gerbil is sick

Question
We noticed this morning our gerbil is breathing heavily. He won't eat or drink. He wobbles when he walks. He seems lathargic. His one eye is red and swollen and the other is a slightly closed and seeping. I changed his bedding about 2 weeks ago to a cheaper brand from Walmart. It's pine. I've been reading quite alot about the pine chips. To be honest, I don't know what bedding I was using prior. He's about 3 to 3 1/2 years old. If it is a respiratory problem, what do I need to do to make him well? The other idea of what it may be, is he was fed some dry dog food for the last few weeks. I'm told that even though they may enjoy eating it, they do not digest it well. There is very little droppings in the cage. Can all these symptoms be caused by the dog food? I may take him to a vet tomorrow, but thought I'd give you a try. Thanks so much.

Answer
Hello! Yup what you are doing by taking your gerbil to vet is the best. He is having an allergic reaction to the pine bedding and probably the dog food. Only feed gerbil food and small animal treats to gerbils. They can't digest all the meat the dog food contains. Occasional mealworms and other insects are fine but the dog food is too much for them. Pine and ceder bedding causes respiratory problems including liver and lung disease. Since your gerbil isn't doing too well at all with the shaving. I wouldn't use shavings and buy some carefresh bedding or soft sorbent bedding which you can find in any petstore. If you really do need bedding and can't find the two brands I suggested, use aspen bedding. Remove the bedding immediently and even though you don't have any bedding right now don't worry. Put some tissue paper in there and use that as bedding right now. I would also wash his cage with warm water and liquid soap to get rid of any dusts. Good luck and keep me posted