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Post by LilyandDaisy on Apr 25, 2024 11:05:08 GMT -8
Oh bless you, not what you need right before stressful surgery. I always feel like my heart stops when I can't find them. It's, thankfully, only happened a couple of times to me but it was blind panic in the end. I even began trying to work out if we'd got a houdini on our hands. I am like you though in that I've learnt to prep a lot earlier for the vets. Is there any news yet? I did wonder at one point if she had got out of the cage somehow. There's no particular change. Her scent gland is still a bit sore but not rapidly worsening. She's getting better at letting me look at it. I always reward her with malt paste after I've had a look at her scent gland. Here they are this evening: Poor Peanut doesn't stand a chance with the malt paste when Twiglet's around!
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Post by tanzanyte on Apr 25, 2024 14:08:13 GMT -8
In my head it was today Twiglet was having her surgery. I'm ahead of myself, sorry!
I bet she's happy to tolerate her tummy being looked at when she's getting that kind of reward. I used to put the malt paste on the perspex or glass as it worked as a double whammy in that I could see the tumour and stitches after the surgery (Pepsi was never one to tolerate being on his back). I have a video of Pepsi and Max as Pepsi was always horrendous even though I'd smear it in a line to give Max a fighting chance. Pepsi would always bat him away and stand on poor Max once it got down to the last bit. It's amazing how competitive they become to get to it. I'm going to try the boys with it soon but imagine that Smugde will be the winner on that one.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Apr 29, 2024 6:09:36 GMT -8
Twiglet came through her surgery safely and recovered well. I'm just on my way home with her now
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Apr 29, 2024 9:06:57 GMT -8
Full updateTwiglet is home and is doing well. She was a little cool after I first collected her, but feels warm now. She also feels a bit boney like she might be dehydrated, so I bought her some grapes which she has eaten. The wound, as expected, looks dreadful. It runs the full length of her abdomen and is quite swollen. However it doesn't seem to be bothering her much so far. She is on meloxicam twice a day. The vet removed the entire scent gland and it's been sent for histology so I will find out if it was a tumour or something else. Peanut spent the day in a small carrier. She was very sad to be away from Twiglet. It's the first time they've been apart since they were introduced. I put some bedding from their nest in Peanut's carrier so she was constantly reminded of Twiglet's scent (to prevent her getting ideas of independence - not that I thought that was likely in Peanut's case). When I got home with Twiglet, I put her into Peanut's carrier. Twiglet was absolutely fine with Peanut, didn't seem that interested in her really. Peanut looked at Twiglet's belly once and sniffed her bottom intensely a few times, and that seemed to satisfy her. They're now curled up together sleeping. I think it's fortunate that Peanut is so young (12.5 weeks old) and also quite a dependent personality. I think she acts a little young even for her age. Her and Twiglet still seem to have a kind of pup/adult relationship with Twiglet as a caregiver, and I expect this is helpful here as Peanut probably can't imagine life without an older gerbil in charge. She's a very sweet little gerbil. They're still in the carrier as I want to keep an eye on them in there for a few hours before moving them to the hospital tank.
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Post by tanzanyte on Apr 30, 2024 14:31:55 GMT -8
I’m so pleased it’s gone ok and I’m sure you are hugely relieved. I remember I felt sick all day when our boys went in.
It’s always horrendous to see when they come out of surgery. It’s such a huge incision for a tiny animal, but they are remarkable animals and seem to get through it without fuss. I know they told me that they sometimes have to resort to making a harness for those that don’t leave the wound alone. I can’t quite imagine trying to sort that on a gerbil!
I’m glad they’ve been happy to be reunited. Has Twiglet been ok today? When do you go back for her check ups?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on Apr 30, 2024 14:53:05 GMT -8
I’m so pleased it’s gone ok and I’m sure you are hugely relieved. I remember I felt sick all day when our boys went in. It’s always horrendous to see when they come out of surgery. It’s such a huge incision for a tiny animal, but they are remarkable animals and seem to get through it without fuss. I know they told me that they sometimes have to resort to making a harness for those that don’t leave the wound alone. I can’t quite imagine trying to sort that on a gerbil! I’m glad they’ve been happy to be reunited. Has Twiglet been ok today? When do you go back for her check ups? Twiglet's been great today. She's acting like nothing has happened and leaving her wound alone completely. No signs of pain at all (she is on metacam). Obviously gerbils can hide it, but she's running around and standing up normally. I think she was even lying on her back while chewing a Pringles tube earlier today. She's very resilient and I'm glad I got this sorted while she's young and fit. She's seeing the vet again on Friday. When did you let your gerbils have their sand baths back? Twiglet is looking greasy but I'm guessing she won't be able to have one for a while yet.
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Post by betty on Apr 30, 2024 23:20:02 GMT -8
So glad it went ok and the first 12 hours have passed without issue. And Peanut is so adorable!!!
I have some recent pictures of other surgeries (mainly duprasi) and the stiches really do look brutal. I'm so grateful that vets work (and practice) on larger animals all day every day - so they they are super able to operate on things so small as well when they come along.
Sand bath-wise - I can't remember. I am never really that worried about using my (chinchilla) sand for injured or poorly animals though, so I don't think I would worry too much after 24 hours with a fully stitched or small wound. You can used a jar or tube of hay to soak off some grease - but I am probably more cautious of hay pokes in a wound that sand. Although if it is long-strand normal hay I suppose there are less ends initially? - but I do like the Oat Grass from Friendly (Readigrass range) as it is flat and never feels spiky (and smells divine!).
How is she this morning?
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 1, 2024 6:33:24 GMT -8
So glad it went ok and the first 12 hours have passed without issue. And Peanut is so adorable!!! I have some recent pictures of other surgeries (mainly duprasi) and the stiches really do look brutal. I'm so grateful that vets work (and practice) on larger animals all day every day - so they they are super able to operate on things so small as well when they come along. Sand bath-wise - I can't remember. I am never really that worried about using my (chinchilla) sand for injured or poorly animals though, so I don't think I would worry too much after 24 hours with a fully stitched or small wound. You can used a jar or tube of hay to soak off some grease - but I am probably more cautious of hay pokes in a wound that sand. Although if it is long-strand normal hay I suppose there are less ends initially? - but I do like the Oat Grass from Friendly (Readigrass range) as it is flat and never feels spiky (and smells divine!). How is she this morning? She's still doing great today. She does seem very well stitched up so it would probably be okay, but I think I will wait until Friday when she sees the vet again to ask about the sand issue. Her stitches look different to tanzanyte 's photo as the skin has been sort of gathered to form a ridge along her belly. It seems to be healing okay so I'm assuming this is just an alternative way of doing it. Presumably as the stitches dissolve the skin will loosen up.
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Post by betty on May 2, 2024 11:37:54 GMT -8
Glad to hear - and see - that the wound looks great.
I would imagine they are just support stitches - back-up - which can be needed when the skin is tight or likely to re-open. So the original wound is stitched like normal, and then the other look pulled underneath a bit to give it that lifted tube look.
I am sure they would dissolve, but the vet may tinker with them at the post-op check if it all looks to be healing well.
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Post by LilyandDaisy on May 3, 2024 8:10:33 GMT -8
Twiglet had her first post surgery checkup today, which went fine. She has go to back for another one next Friday. I got her histology results which show that she had a benign adenoma of the scent gland, and it seems that the scent gland itself might have been enlarged too. So it's good news that it wasn't cancerous and she should have no further issues now that the gland is removed.
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Post by catnut on May 3, 2024 12:51:56 GMT -8
if a gerbil does have this, is the only way to deal with it is removal? I was just wondering if there is another treatment would help as not everyone can have surgery on their gerbil due to finances or a vet that could do this successfully?
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