Hi all - I was hoping someone could give some advice on my very poorly Herman's.
He is 11 years old and has been hibernating for 5 years. He went into hibinatiion in December and came out in February with a snotty nose. I warmed him up and bathed him and it stopped. He had a wee and ate a little within the first 24 hours. 2days later he had stopped moving and had no energy. He was very weak and could no longer lift himself up. (My other Herman's by this point was very active and eating and drinking well). I took him to the vets and they thought he may have mouth rot as he had sores on his tongue. They gave him a shot of vitamins and some antibiotics. They sent me home with him with a seven day course of antibiotics. 4 days later he still wasn't eating, drinking or moving. I had been giving him baths to try and stop him dehydrating too much. I took him back to the vets and they decided to keep him in as he had lost weight. They spent 3.days governing him vitamins and tube feeding him with a rescue formulae. I then brought him home sand have continued to tube feed him 4 times a day with 5ml of this formulae. He still hasn't made any improvements. He has finished his antibiotic course and has a sticky mucus in his mouth which I'm cleaning out twice a day with an iodine solution (advised by vet). They have told me to keep tube feeding him until he eats but clearly something is very wrong. Although he has put on a bit of weight he has not passed any urine or pooh since he has been tube fed - that is approximately 12days of tube feeding and nothing to show for it. The vets are a bit stumped and can't give me much more help. Does anyone have any clues what the problem is, how long is it fair to keep tube feeding him?
Please help!
Thank you in advance
Rachel & milo
He is 11 years old and has been hibernating for 5 years. He went into hibinatiion in December and came out in February with a snotty nose. I warmed him up and bathed him and it stopped. He had a wee and ate a little within the first 24 hours. 2days later he had stopped moving and had no energy. He was very weak and could no longer lift himself up. (My other Herman's by this point was very active and eating and drinking well). I took him to the vets and they thought he may have mouth rot as he had sores on his tongue. They gave him a shot of vitamins and some antibiotics. They sent me home with him with a seven day course of antibiotics. 4 days later he still wasn't eating, drinking or moving. I had been giving him baths to try and stop him dehydrating too much. I took him back to the vets and they decided to keep him in as he had lost weight. They spent 3.days governing him vitamins and tube feeding him with a rescue formulae. I then brought him home sand have continued to tube feed him 4 times a day with 5ml of this formulae. He still hasn't made any improvements. He has finished his antibiotic course and has a sticky mucus in his mouth which I'm cleaning out twice a day with an iodine solution (advised by vet). They have told me to keep tube feeding him until he eats but clearly something is very wrong. Although he has put on a bit of weight he has not passed any urine or pooh since he has been tube fed - that is approximately 12days of tube feeding and nothing to show for it. The vets are a bit stumped and can't give me much more help. Does anyone have any clues what the problem is, how long is it fair to keep tube feeding him?
Please help!
Thank you in advance
Rachel & milo