Julie Thomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>I took poor Barley to the vet today. The vet believes it's a tumor. He
>took a sample from it with a syringe, and said there were some
>inflammatory cells but also some mitotic cells. He felt surgical
>removal would be a rather high-risk procedure, due to possible
>anesthesia complications. :(
Sorry to here about these problems.
Anaesthesia is only a problem if the vet does not use isoflurane gas. If
he does not, get another vet.
>
>There's a chance it could be an abscess or other injury, but the
>mitotic cells indicated a tumor was likely. I'm giving him antibiotics
>since it shouldn't hurt and may help.
It certainly sounds like a tumour.
>
>I was under the impression that gerbils' tumors could often be removed
>fairly easily. I'm thinking about checking with another vet.
Scent gland tumours are not aggressive and removing the gland is a very
successful operation. However, other types of tumour cannot necessarily
expect the same prognosis from surgery. One big problem is that more
aggressive sorts of tumours could easily mean that the tumour will only
recur.
>
>Poor little Barley. He's such a sweetie pie. He wasn't too happy about
>getting stuck with a needle, but he's as perky as ever.
>
As others have said, I suggest you try and get another vet and see what
they say about what can be done.
--
Julian
************************************************************************
* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
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