Pearl is ill again

[jennyb]

Hi, alot of you are familiar with Pearl's history of illness, in october 2008 Pearl was very sick with Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD), it was very touch and go whether she would survive it but she did and she remained in good health until march 2009 when she had a very bad eye, her eye was very watery and quite pink around it. I bathed it daily and a week later it was better. Pearl then was healthy until jan 2010 when she had a single seizure, we don't know what caused it but it happened when our heating broke so we suspect it was to do with that. She was then healthy until march when she developed mastitis, she was given anti-biotics. She went to the vet with Hazel who was very sick at the time and the vet was testing Hazel's urine for Diabetes and said she could test Pearl's urine too, both were negative for Diabetes.

Last week i suspected that Pearl wasn't looking right again, she coat appeared patchy again like when she was ill was MBD. I wasn't sure whether it was shedding but all the other chippies had a smooth and shiny coat. I also thought her eyes were looking duller. In the last few days she appears though to be very sick. I've been getting help from The Squirrel Board and we are thinking she could have diabetes although if she does have it, it is very recent as when tested in march this year she was negative. The other thing we are possibly thinking at the moment is it could be a possible relapse of MBD, although apart from the patchy fur she doesn't have the other symptoms she had last time.

It doesn't appear there are bald patches in the fur but the fur seems thin in places especially on the face. When i have looked out at the chippies i saw Pearl at the water bottle and it seemed she may be drinking more than usual but as she was with six others it was hard to see just what she was eating and drinking. She used to be overweight but she is looking slimmer now. I've decided to bring her indoors so i can monitor what she drinks and eats and since being indoors she visited the water bottle six times the first day and yesterday about four or five, that does seem alot.

At the moment i am giving her extra calcuim daily on the food just incase this is MBD. I'm monitoring how much she drinks daily and how much she pees and how often. She is sleeping at the moment. She don't appear to be peeing alot but she drinks loads and lots in one go when at the bottle.

Today her right eye is watery and she was squinting it. I gave her calcium on her foos and she ate some cheese and abit of tomato.

I have a few pictures from last week and some from today

[judyw]

Oh Jenny

Poor little Pearl. I hop she will get better soon. Bless her, she is not having much, bless.
Fingers x

[pinkpill]

aww i hope she's ok, i have a soft spot for pearl 

[jennyb]

Thanks Judy and Pinkpill, i really hope she gets better soon. She is still drinking alot though, this morning she visited the water bottle four times in a very short period of time then went back into her bed. She then got up again and nibbled some food. I am at my grandparents at the moment so mum is keeping an eye on her.

[emab]

oh i hope everything is ok get well soon pearl xx

[alan]

Hope she gets well soon 

[jennyb]

Thanks Emab and Alan, me too

the main thing which is worrying me is just how much she is drinking.

I watched her yesterday after i got back from Southend she visited the water bottle six times in only two hours, she also nibbled alot of cuttlefish so is eating calcium, it seems unlikely this is a calcium problem. She also don't do much else apart from drink, eat a little and sleep.  My Hazel R.I.P.  had similar symptons, it turned out she had kidney failure, she was older than Pearl but the fact Pearl is behaving like her i hope it isn't this because it would be the worst scenario as Hazel died not long after showing these symptoms 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed she is just feeling abit unwell and it isn't serious.

[emab]

i know its hard try an keep positive hopefully she might just be feeling abit unwell and drinking alot because of the heat  il keep my fingers crossed for her xx

[jennyb]

Thanks Emab, Pearl is in the coolest room in our house, we have air conditioning. She don't appear to be eating much, she hasn't eaten hardly any chipmunk food and i gave her peanut butter and she barely touched it and she loves it usually 

It appears the bottle is working ok as there are bubbles when she is drinking but i've changed it anyway. I've asked my dad to get a small ceramic bowl to put some water in just incase she's struggling with the bottle.

[emab]

good idea, hope shes ok x

[jennyb]

Hi, Pearl has been eating today, peanut butter and a few bits of chipmunk food. I have a bowl of water for her aswell as a bottle but so far she hasn't drank from it, has continued drinking from the bottle. Maybe she will go to it later.

[emab]

yer im sure she will it sounds like ur doin everythin you can for her jenny

[judyw]

Hi Jenny

How is Pearl doing?

[jennyb]

Hi Judy,

i've only seen her drink from the bowl once, she is still using the bottle for some reason. I don't think she is drinking as much now, not as frequently either maybe this is a good sign. She has been eating. She is eating alot of cuttlefish, when she goes to it she nibbles it about three or four times. She is eating it daily.

[jennyb]

Poor Pearl she has been through so much...there is now something not right with her teeth. I noticed it tuesday but didn't get a very good pic so i tried picking her up today and getting a closer look. She is quite docile so easy to handle but still it wasn't easy keeping her mouth open and trying to take pics at the same time. I think she has chipped the top teeth most likely broken them biting the cage bars. This is a problem with keeping her indoors she does bite the bars alot. The bottom teeth look straight but the top ones may be misaligned they don't look as straight as the bottom ones, the last two pics show this i think. Pic 6 shows how the bottom teeth are less orange than the top ones and white tipped.

As for the drinking she seems to have reduced the amount she is drinking and goes to the bottle less frequently now. She is still eating. I am giving her some antibiotic Baytril incase of tooth infection. Pearl does seem quite sleepy though at times.