Update On Samantha's Ear
I'm sorry if things have been a little bit slower than usual on the Twin Squeaks Gerbils site and blog the last couple of days. We've had plenty of excitement at Twin Squeaks in the last 48 hours.
On Friday morning, I discovered Samantha covered in blood. As many of you may know, she had warts in her left ear, which I'd been keeping an eye on to make sure she didn't scratch at them and get them infected. We were trying to avoid laser-removal surgery, because the anaesthesia can be quite risky for such an old gerbil. (Samantha is nearly 3 1/2 years old now.)
However, because of how badly she tore up her ear overnight (Thursday into Friday), there wasn't much choice but to take chances with the surgery. My vet is wonderful and made time to see Samantha yesterday. Dr. Falloon agreed that it was time to go ahead with the surgery and got it scheduled.
When I brought Sam in for surgery, I had about 15 minutes alone with her while they prepped the operating room. She was so tame and so friendly during this time. I was sitting in a chair, and Samantha was crawling back and forth along my arm, sort of cradled against my stomach. For a while, she even sat on my arm and chewed a toilet paper tube that I gave her. I appreciated having this time to spend with Samantha, because I wasn't sure if I'd see her again. (It's difficult to monitor how much anaesthesia a gerbil gets, and older gerbils sometimes do not wake from anaesthesia.)
Samantha was in surgery for less than 20 minutes, and when she came back in her critter keeper, she was groggy but otherwise fine! About a minute later, the drugs wore off entirely, and Sam started munching on snacks, digging in the corner, chewing on TP tubes, and kicking bedding around. :)
Her ear looked fantastic, too. I couldn't even tell that she'd had warts blocking her ear canal just 30 minutes earlier.
I'm really shocked by how well she did with the surgery given her age. But I'm also extremely lucky to have a vet who is so careful and does such good work!
Since her surgery, Sam's been doing very well. She's had a little bit of post-operative bleeding in her ear, but it's a *very* small amount. Just a drop or two. And I haven't seen Samantha scratching at her ear at all either. She looks much happier, and it seems that she has her hearing back in her left ear, too. In recent weeks, she'd been turning around so that her right ear faced you when you spoke to her. But now, if her left ear is closer to you than her right ear, that's the ear she points in your direction when you talk.
I haven't posted any photos of Samantha's ear on the blog or on the Twin Squeaks Gerbils site, because I know that they probably aren't much fun for anyone to look at. However, if you have a gerbil with a growth in his or her ear, and you'd like to see what warts look like in a gerbil's ear, let me know. I did take some photos of Sam's ear over the past couple of weeks, and I could send a photo or two to your email address if you'd like to see them.
On Friday morning, I discovered Samantha covered in blood. As many of you may know, she had warts in her left ear, which I'd been keeping an eye on to make sure she didn't scratch at them and get them infected. We were trying to avoid laser-removal surgery, because the anaesthesia can be quite risky for such an old gerbil. (Samantha is nearly 3 1/2 years old now.)
However, because of how badly she tore up her ear overnight (Thursday into Friday), there wasn't much choice but to take chances with the surgery. My vet is wonderful and made time to see Samantha yesterday. Dr. Falloon agreed that it was time to go ahead with the surgery and got it scheduled.
When I brought Sam in for surgery, I had about 15 minutes alone with her while they prepped the operating room. She was so tame and so friendly during this time. I was sitting in a chair, and Samantha was crawling back and forth along my arm, sort of cradled against my stomach. For a while, she even sat on my arm and chewed a toilet paper tube that I gave her. I appreciated having this time to spend with Samantha, because I wasn't sure if I'd see her again. (It's difficult to monitor how much anaesthesia a gerbil gets, and older gerbils sometimes do not wake from anaesthesia.)
Samantha was in surgery for less than 20 minutes, and when she came back in her critter keeper, she was groggy but otherwise fine! About a minute later, the drugs wore off entirely, and Sam started munching on snacks, digging in the corner, chewing on TP tubes, and kicking bedding around. :)
Her ear looked fantastic, too. I couldn't even tell that she'd had warts blocking her ear canal just 30 minutes earlier.
I'm really shocked by how well she did with the surgery given her age. But I'm also extremely lucky to have a vet who is so careful and does such good work!
Since her surgery, Sam's been doing very well. She's had a little bit of post-operative bleeding in her ear, but it's a *very* small amount. Just a drop or two. And I haven't seen Samantha scratching at her ear at all either. She looks much happier, and it seems that she has her hearing back in her left ear, too. In recent weeks, she'd been turning around so that her right ear faced you when you spoke to her. But now, if her left ear is closer to you than her right ear, that's the ear she points in your direction when you talk.
I haven't posted any photos of Samantha's ear on the blog or on the Twin Squeaks Gerbils site, because I know that they probably aren't much fun for anyone to look at. However, if you have a gerbil with a growth in his or her ear, and you'd like to see what warts look like in a gerbil's ear, let me know. I did take some photos of Sam's ear over the past couple of weeks, and I could send a photo or two to your email address if you'd like to see them.
posted by Twin Squeaks Gerbils | 11:19 PM
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