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Post by Markpd on Jan 18, 2023 13:18:46 GMT -8
I literally just got back from picking up Avon's body from the vet, Blake greeted me by the mesh lid, and as I saw him standing up I could see his Scent Gland was sore and had a tiny bit of blood (I tried to take a photo, but of course he doesn't sit still for longer than a couple of seconds, lol). Atm he's behaving and running around quite normally, but obviously I need to take him to the vets.
I know a SG tumour is one possibility, but could it be something more innocuous like a simple infection? Btw, the area around the sore/SG looks a little swollen. The sore itself looks like a little nipple, or a spot I suppose (it was pink).
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 18, 2023 13:28:25 GMT -8
Sorry to hear this I've never heard of a scent gland infection in a gerbil unfortunately, aside from when tumours are picked at and get infected. Male dwarf hamsters often get clogged scent glands but I haven't heard of that in gerbils either. It's probably a tumour or some other kind of growth, but not all scent gland growths grow or cause issues. If it's bleeding it would suggest it's sore or itchy though and the gerbil picking at the scent gland can be more problematic than the tumour per se.
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Post by Markpd on Jan 18, 2023 13:34:29 GMT -8
Would metcam help with that until we see the vet?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 18, 2023 13:36:36 GMT -8
Would metcam help with that until we see the vet? Yes, it might help with any pain and inflammation.
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Post by Markpd on Jan 19, 2023 13:18:50 GMT -8
He doesn't seemed to have bitten it today thankfully. I've made an appointment for the vets tomorrow at 5:30, so I've got to start and finish work early to get there then! Thankfully my work start times are a little more flexible at my new job (although they were usually flexible enough about appointments at my old job to be fair). Anyway, we'll see what the vet says then.
Depending what he finds and says about Blake, might also change my strategy for a new Gerbil. If it turns out that he doesn't have long to live, I think I would be better off getting a pair of pups after all. The idea being they'll still likely be easy to intro to Blake, and that he would likely have passed away before they reach adulthood, so hopefully avoid any declanning issues between the pups and Blake?
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Post by catnut on Jan 19, 2023 14:38:38 GMT -8
Good luck with Blake tomorrow, fingers crossed it isn't serious as you fear. My Tristan has had a cyst on his scent gland for months, it comes and goes, never bothers him much so it could just be a cyst. Positive thoughts.
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Post by Markpd on Jan 20, 2023 10:30:21 GMT -8
Thank you, unfortunately I couldn't leave work early enough and couldn't make it . I've booked another appointment for Tuesday at 6:15, I should be able to easily make that.
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Post by Markpd on Jan 21, 2023 10:19:56 GMT -8
Managed to get a photo of his sore whilst he was eating a treat, see here.
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Post by Markpd on Jan 24, 2023 13:41:26 GMT -8
Well work nearly stopped me getting to this appointment too! Grrr.... Anyway, made it, being just 2 minutes late. The vet had a quick look at Blake (after a few attempts at picking him up, Blake is very wriggly! lol ), and he thought it likely it is a tumour. I asked whether it was feasible/worth it to take a biopsy to see if it is a tumour and whether it would tell how quickly it could grow. He said no it wasn't, as a significant piece would be needed (he said that surface cells from it wouldn't adequate), at which point you just as well take the whole thing out. Their is the option to send the whole thing off to be tested, but that would push the price of the SGT removal up to the upper price of doing it to £250! He said £150-£250, so without sending it off it would be at or near to £150. I did ask if their was anyway of knowing how fast his tumour would grow, there isn't apparently. So I've got the option of just leaving it and treating him with meds until it became a problem (then have him PTS), or have the operation done and remove the tumour and hope he recovers (he reckons because of the anaesthetic there's a 25% chance of a small animals not recovering from that alone!) I'm thinking of going for the operation, how have other peoples gerbils faired after such an operation? And how much was it?
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Post by icecontroller2529 on Jan 26, 2023 10:33:32 GMT -8
That's too bad! How is Blake doing now?
You got a great photo, it really shows it well.
I hope he will be fine and stay with you for another while!
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Post by iamplankton on Jan 27, 2023 1:31:49 GMT -8
Well work nearly stopped me getting to this appointment too! Grrr.... Anyway, made it, being just 2 minutes late. The vet had a quick look at Blake (after a few attempts at picking him up, Blake is very wriggly! lol ), and he thought it likely it is a tumour. I asked whether it was feasible/worth it to take a biopsy to see if it is a tumour and whether it would tell how quickly it could grow. He said no it wasn't, as a significant piece would be needed (he said that surface cells from it wouldn't adequate), at which point you just as well take the whole thing out. Their is the option to send the whole thing off to be tested, but that would push the price of the SGT removal up to the upper price of doing it to £250! He said £150-£250, so without sending it off it would be at or near to £150. I did ask if their was anyway of knowing how fast his tumour would grow, there isn't apparently. So I've got the option of just leaving it and treating him with meds until it became a problem (then have him PTS), or have the operation done and remove the tumour and hope he recovers (he reckons because of the anaesthetic there's a 25% chance of a small animals not recovering from that alone!) I'm thinking of going for the operation, how have other peoples gerbils faired after such an operation? And how much was it? Am so sorry to hear this. How old is he again? I’ve never had a tumour removed from a rodent but have managed them in the past with baytril etc and a monitoring approach but that was a good while ago
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Post by Markpd on Jan 27, 2023 12:52:01 GMT -8
He's 2 yrs 7 mths (his birthday is in my sig, in case I've got my maths wrong ). I took him to my fathers place last night so that my step mum could take him to the vets this morning, where he had the op. Thankfully he pulled out of the anaesthetic just fine and he's back with me now . He's partly resting, partly keeping busy in his sandpen (which is doubling up as his hospital home for a couple of days until his wound heals up a bit). The vet said he shouldn't be in bedding which might aggravate the wound, so I figured the sandpen would be fine. Blake's quite jittery atm, he certainly didn't want me picking him up earlier! Where as normally he wouldn't mind for a short time. Interestingly the vet didn't remove the whole SG, as he thought it would be good for him to still keep some of it for behavioural reasons, and that he thought he got the whole tumour anyway. He noted that from Tuesday to Friday, the external part of the tumour had grown noticeably bigger (I thought so too), which is a little worrying it grew that quickly, so he said it was good that we had it removed quickly. So fingers crossed that gives him a decent life extension now. Next gerbil decision is whether to introduce him to 1 or 2 pups (which I don't think will be a good idea to do until next weekend at the earliest I guess?). Btw folks, at what age are gerbils considered adults?
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Post by iamplankton on Jan 27, 2023 13:40:49 GMT -8
I personally would keep him by himself and not introduce any pups as he’s getting on a bit but others may have differing opinions.
Glad he’s pulled through and doing ok!
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Jan 27, 2023 13:54:27 GMT -8
Good to hear he came through the surgery! It sounds like it was the right decision since the tumour had already grown.
Is there sand in the sandpen? Sand isn't very good for an open wound. Soft paper bedding or shredded kitchen roll is best.
I would certainly wait until the wound has healed over before introducing him to pups. The introduction might cause him to scent mark more which would aggravate an open wound.
Lots of people say puphood ends at 12 weeks but I don't think there's any really scientific about that. It's just popular consensus. They can become sexually mature from 8 weeks (or rarely earlier) and continue growing for several months. For the purposes of a double pup introduction, people tend to say it needs to be done before sexual maturity. Ideally you would start at about 6 weeks so you have a bit of a buffer.
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Post by catnut on Jan 27, 2023 14:22:01 GMT -8
Glad Blake had the OP and is back with you, paper towels shredded are best when a gerbil has had surgery/a wound. fingers crossed he will heal well and back to his normal self soon.
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