Bleeding Gerbil

Valli

We have a few of these lovely rodents, and I have kept them (on and off) for a long time.
DD has a couple of females and came home from school today to find the cage covered in blood.
We took both to the vets (ie the one we thought was bleeding and the onther one in case we'd got it wrong) and while we were there the one we thought was bleeding looked sicker and sicker.

Vet saw us, agreed with us as to which one probably was bleeding but we can find no injury; nor could she. She wasn't keen on examining her mouth as it would require anaesthesia and she didn't think the gerbil would survive that, so we brought her home, have isolated her and provided favourite foods (inc fruit to get her fluids up). She (the gerbil) seems perky; DD says she's eating...

Anybody any idea? At the moment we think it's a nosebleed!

jaqui59

Do your Gerbils live in a wired cage? Sometimes they can make their noses/mouth bleed by chewing constantly on the wire.

Also, similar damage can occur if they are chewing on wood you may have put in, or digging ferociously into the corner of their cage.

Valli

I asked the vet that - they've a 'cube' and a 'log' - the log did have blood on - but not as much as the white gerbil :eek: (it's the agouti who's bleeding) ... but they have always had these and we've never had a bleed before. Also we took them to the vets in a small animal carrier (which the ill one is now in) and she bled some more in that.
Their home is a gerbilarium - so a tank bottom with a wire top. these two gerbils usually stay in the bottom; and they've lived a long time in there with no blood previously. No visible injury around the mouth or nose.

I have had very minor bleeding round the mouth with them before, from, as you say, chewing. But not any of the gerbils we have now. (I have 3 boys, too)

jaqui59

What bedding do you use ... Is it dusty? Maybe your Gerbil is inhaling the dust, and then scratching at his/her nose because it is irritating them.

krlyr

Not gerbils, but I've had a couple of rats who had spates of nosebleeds, often the only sign of one if it had happened when I was out at work would be blood around the cage. One of the giveaways would be areas of 'splatter' that were obviously from the rat sneezing, so maybe look to see if you can see anything like that.
Unfortunately both the rats that had these nosebleeds died suddenly a month or so after the nosebleeds started so I'm sure they were a sign of something a bit more sinister going on, but as you say, it's so hard to investigate these things further in small furries. We did trial them both on antibiotics incase it was an infection in the nasal lining, plus antihistamines incase it was allergy-related, it did seem to help with one of them for a bit but not the other. I would perhaps switch to a less dusty bedding if you can, and just keep an eye on them. Did you check for wounds, even tiny ones? One thing I found with small furries is that the tiniest nick to a toe, for example, could create enough blood to look like a massacre! Yet they heal very quickly, leaving hardly any clues as to what happened.

picklepick

Poor gerbs. I'd be careful when/if you reintroduce them now, they can take a dislike to each other and fight even if they've been happily living together for a long time before.

How old are they?

Valli

about three

we now have a closed eye - I think it's a brain problem...stroke or similar

nevertheless the 'poorly' gerbil looks really lively, is eating so unless there are obvious signs of distress/discomfort I think we'll keep her here.

picklepick

Aww strokes are very common in gerbils. I think you're right and as long as she's still eating and drinking you should keep her there. 3 is a grand old age for gerbs, good luck with her.

Valli

I never knew that!

I certainly don't see the point of putting her at risk with anaesthesia and she's much loved.

picklepick

Well, there isn't any treatment that the vet will do. It's just a case of monitoring her eating and drinking until her time comes. They do make seemingly miraculous recoveries from strokes though.

A few ideas: My gerb always loved cucumber as a treat and when she was very old I'd give it her as she was quite reluctant to leave her nest to drink. I also gave her a hot water bottle wrapped in a towel towards the end and she would love to sleep on it, bless her.

Valli

I realise she can't be treated, she's not in distress so that's why I'm going to keep her here - if it is a stroke she hasn't lost any feeling/use of limbs.
We often offer fruit/veg to the gerbils so juicy treats (eg grapes) will be forthcoming.

Thanks for your concern.