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Post by Jazzable on Apr 22, 2014 9:05:42 GMT -8
I just found a lump on one of my gerbils' scent gland. I noticed it when he climbed onto my hand to take a treat and I felt something sticking out of his belly. I took some pictures: It looks sort of like a wart, with a slightly scabby/bloody area, and it's just at the edge of the scent gland. I guess it's pretty obvious that it's a tumour. I can't be sure how long it's been there. I've had him (and his two cagemates) for almost a year now. I've never noticed anything like this before, but I don't religiously examine their scent glands. (I just checked the other two over though, and theirs are definitely clear). This gerbil has always been the smallest: is it possible he's had this the whole time, and it has somehow been affecting his health and making him smaller? I guess that doesn't really matter either way. Next question is: what do I do about it? I know that it's possible to have surgery, but I assume it will be extremely expensive and probably very risky, and possibly not be effective anyway? How likely is it to be malignant/harmful? He doesn't seem in ill health (he is eating well, active as normal, etc). Is there anything I can do other than taking him to the vet?
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Post by neil1987 on Apr 22, 2014 9:25:53 GMT -8
one of my gerbils had a scent gland tumour, I noticed it after he had scratched at the lump. it was a bleeding scab like thing. I went to a vets and got him put on batryl antibitoics by syringing it into the mouth, anyway this didn't really clear it as he kept biting at it. the vet I saw wasn't a small animal vet. we did go back and get him operated on , they took the infection out of his scent gland and stitched it back up, he pulled through fine even after being so weak at the time. a week later though he had to be put to sleep as the infection spread all through his body and caused infectious lumps to come up every where .btw the op cost about £90. your in a position now though to get him operated on straight away BEFORE infection sets in.Go to a small animal vets and they will diagnose him straight away unlike my vet who thought it was just a fight wound. just to add . my gerbil was 3years old and pulled through the op. im not saying definatly but at 1 year old he stands a better chance than mine. ive just lost a gerbil yesterday at 5years old, he had pneumonia and malloclusion of the back teeth
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Post by Jazzable on Apr 22, 2014 13:43:34 GMT -8
Had a chat with my parents about it (and showed them), and they reckon to wait a week or so to see if anything changes. It will be their money and it's a lot to spend on a very small creature so it's fair enough for them to be cautious. Obviously I don't want him to suffer, but he doesn't seem to be in pain or ill health at the moment. (And I guess if it's going to kill him within a week, then surgery probably wouldn't help anyway)
If it's malignant, how quickly will it grow? Will the change be noticeable over the course of a week? And if it's benign/not growing, then would it be reasonable to hold off on treatment?
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Post by neil1987 on Apr 23, 2014 6:13:44 GMT -8
I only really know about the experience I had with my gerbil.
cant you pay your parents the money back?
I would get him operated on if its the spreading kind, the vet should tell you what kind it is I would have thought.
the way I seen it with my gerbil is that he would definatly die if I didn't treat it, so lets go down with a fight, we might win.
my guinea pig almost went down and I saved him with baytril antibiotics
o and by the way , don't go to a normal vets, google search a small animal vets in your area. normal cat a dog vets are f***ing useless. they will waste your time and take your money whilst guessing whats wrong with your lil gerbil.
don't worry small animal vets are the same cost, no higher, unless you go after day shift hours
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Post by sparky on Apr 30, 2014 3:14:46 GMT -8
I've had 2 gerbils with scent gland tumours and I had surgery on both of them. The tumours were bothering the gerbils they'd made them bleed quite badly by chewing at them. Both gerbils made it through the surgery without any problems. The first gerbil was 3 years old when he had his surgery. The second one was only 1 years 2 months old.
As Neil1987 said it is important to see a specialist small animals vet/exotics specialist. There are still many vets who won't treat gerbils at all. It's a good idea to ask if they've done the surgery before and it is very important that they removed the whole of the scent gland and the tumour otherwise it is quite likely that the tumour will come back.
Unfortunately it is difficult for a vet to tell if the tumour will spread or not just by looking at it. A vet could do a biopsy but that would be expensive.
The biggest factors when deciding whether to have the surgery done or not are: how fast the tumour is growing? is the gerbil making it bleed by chewing or scratching at it? and can you afford to pay for the surgery or not? Even if tumours are benign they can still grow very quickly and they can be painful for the gerbil and can become infected.
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nzcage
Member
How many gerbils is too many gerbils? D:
Posts: 701
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Post by nzcage on May 1, 2014 3:06:34 GMT -8
Fang had scent gland surgery almost 2 moths ago, and he's absolutely fine. Your gerbil is around the same age as Fang (I think, maybe younger?), so has a pretty good chance of full recovery. Fang's surgery was £80 at Vets4Pets (the vets at Pets at Home... I was VERY skeptical about going there, but the chap there is the only local exotics vet and he was absolutely amazing with him). They removed his whole scent gland- something I'd really recommend, as I know someone who's gerbil recently had surgery to have only the tumour removed- within a few months he had 2 new ones I took the boys in in the morning and my other half picked them up around 3pm. He was a bit drowsy for a day or so, but after that he got back to being himself. The week after, we had a follow up appointment to check he was healing nicely and the vet was really happy with him. We've had absolutely no issues since then, fingers crossed. Unfortunately the likelihood is that your gerbil's tumour will grow and become uncomfortable, and he'll try to chew it off (which is horrifying to find, and can lead to infections). It's also possible that it's cancerous, and one tumour will become several. I was terrified to have Fang operated on, but after weighing up the pros and cons figured it was the kindest thing to do for him. It's rare that these things go wrong nowadays, but I figured even if he didn't wake up from the anesthetic, at least he'd die peacefully- rather than painfully at the hands of his tumour. This is only my personal experience, I'm sharing just so you'll have several stories to draw from. Your situation is unique to you, and you have to do what you feel is best for you.
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Post by Jazzable on May 1, 2014 11:33:10 GMT -8
neil1987 sparky nzcage Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately I don't have an income to pay for the surgery myself, and my parents have decided it's too much to spend. It's perfectly understandable, seeing as the gerbils themselves were only £10 each but it's probably at least £50-£100 for the operation. He doesn't seem to be in any pain or discomfort at the moment. When I first noticed the tumour (as in the picture) there was a scabby area, I assume from being chewed or scratched - but now it looks healed and is evenly skin-colour all over. I'll just have to hope that it might be benign and doesn't spread any time soon.
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Post by sparky on May 9, 2014 4:04:26 GMT -8
How is he doing? I'm glad it's not bothering him.
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