Lung abcess

[milly]

Hi Artemis was ill a couple of weeks ago. She had injections which seemed to solve it and an xray but it showed a shadow which I found out today may be an abcess on her lung. Yesterday there was a fight. I didn't see it but Artemis was bitten on her back and Aurora had a cut/swollen eye. Astra was ok. I took them to the vets as an emergency and was given baytril and metacam for the 2 injured gerbils. Artemis then proceeded to chase Astra but no fighting. Today they all seemed to have settled down. They have gone to the split case incase we needed to separate them but hadn't done so as wasn't sure who caused the fight.
However this evening Artemis has gone downhill she's not eating and so she went to the vets again as an emergency where I found out about the abcess.
I wondered would a lung abcess be something treatable or is it just something she will be able to live with. The gerbils are only 9 months old.
Thanks

[LilyandDaisy]

Hello,

I haven't heard of lung abscesses in gerbils (or any animal) before. I don't know how easy it would be to treat. For some abscesses, antibiotics are enough whereas others need to be drained (and I don't know how feasible that is when it's in the lung in a gerbil). I would go with what your vet advises. Antibiotics might at least reduce her symptoms.


As Artemis was bitten on her back it suggests she was the victim here, and that can happen when they get ill/weak. Was she the dominant gerbil before? If so, one of the others might have taken advantage of her illness to try to become the top gerbil. Gerbil society can be a bit brutal like that. It might be best to remove her from the trio so she can recover in quietness and safety.

[milly]

Yes she may have been the dominant gerbil as she was the most confident but I'm not sure who was the dominant gerbil as I saw Astra and Artemis groom each other. I think her sister is now the dominant one as Astra has been seen grooming Aurora and Artemis today. Is it likely that Aurora was the one fighting her as she now has a bad eye?
If it's not an abcess what else could it be as there was a shadow on her lungs?

[betty]

Your vet is in the best position to comment on that - but as said above - I have genuinley never heard of a lung abscess in any samll animal I have worked with - so this is all very new to be and I will be reading what I can about it - and hopefully speaking to my own vets and nurses tomorrow at work.

Again as above - antibiotics are the usual treatment for an abscess or other infection - so either way that is good news to be using.

If your vet isn't an exotics expert (and regularly x-rays mongolian gerbils) there is always a chance that they have misinterpreted the 'shadow' as this is the main reason why my own vets often decline from making dignoses on x-rays from animals they haven't seen before as bone densities etc can change the appearance of the images I believe.

Let's hope whatever it is clears up on the meds and with a bit of down time. I certainly would consider a permananent move away from the other 2 - as it looks like this illness and the subsequent power struggle is causing all sorts of grief (or removing one of the others and leaving her with a friend while she is ill - but as you say - that might not be as easy to decide on (unless the other two start fighting anyway). Hmm - trios can be so difficult to guess during a declan situation...

[milly]

Thanks for your advice. THe vet isntvan exotics vet so she described as a shadow on her lungs and the said about it being an abcess when I asked if it was cancer. Hopefully it's neither and curable but Artemis is quite cold and not looking like she'll make it through the night. She was looking for the other gerbils earlier to sleep on but if she survives the night ill look at removing her. I just don't want to cause her any stress(regardless of them fighting they are all sleeping together)I'm just hoping g it's like last time and she perks up.

[milly]

Just to keep you updated Artemis died this morning. At the moment I just hope Aurora s eye gets better and neither of them get what Artemis had. Thankyou all for your advice.

[LilyandDaisy]

I'm so sorry to hear that. Rest in peace Artemis.

[catnut]

RIP Artemis, soo sorry to hear, i lost my Kirby recently so understand how hard it is.