At 07:22 PM 6/8/00 -0700, Julie Thomas wrote:
>I went in to play with the gerbs tonight and discovered Barley has a
>big lump on his shoulder! He looks like a hunchback!
>
>I noticed he looked odd this morning at feeding time; just had a quick
>look and assumed his fur was ruffled up. Not so!
>
>His behavior seems normal; he is as active as ever. I probed at his
>lump and it seems hard. There is a little bit of scabbiness on top, but
>there doesn't appear to be a significant amount of missing fur. Thus I
>don't think it's a bite wound (no other evidence of biting or fighting,
>either). Possibly he could have injured himself in the wheel.
>
>Has anyone seen such a thing on a gerbil? Could it be an abscess? Or is
>a tumor more likely?
>
>It's hard to imagine that a tumor could appear so suddenly; I'd think I
>would have noticed it if it had been growing slowly. That's why I'm
>assuming it's an injury.
>
>I'll probably call the vet tomorrow regardless, but I wanted to see if
>GML'ers had any ideas.
>
>Thanks for any help!
>
My Pookie developed a tumor on one of his front legs very suddenly, when I
first saw it it was 5 times the size of his paw! We thought it was an
abcess but it turned out to be a tumor. He is now without that leg but
doing just great. We are hoping the cancer didn't spread, so far I've seen
no signs of trouble. He acts just like normal except he gets a bit
irritated if I try to help him climb up my shoulder. He'd rather do it
himself *heehee*. I hope that's not the case with your gerb though, but
even if it is, it might all turn out ok.
Tana and The Little Rascals
http://thesanctuary.tripod.com
http://gerbils.freehosting.net
http://www.geocities.com/tinypaws68/
