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Post by queenofthenile on May 5, 2005 20:31:13 GMT -8
Don't my gerbs just have all the luck . I came home today and Aris (my neutered burmese) was licking underneath himself. I thought maybe he was cleaning his woohoo, but I picked him up just to make sure. A small amount of pink flesh was sticking from his anus. After freaking out for a few moments, I got out some supplies. I swabbed the area with alcohol and then applied some lube that was infused with lidocaine (I had some extra from when Juniper had the baby get stuck during birth). Then I pushed the rectum back in with the tip of an alcohol-sterilized medicine dropper. The rectum has stayed in, but Aris hasn't defecated. I am leaving him separate from his mate tonight to see if he passes feces. He is very tender around his anus, and there is a small amount of liquid at the opening, due to swelling. Anyone have any advice? My biggest worry is that the end of the rectum was twisted slightly when it got pushed out. In cows you would just stick your arm up there to make everything right, but that isn't feasible with a gerbil . He's going to the vet in the morning. I was hoping someone else had gone through this, or had some advice.
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Post by queenofthenile on May 6, 2005 17:00:30 GMT -8
I went to the vet today and she looked at Aris. There are only a couple of things that could cause a prolapsed rectum: 1) severe diarrhea 2) constipation 3) cancer
He definately didn't have diarrhea, and when the vet felt him, there was very little feces present in his gut tract. All of his feces, however, have been very dry and hard. So he possibly is constipated. This could be due to not drinking enough water, or kidney failure. It could possibly be caused by a tumour.
So the long-term outlook isn't very good. The vet treated the symptoms (pain, swelling) with Metacam which is an anti-inflammatory. She also gave him fluids to ward off dehydration in case it *is* constipation. I'm just going to watch his water intake closely, and weigh him once a week.
Signs of kidney failure are increased drinking and urination. Signs of a tumour are lethargy and weight loss. Hopefully this is just a freak accident. Please send healing wishes to Aris just in case.
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Post by AndreaS15 on May 6, 2005 20:03:34 GMT -8
<hugs> That's just awful. I didn't post befor becuase I didn't think i had any information to help you. I was so shocked to hear of this and I feel you have done everything right to make him better. I hope he was just dehydrated, and get's better soon, Me and the gerbies all send best wishes for a speedy recovery! <HUGS>
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Post by gerbilsrgreat on May 6, 2005 23:06:21 GMT -8
Hope Aris is feeling better soon!
-Jeremiah
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RW
Member
When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure. Puppy 6/6/07
Posts: 530
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Post by RW on May 7, 2005 5:40:39 GMT -8
Sorry to hear about your little guy, Queen. If you think constipation may be the problem, my small animal vet book suggests dandelion and lettuce for hamsters with constipation (nothing about gerbils), so you could try that. I give my gerbils dandelion and lettuce and haven't had any problems with diarrhea, but you might want to stick with the darker varieties of lettuce, like romain, endive, and red and green leaf lettuces, instead of iceberg. Hope this is just a temporary problem and that Aris recovers soon. RW
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Post by queenofthenile on May 8, 2005 5:24:41 GMT -8
Thank you for everyone's well wishes. It is three days later and Aris is doing really well. He's in really good body condition, and his rear isn't sore to the touch any more. I'm hoping it was just a freak accident. As the vet I work for said, "Many animals get better in spite of what we do". So I'll watch for dehydration and weight loss, but I'm hoping for the best. He'll probably the gerbil that lives the longest .
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Post by AndreaS15 on May 8, 2005 10:44:48 GMT -8
That's great news! I'm so glad to hear he's on his way to recovery!
Sometimes this little guy's amaze me with what they can do and how fast there healing process can be!
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Post by queenofthenile on Aug 5, 2005 5:47:48 GMT -8
Aris is having the same problem again. Unfortunately, this time, it has popped out about 3 times in the last 2 days. He is going to a different vet today, as the previous vet is on holidays. There was no clinic that could get him in earlier. I know that this visit is likely to end in euthanasia. I guess I expected to have more time... I will give an update after work today.
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Post by sandy on Aug 5, 2005 10:09:37 GMT -8
aw, poor little fellow!
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Post by queenofthenile on Aug 5, 2005 17:35:28 GMT -8
Good news! The vet I went to today suggested putting Aris under anaesthesia in order to palpate and view the tissue properly as I had pushed it back in.
It turns out that it was a rectal polyp. The vet removed it, but since it was quite large, she was unsure if wide enough margins were taken to prevent regrowth. Here's to hoping anyway! He will be three in just under 3 months.
He seems so happy right now, chewing away at cardboard and running around. The last few days he has been quiet and lying around more. I'm hoping the polyp doesn't come back and he has a few more years of life.
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Post by meganb52 on Aug 8, 2005 14:30:20 GMT -8
Very interesting! I wish I could've seen the surgery! Rectal polyps are usually pretty slow-growing things, so I'm guessing he (hopefully!) won't have a problem again for the rest of his little gerbil life. Good luck little Aris!
-Megan
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Post by gerbilsrgreat on Aug 10, 2005 21:41:24 GMT -8
Whew that's awesome! So relieved to hear that he's gonna be alright!
-Jeremiah
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Post by AndreaS15 on Aug 13, 2005 10:13:57 GMT -8
Wow, what a scare! I'm glad the Vet was able to help of the little guy and that everything is going well now! <hugs>
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