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Post by Shooting Star on Jan 18, 2017 16:47:31 GMT -8
My 2.5 year old male, Pizarro, started getting a lump under the skin at the base of his right ear back in October. It was slow-growing, but by the new year it was open and ulcerated, and sometimes he'd scratch at it and get a big clot that glued that ear to his head. So we went to the vet. While surgery was an option, my vet suggested to first try some meds I'd never heard of before: DMSO and Animax. After a two-week course of both meds twice a day, he's much improved! With his check-up today, we're decreasing the meds to once every other day for maintenance. My vet's lovely diagram of the tumor:  You can see most of it is under the skin (dotted outline), and the bit close to the ear itself is open and inflamed. Jan 4 (initial vet visit)  Jan 5 (at home, after a couple doses)   Jan 18 (at vet, after 2 weeks of meds)  |
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Post by wazooooo on Jan 20, 2017 23:24:55 GMT -8
So it worked?!?!? I will have to send this page to my vet and see if I can get my little Patches on this stuff. Antibiotics are not doing much good I'm afraid except for keeping it from getting infected. Thanks!
Cheers, M
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Post by wazooooo on Jan 21, 2017 0:37:55 GMT -8
So how much was the medication? And was it given orally, through a syringe mixed with juice? Or some kind of topical cream?
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Post by Shooting Star on Jan 21, 2017 7:58:56 GMT -8
He still has the tumor, but it's not inflamed and open any more. Both meds were used topically, just a dab with a q-tip. The DMSO is a liquid, about $4 for a 6cc syringe (which lasted just over the original 2wk course of 2x/day). Animax is an ointment, about $18 for a 15mL tube (which will last me for a good long while). Here he is today (1/21), looking even better:    |
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Post by wazooooo on Jan 21, 2017 10:27:06 GMT -8
Awesome, I'm going to contact my vet today and see if she knows about these meds.
Hopefully it's something that's available in Canada.
Cheers!
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Post by wazooooo on Jan 25, 2017 13:36:10 GMT -8
Hey Shooting Star, any update to how your little buddy is doing?
I have contacted my vet to see if I can get my little Patches on this stuff to see if it will work.
Just waiting to hear back from her. Thanks.
Cheers, Mitch ; )
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Post by wazooooo on Mar 29, 2017 13:07:10 GMT -8
Well, an update on my little guy. I had him on the Aurizon for most of February and I'm still giving it to him this month. It really helped with the infection in his ear, but he still has the tumor, and now he is losing is fur around his ear, seems to be more missing every day, and I don't know whether that is due to him scratching it or stress. Or both. He doesn't seem to have the energy that he once had either. He eats, he chews, and doesn't look like he's suffering badly, but I'm at a point where I don't know what else I can do for him. He seems to be going slowly downhill, and kind of looks depressed. I let both of my gerbils out for a run on the bed about once or twice a day for about 20 minutes and he doesn't run much, he just kind of sits there. I pick him up and pet him and he seems to find a lot of comfort in that. Just quite sad to see him possibly not enjoying life to the fullest. But I don't think it is time to put him down either and the thought of that really bothers me. He's just a tiny little creature, but I sure have grown attached to these 2 little guys. Any advice?
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Post by Shooting Star on Mar 29, 2017 16:53:16 GMT -8
My guy's tumor stayed under control, but did grow large enough to block the drainage of his ear canal, so he was getting recurrent inner ear infections. He died peacefully in his sleep at just shy of 3 years old.
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Post by wazooooo on Mar 29, 2017 18:48:12 GMT -8
   I'm sorry to hear that. Doesn't give me much to hope for, but I kind of knew that it was likely bad news, I'm just hoping he's going to hold on for awhile. If I see that he's suffering and totally not enjoying life anymore, I will have to put him down, but I hope that he will go the same way, by just passing away in his sleep. Been spending a lot of time just holding him and talking to him, and he seems to find comfort in my voice. The Aurizon I was prescribed is great for keeping the infection away, but it's not doing anything to zap the tumor itself, and while it is not getting bigger, I know that it is quite irritating to him. Just when I thought it was getting better, I checked on him one morning a few weeks ago and it was bleeding which would indicate he had been scratching at it, so it has been scabby for the last few weeks, I still put the Aurizon on it and some manuka honey. He is OK, but he sleeps a lot more than usual, where as before he was usually chewing all the time. He's eating fine, he still chews, but much less. I thought I was going to lose him a few weeks ago because he was moving around like he was drunk one day, and I still don't know what happened to him, I guess he just got ill with something, Next day I wok up and he up on the bridge chewing, like nothing had happened. Anyway, I am just trying to show him as much love as i can and spend as much time with him as I can, because really, you never know, his time may be short. |
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Post by GerbilUK on Mar 30, 2017 7:56:25 GMT -8
Hi, sorry if I missed it but how old is Patches? Could it be he's just naturally slowing down with age?
I think you have to decide whether he is suffering or not. Poor little guy, from the photos that does look really severe. However i personally think that if a gerbil is gnawing, eating,digging, then he's probably happy enough.
I have a gerbil with a tumours on both sides, he has a bad head tilt and balance problems - in fact his whole face is getting quite distorted and his top and bottom teeth are actually offset sideways. Luckily they still wear down fine and he can still eat and move about ok. He only scratches it occasionally but if he does there is blood everywhere!
The strange thing is that recently ie over the last couple of weeks, both tumours have really shrunk. I haven't done anything to them but the worst one has gone from about half the size of your Patch's to hardly visible even close up. Very weird! The gerbil is 3 in July so I hoping that he will die of 'old age' as it were after all. I have been thinking the worst and that I would have to put him down for about a year and a half now!
How is Patch at the moment? I do feel for you, it's not a nice situation to be in.
Wokette
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Post by wazooooo on Mar 30, 2017 10:39:08 GMT -8
This morning I looked at him, and it looks pretty scabby, and about the same. Looked like there was a bit of pus or fluid of some kind further in his ear canal, so I gently cleaned it with warm water followed by a bit of alcohol, then put a few drops of the Aurizon on it. I sometimes follow this half hour later with a bit of manuka honey, but usually what ends up happening is that the other one, Bubs, will lick it off his ear because he loves the taste. I sometimes even give him a small piece of almond with a hint of manuka honey on it as a treat and he loves it.
I can't really tell if Patches is suffering or not, he's not crying in agony or anything, but I do know that it bothers him and probably the itching is the worst. He is resting a lot more than normal which is probably a good thing for it to get better. He's eating normally, I still have both of them out for a run every day for about 25 minutes on the bed. He sometimes just sits there not running much, I can tell he's tired and this whole crappy ordeal has taken a lot out of him I think. Just wish I knew what else to do. When I have a little more money, I may take him to a different vet and see what their opinion is. It's just so bloody expensive and I don't have a ton of money to work with. I've already spent close to 400 bucks with vet trips and meds. The reality is that I simply can't afford to take them every week to a vet. I just hope that it will clear up. He's a fighter for sure and a pretty awesome little fellow. I just hope he's going to stay with me for awhile.
The other guy is fine, he's never had any issues other than his teeth, which both broke off and took a few weeks to grow back. He's got tons of energy and chews through cardboard like it's going out of circulation.
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Post by catnut on Mar 30, 2017 14:47:10 GMT -8
I know about vets, they can be expensive. Patches may just feel abit depressed about his ear. I would try the manuka honey on a treat and also on his ear sore, maybe when Bubs is busy running around- even just keep them apart so it has time to sink in, like 10 mins. or so. Saline could help with the itch. I had a gerbil years ago with an ear infection, then it never healed up and I tried everything I could and spent a lot at the vets, but I do think if I had left it alone more, it may have been better. It is hard having an ill gerbil, I had to have my Adam put down 2 weeks ago, he was 3 and suffering from a scent gland tumor that spread-he had a bladder infection in August and the start of the tumor, then. Just do what you can and I'm sure he knows you love him.
Take care,
Tammy
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Post by wazooooo on Mar 31, 2017 10:18:46 GMT -8
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Post by catnut on Mar 31, 2017 14:31:34 GMT -8
Bubs looks like quite the character and hope he doesn't bother Patches too much. I hope he continues to feel better. Maybe someone else can suggest something for the itching that is safe.
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Post by wazooooo on Apr 1, 2017 16:47:56 GMT -8
He is definitely a character, he's like something out of a cartoon. They both have such different personalities. I got some saline solution yesterday, put it on Patches last night and a bit today and it looks like it's healing. I think I might just leave him alone for a few days and not put anything on it and let him rest up.
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