Gandalf Head/Eye tumor (potentially graphic images)

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yesimnathan

Member
Joined
May 6, 2021
Messages
5
Location
Columbus, OH
Hello Rat shack. I'm a long-time lurker, first-time poster.

Last Thurs (4/29) morning, I opened up my mischief's cage and noticed that Gandalf's left eye was bulged WAY out. Our vet couldn't fit us in until the next morning so I took him in bright and early on Fri (4/30) morning. She did a dental exam and dental x-ray. She didn't see any cause for an abscess or any bone damage from a tumor. It looked like there was fluid behind his eye. The vet prescribed antibiotics and pain meds and said that if things got better or stayed about the same, we could probably safely remove the eye since it was already donezo by the time she saw him (and likely by the time that I found him on Thurs). Over the weekend & Monday things weren't looking better but they weren't really looking tremendously worse either so we went ahead & scheduled his enucleation surgery for next Mon (5/10).

Since Monday, I feel like things are just looking worse every day. Gandalf's eye just keeps bulging out a little more every day. It's completely out of his skull at this point and crusted/scabbed over. I emailed the vet some new pictures this morning and she said it's looking worse to her too and at the rate it's progressing, she suspects it's cancer. She asked how he is acting otherwise and said that our options are:
  1. Proceed with the enucleation & possible excising of the mass on Monday
  2. Don't perform the procedure and euthanize him when his quality of life drastically drops
He's still eating/drinking and can get around just fine but he's obviously in pain and more lethargic than normal. He normally loves hanging out with me & getting pets but for the last couple of days, he doesn't really want to sit in my lap very much and doesn't want to be touched/petted much. He's also not as interested in the lower value treats (cheerios) as he used to be. He really only wants to eat his regular food (oxbow) and high value treats (yogies, baby food, yogurt).

I just really don't know what to do and it's tearing me up. Gandalf is my heart rat and he's only a bit over a year old. He's the sweetest little guy. Based on what I've seen online, it seems like the odds of him coming out of the surgery and making a full recovery are very low so it feels cruel to put him through that. At the same time, if I euthanize him, I feel like I'm always going to wonder if he would've recovered and regret it. Any words of wisdom, encouragement, etc... would be greatly appreciated.

PS: I can post pictures on here from the beginning to now but they're extremely graphic and hard to look at.
 
I have no experience here but I can tell you that photos would 100% help others to help you... I hope your little guy gets better...
 
I took Gandalf to the vet this morning. She didn't feel like Gandalf would do well with the surgery after how much his eye had progressed in the last few days so we made the hard decision to euthanize him. He's not in pain anymore. He was the best friend I could've ever asked for. I'm going to miss him so much.
 

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I'm so sorry... I'm sure he was a sweetheart. I fully respect your decision, no one else could know as well as you... It's always the hardest part about owning these lil guys, they never live long enough. May he rest in peace
 
I'm so sorry... I'm sure he was a sweetheart. I fully respect your decision, no one else could know as well as you... It's always the hardest part about owning these lil guys, they never live long enough. May he rest in peace

Thank you so much for the kind words. He was the sweetest little guy but he was suffering. Giving him a peaceful death and relief from that suffering was the least I could do for him.
 
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