>The woman I talked to has owned gerbils for 10 years. She told
>me that a gerbil with a punctured lung doesn't really have a chance.
>Despite the fact hat I am not going to bring him for treatment, I
>am not going to euthanize it either. He has been drinking slight
>amounts of water (with vitamins in it) every half hour or so.
>Hopefully mineralized fluid in his stomach will help him a bit.
>Has this ever happened to anyone? Is there a chance Stuart
>will survive?
His odds are pretty poor, and it might be best (as others have
suggested) to euthanize him rather than let him suffer. There
are so many possible complications that this would be a difficult
one to care for period (and I have had several that have been
quite something, case wise).
Take a look at his 'quality of life'. If he is suffering it seems,
and not showing any improvement, then consider euthanasia
rather than letting him linger and go to a painful end.
If he has a lung puncture, the lung will stay collapsed and that
causes many problems. You mentioned he aspirated (breathed
in) some stuff. Complication of pneumonia is almost assured.
On top of a collapsed lung, that is a nasty way to go.
If you can manage to stay ahead of dehydration and keep
his nutritional needs met, it would be a long recovery, and
pneumonia a very likely reoccurance with little additional
stress to the animal to trigger it (picking it up might do it).
I know, he's your bud, and now your survivor, and it's hard.
There's a lot of expensive vet care to give him a chance,
and you are most likely to lose him. :(
It'd be great if he beat the odds, but at what cost to him and
his quality of life?
The decision is not easy and I wish you the best in making
up your mind as to what's best for Stuart.
Deb
Rebel's Rodent Ranch
