We had a bit of a scare this week. Wednesday evening
we noticed that Bilbo was bleeding from the area of
his scent gland. In the brief glimpses he let us get
of his belly (picture a twisting gerbil with all four
feet moving), we noticed a bump-like growth on his
scent gland. I immediately thought "scent gland
tumor". Luckily, I was able to get the vet to see him
yesterday afternoon. She said it did not appear to be
a tumor. It looked more like an infected wound on his
navel that he had worried until it bled. She gave us
some antibiotic ointment to apply twice a day. It is
already looking better and doesn't appear to be
bleeding anymore. She said if it wasn't better in a
week or got better and then worse again we might have
to have surgery, but she didn't think it would be
necessary.
She gave him a pretty thorough examination and said
she couldn't find any other bumps or lumps. In
examining the swollen area she squeezed out some
whitish stuff which was probably pus. (Aren't you glad
I'm sharing this!) 8-) We didn't notice any
difference in his appetite, activity level, or
drinking habits, which the vet said she liked to hear.
Anyway, I think our little boy is going to be all
right.
Thanks for letting me talk about it. You are the only
people who would understand how concerned we were
about him.
BTW, we have a vet with an interesting practice. She
runs the Veterinary Housecall Services. Her entire
practice is house calls she makes in a van. So we
don't have to stress the boys out by taking them to a
veterinary clinic. She has surgery and hospital
facilities available if necessary. The best part is
that she owns, or has owned, gerbils and is quite
comfortable with them. At least she seems to know
what she is doing to my limited experience.
=====
Elaine Lynch
Bilbo and Sam
AGS member
We will miss you Frodo.
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