do anything?
I tried to warm her and was considering giving her a sub-q bolus of warm
d-50, but she was just gasping at that point. By the time I got the bag of
d-50 warmed she was gone.
>3. How long did the DEH survive after you found her?
Less than 5-10 minutes.
>4. Did either one feel light (not solid), or did both feel light?
Both felt and looked perfect.
>5. Does your water bottle work? [you would be surprised how
>a bottle can get jammed and not work and you don't notice it]
The bottle was still hanging in the tank when I got this so I checked it.
Water comes out fine and there was an appropriate amount of water gone for
the time it had been in the tank.
>6. Did either show a discharge of red at the nose or around
>the mouth (it looks like blood but is really mucus)?
No.
>7. Did either or both (especially the DEH) have 'sticky eye'?
>[eyes glued shut and/or rimmed with gummy stuff]
No.
>8. Are you sure that the black died last night, or could it
>have been that day before you came home? Did you check
>on them in the morning before going to school and if so, what
>were they doing/acting like?
I can't say exactly when the black died. She was in rigor when I found her.
I usually look at them before I go out in the morning, but I don't really
wake up til afternoon, so I could have just looked and thought they were
sleeping.
>9. What sort of bedding do you use? Do you use anything
>that looks like fibers, cotton waste, polyfill (i.e., fluffy bedding)
>[I hope not!]
No, nothing fluffy. I use a special compressed pine bedding that has been
kiln-dried to remove the aromatic oils mixed with a few aspen shavings for a
nest. I also give them lots of cardboard tubes and untreated wood chews.
>10. Has anyone cleaned the carpets, sprayed bug or tick/flea
>spray or painted in the house in the last two days in that room?
We cleaned the house 2-3 days before, but all I did was sweep in that room.
>11. When was the last time you can remember seeing one or
>both eat, and drink?
I gave them fresh food and water the night before, and I'm pretty sure they
both had some.
Thanks for your help,
Diana
