I wouldn't say cystic ovaries are extremely common, though among rodents
they occur most commonly in gerbils and hamsters. The relatively rapid
increase in size you described is what made me think of it. By and large,
gerbils with ovarian cysts don't have any obvious pain or discomfort. They
can be surgically removed by spaying the gerbil (i.e., removing the
ovaries)- it would be a gerbil vet's call as to whether it would benefit
the gerbil or if she can maintain a good quality of life without removal.
As I said before, it's entirely possible she's just gaining weight more
quickly now due to age- I have a schimmel female who was always the
smallest of all my gerbils. She's now approaching 2 years old and boy! did
her rear get big!! She's also not as insanely active as she was in previous
years, so the weight gain makes sense.
I hope your little ones are doing well!
Jill
----------
> From: Mary Slaughter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: Very fat Gerbil
> Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 3:35 PM
>
> Thanks Jill,
>
> I would say firm but soft, although she's pretty wiggly it's hard to
tell.
> She started to get fat about a year ago and then slimmed down again. Are
> cystic ovaries common in gerbils? Any chance of spontaneous remission?
>
> I had an unrelated gerbil get huge like this once and she died suddenly
one
> night. I always thought it was fluid build up from congestive heart
> failure, although she was not too old. Mopsy, however, has gotten huge
much
> faster than Sniff did and has always been more active than she was.
>
> Mary
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jill [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 12:55 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Re: Very fat Gerbil
>
>
> Are the abdominal area and sides firm but still soft, or does it feel
tight
> like a drum?
>
> Around 2 years of age gerbils do begin to put on weight more easily. If
the
> size increase isn't weight but is abdominal distension (tight like a
drum),
> cystic ovaries are also a possibility.
> Jill
>
> ----------
> > From: Mary Slaughter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject: Very fat Gerbil
> > Date: Wednesday, February 14, 2001 10:41 AM
> >
> > Hi list,
> >
> > I'm back on after a long hiatus. Right now I only have two girls, they
> are
> > both about two years old and live alone. Mopsy is, and always has
been,
> a
> > large and very active gerbil. In the last month, however, she has
> ballooned
> > to enormous size. We have not changed her diet of lab blocks and a few
> > seeds. She looks exactly like she's about to have a huge litter of
pups.
> > Has anyone else seen this? Any suggestions for special treatment?
> >
> > We have just started putting her in a ball to run on the floor every
day.
> > The first day she just sat there (she used to run like crazy) but by
the
> > third day she was rolling around more. (We would have done this sooner
> but
> > a construction project took up all of our floor space for a month.)
> >
> > Mary
>
> Shop online without a credit card
> http://www.rocketcash.com
> RocketCash, a NetZero subsidiary
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