Dental abscess or facial tumour surgery

[gerbsoftheapocalypse]

My gerbil Donny is 2 years 8 months, and pretty light for a male (70g)

He's had a large lump in his cheek for a few months now, and has been on 2 courses of different antibiotics which have stopped it from growing slightly but not reduced its size. He's now finished all his meds and I've spoken to another vet who strongly suspects a dental abscess. She has suggested an x-ray to see his teeth and then a lancing of the lump to clear it out. Obviously if it is a tumour then the prognosis isnt great. It is however looking pretty expensive (£600) and Im worried that because he's on the older side and very light he might be at risk of dying under anaesthetic? On the other hand I'm aware that it might burst at any time and cause him serious problems if it is an abscess. Not sure what to do here? I will definitely do the surgery if it seems like it would be safe

[betty]

Hey gerbsoftheapocalypse.

Sorry to hear about your little one - nothing worse than not knowing what something is.

I assume the vets have had a look inside the mouth to see it they can see what it is visually - and also I assume that it -so far at least - isn't affecting his ability to eat?

I woudn't have though that antibiotics would have stopped a tumour growing, so that could hint towards the abcess or just be a cioncidence.

Is the £600 quote just for the Xray and abcess drain?

[gerbsoftheapocalypse]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply! I went ahead with the abscess drain, but unfortunately when she tried it with a needle it wasn't an abscess, so it's actually a facial tumour. Obviously didn't get charged for xray or op in the end just the anaesthetic to check the lump. Looks like palliative care for this. He's still eating, playing, drinking fine and it's not too rapid a growth thankfully, so I'm hoping he'll have a few months yet before its a problem

[catnut]

sorry to hear it was a tumour, i've had afew gerbils with tumours, some are slow growing and they can live fine with extra care and making sure they are eating okay. Take care and hope your boy will be okay for awhile longer, enjoy each day with him.

[betty]

Oh no - that is a shame. Lets hope it stays as it is and Donny stays as pain-free as possible throughout.

Love him...


Perhaps keeping an eye on his weight could be a useful tool - seeing if it is affecting his eating habits and if you notice he starts to leave the harder foods or stops chewing the thicker wood/cardboard - start aiming for softer and shuck-free foods to make it all easier for him (but then you need to start watching the teeth themselves as they get longer quicker - she says from a recent elderly toothless episode).

The things we do for our critters...