When a degu stops eating hay, the detail of what else has changed is what turns a worried phone call into a productive vet visit. Hay is not a side dish for a degu; the long fibre drives digestion and the chewing wears teeth that grow continuously, so a refusal matters, and a vet will immediately want to know whether this is a total appetite loss or a selective one.
Timing, appetite and what is still being eaten
Start with the timeline. Note the day you last saw your degu eating hay with normal enthusiasm, whether the refusal was sudden or a gradual fading, and what has happened since. Record what is still accepted: degus who refuse hay but take pellets, vegetables or treats are giving a different clue from those refusing everything, because selective refusal often points towards chewing discomfort or a problem with that particular hay, while total refusal suggests the animal feels unwell more generally. Write down whether your degu approaches the hay rack and turns away, picks strands up and drops them, or ignores hay completely, and whether chewing looks slower, one-sided or effortful. Also note whether a new bale or different hay brand arrived just before the change, whether the hay smells musty or looks dusty, and whether cage mates are eating it happily, since degus are social and shared behaviour helps separate a food problem from an animal problem.
Droppings, drinking, weight and mouth clues
Count and describe droppings over a day: fewer, smaller, drier or unusually soft droppings all tell the vet how the gut is coping without its usual fibre. Track water intake by marking the bottle level each morning, since drinking changes accompany many appetite problems and degus are a species where thirst changes are genuinely significant information. If your degu tolerates gentle handling, a weekly weight, taken the same way each time, gives hard evidence of loss that eyes miss under fur. Watch for the mouth-focused signs owners often spot in passing: drooling or a persistently wet chin, food pouched in the cheeks, pawing at the face, a clicking sound while chewing, dropping partly chewed food, or a new preference for soft items. Note energy and social behaviour too, whether your degu still runs, dust-bathes and greets cage mates or has gone quiet and separate, because degus hide illness in company as readily as other prey animals.
Presenting it and knowing the urgency
Bring the notes, not a summary from memory: a short written log covering days, foods accepted and refused, dropping changes, water levels and any mouth signs lets the vet pattern-match quickly and decide what to examine first. A degu who has eaten nothing at all, produces very few droppings, sits hunched and quiet, or is drooling and losing weight needs to be seen urgently, not logged for another week, because gut slowdown and dehydration move fast in so small an animal. Even a bright degu who simply refuses hay for more than a day or so deserves a call, since teeth problems do not resolve by waiting.
A tidy daily record of eating, droppings, drinking and weight is exactly what makes that consultation efficient, and KinsLe's Pet Passport keeps those observations with your degu's records so the vet works from facts rather than recollection.