LoriAnne
06-11-03, 05:07 AM 06-11-03
I am asking this question "after the fact" as our little Bernie died 5 days ago. He appeared to be completely healthy & fit right up until the last day when he was suddenly off balance (literally) and didn't open his eyes.
The thing is, a few weeks prior to his death there WAS one odd thing. He was running around in his cage at a frantic pace & going over to the cage door & desperately trying to get out. He would often go over to the door & look out if he wanted to come out of the cage, but he was never like this! He was actually climbing up the rungs of the door until he was a few inches off the ground, before falling off & then starting all over again. Remember, this was all being done at an alarmingly fast pace.
So I took him out & he was just as hyper. He's always been manageable in your hand. He likes to walk around & will walk up your arm & back down to your hand, but it's always in a very controlled, cautious way, so he won't fall. Well, on this day he almost seemed rabid in the sense that he was going too fast to hold on to. I returned him to his cage & the insanity continued - scaling the side of the cage door & then falling off & repeating it.
I didn't know what to do, so after taking him out a few more times I finally put him back & put a towel over the cage in the hope of calming him down.
This behavior never happened again, tho he did die a few weeks later. Any ideas on what the high-speed, out-of-control activity is a sign of?
Thank you.
The thing is, a few weeks prior to his death there WAS one odd thing. He was running around in his cage at a frantic pace & going over to the cage door & desperately trying to get out. He would often go over to the door & look out if he wanted to come out of the cage, but he was never like this! He was actually climbing up the rungs of the door until he was a few inches off the ground, before falling off & then starting all over again. Remember, this was all being done at an alarmingly fast pace.
So I took him out & he was just as hyper. He's always been manageable in your hand. He likes to walk around & will walk up your arm & back down to your hand, but it's always in a very controlled, cautious way, so he won't fall. Well, on this day he almost seemed rabid in the sense that he was going too fast to hold on to. I returned him to his cage & the insanity continued - scaling the side of the cage door & then falling off & repeating it.
I didn't know what to do, so after taking him out a few more times I finally put him back & put a towel over the cage in the hope of calming him down.
This behavior never happened again, tho he did die a few weeks later. Any ideas on what the high-speed, out-of-control activity is a sign of?
Thank you.