Good news, folks. Jordan the Gerbil seems to be on the mend. He had a
puffy lump on the side of his face a piece back, it got larger and larger
until it looked like he had a marble under his cheek. Didn't seem to bother
him, and no one on the list could tell me what it was. Then, the har on the
lump went away and it beecame smaller, black, and (after some time had
passed) very hard. This seemed to bother him towards the end of it's
tenure, and he moped about the cage and got very thin, occasionally
scratching at it. This continued for about a week or so. Finally, it
seemed to have burst or somesuch, since it was gone and replaced by a big
scabby bit. Checking again today ( a few days later) the scab is a smallish
one, and the hair appears to be filling in. There is a scar running from
under the middle of his neck (where his waddle would be, had he one) to just
behind and benath his ear. Still no idea, but he's gained a lot of weight
back and is running about.
Any idea what this might have been? The whole process lasted about a month,
and no one seemed to know what was going on. The only treatment I actively
gave was a swab with some Bactoban when the wound was open and sore looking,
and supplemented his diet with some cat food for extra proteins. But what
was it? Nurse Price ;) and some others gave me a few guesses, but I'm
hoping one of the more hardcore gerbil types has seen this and can tell
what's going on.
