[twokidstooyoung]

I have an 8 month old male degu, a few days ago I notice his left eye was glossy. I have a total of 7 degus, right now I am training 2 of them so they get a bit more attention the the other 5, but they all get attention everyday, so I know he wasent like this before, I haven't noticed any injury to his eye, nor do I see any scarring on his cornea. I'm wondering what might have caused this? I feed them a very full diet of degu pellets and always a full supply of timothy hay. Once or twice a week they get their treats and a bit of veggies. About a week ago, the pet store I get food at shut down without notice, I am waiting on a shipment of degu food, they have been eating guinea pig food( its the closest in fat and sugar that I could find) and O.F. oats. Coulf this have caused it? I am extremly worried he won't be abl to see anymore or that this might affect his other eye, I don't have a vet in my area that is willing to look at him. PLEASE HELP!?!?

 

[Sasami]

What type of degu pellets do you feed? What treats and veggies do you give? Do you know his genetic background (sometimes cataracts are due to genetics and I especially see them in inbred degus).

You don't have any vets in the area that treat small animals? You probably don't need one (yet) but I would find one in case of an emergency.

 

[twokidstooyoung]

The only food I have purchased for them is the vita sunseed degu diet, I think thats what its called. They usually get 1-3 sunflower seeds every other week depending on the size of the seed, and they get fresh dandelion greens every other day( they wont eat any other veggie but carrots ). I have both his mother and father and as far as I know they arent related, I would be rather mad if they were. There is one vet in the area specialized in small animals but they said they have never worked with degus and wouldent know how to handle them basically. I had contacted them once to do a nueter but they told me it would cost $300 because they had no experience with them. His eye doesnt seem to be affecting him, he is still able to run his mazes and retreive toys. He has been scratching it alot today. Can a cataract develope that quickly?

 

[Sasami]

Cataracts can develop suddenly, yeah. But for now I'd just keep an eye on it since it's not affecting him. I wouldn't feed any carrots for now just in case (cataracts that aren't caused by genetics are often a sign of Diabetes).

 

[twokidstooyoung]

I know carrots aren't the best for them because of the sugar content, they only get a peice about half the size of their paw. The timothy hay I buy has freeze dried carrot peices in it, they usually go the the bunny but one a month or more I give them a tiny piece.

 

[Sasami]

I know carrots aren't the best for them because of the sugar content, they only get a peice about half the size of their paw. The timothy hay I buy has freeze dried carrot peices in it, they usually go the the bunny but one a month or more I give them a tiny piece.

Ah, ok, that's fine then .