Zymbals Gland tumors - Sadie's final vet vist :*(

Advertise with us
Shop with us on Ebay
Fins us on Amazon
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
D

Debbie

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2008
Messages
771
Location
Portland, Oregon
I have a recent rescue girl (approx a year old) who I believe has the beginings of a ZG tumor. :sad3: She did have some yeast in her right ear, and we've been treating her with Otomax drops (along with baytril, doxy and neb treatments for her respiratory problems too). Last night, while I was working the Otamax in, I felt it. it's a little less than pea sized, but it's right at her temple/jaw line :cry3:

I've had several rat friends go through so much with ZG tumors on their babies, and it never ends well. One of my best friends had her ZG girl in for surgery with our own fabulous sugeon. he was able to get about 75% of the tumor (the rest was behind her skull plate, so he couldn't get to it). Arden lived almost another 6 months, before the ZG grew back and took her.

I had a girl with what we thought was a terrible ear infection we couldn't get ahead of. After 8 weeks of all kinds of meds, and a marcupialization surgery, we had to give up and let her go. Looking back, I'm pretty sure it too, was a ZG.

My Sadie is just a beautiful little girl, and I want to do all I can for her. But if all I can find is info that it will end badly, no matter what I try....I'm not so sure I want to put her through a few surgeries etc. Maybe I should keep her comfy as long as I can, then let her go when it becomes time.

Anyone had any luck with a ZG tumor recovery?

Thankfully, Sadie is currently doing fine otherwise. she doesn't even notice the lump just yet.
 
Can we get a picture of it?
My mom's Hawkeye is going through something that is odd. It seems like an abscess but it's also got loads of blood leaking in or out making the mass bigger.
 
jorats said:
Can we get a picture of it?
My mom's Hawkeye is going through something that is odd. It seems like an abscess but it's also got loads of blood leaking in or out making the mass bigger.
Click to expand...

Jo, at this point, a pic won't show anything. You can't actually even see it on Sadie's face yet. It's that small. I could just feel it, since I was massaging Otamax into her ear.

If it wasn't so hard, I'd still have some hope it might only be an abscess. But it's hard enough, I think it might be under her skull plate or something. And I think if it were infection, I might smell it. There's no smell in her ear at all.

If it is a ZG...It will grow very fast, and I will post a pic.

Here is a pic of my friend's girl Arden where you can see the swelling on the side of her face. This was before my vet did the surgery.
Ardenface2.jpg
 
lilspaz68 said:
bruxxy's Attikus definitely had it, I saw it myself. I think your Emma had those damn auricular polyps...they really cannot be removed by surgery. :( And they are often accompanied with the nasophangeal ones which Fable had.

viewtopic.php?p=54914#p54914
Click to expand...

Ah yes, that's DEFINITELY what she had. She did end up with the infection and headtilt in the last 2 days. :(

ETA: posted too fast! Wanted to add that I hope it turns out to be something fairly easy to deal with. Best of luck to Sadie!
 
I think ZG is best to just keep them comfortable, and let them go when the QOL (quality of life) is not there anymore. I wonder if a steroid would keep it shrunk down for awhile like a polyp or other tumours?
 
Yeah, I was really amazed at what our vet did for little Arden. She was only a year old at the time of her surgery. Although Dr. B was able to get only 75% he wasn't sure how soon it would come back. He gave her 2 weeks to maybe 2 months if she was lucky. Arden got almost 6 more months. But I think her case was VERY rare, based on many others who've had rats with ZGs.

The thing with Sadie's...it does seem to be right close to the surface of her temple/jaw area. Though that's not to say it could'nt also be growing down deep into her skull too :sad3: .

I hope to hear back from my vet today as to whether she thinks we should start steroids. At the very least, we might try Metacam for a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory approach. The double edged sword of steroids is, it trashes their immune system and makes it very hard to fight off infection. Since Sadie already has infection in her ear to some extent...I don't want it to be couter productive. This is walking thin line for sure :sad3:

Here is a cute pic I do have of Sadie (on left) and her friends Elsa and Noelle.
SEN1.jpg
 
mamarat said:
lilspaz68 said:
bruxxy's Attikus definitely had it, I saw it myself. I think your Emma had those damn auricular polyps...they really cannot be removed by surgery. :( And they are often accompanied with the nasophangeal ones which Fable had.

viewtopic.php?p=54914#p54914
Click to expand...

It won't let me go there?
Click to expand...

Weird, I click and get it

try this?
viewtopic.php?p=54914

IF not do a search for Saffi and Fable under my username, its actually the name of the post too
 
It still says "You are not authorized to view this forum" Will try the search. Thanks Shelagh.

Do you think the php?p and not php?f could be the problem?
 
Oh boy... I'm starting to think that's what it is.

It came up so fast for Hawk, one day he's fine the next it's huge.

Here's a pic although in RL is looks much bigger and uglier. It's on his jaw as well, under the ear and now right next to the ear.

hawkbobo2.jpg


hawkbobo.jpg


I think I'll email my vet with the ZG tumor info from the ratguide and see what she thinks.
 
Sadie's is growing fast too :sad3: In just the few days since I've noticed it by feeling her head, I am now starting to actually see the swelling on her face. :sad3:

I've talked with my vet and we have started Sadie on a higher dose of Metacam. Apparently, there have been some studies that show these types of meds show promise in cutting off the tumor's ability to attach to blood vessels in that area of the face. I know it may only be a small slowing of it's growing progress....but maybe we can keep her comfy for a while.

We talked about surgery (our other vet is the surgeon), but at this point, I just don't know if I could put her through it, knowing the high chance it's just a temporary solution. Sadie is barely a year old (not sure of her age, as she's a rescue..but that has to be close), and this just kills me. But I also know I'd hate to put her through too much, when I know the outcome anyway. :cry3:

Just to be absolutely sure though, we are taking Sadie for a check up this Saturday. Of course I still hold a glimmer of hope it's an inner ear abscess, or tooth infection. But I'm also trying to be realistic as well.

Jo, I should have that pic of Sadie's lump, probably in a few days. It's going to show up on a pic soon, I'm sure. :sad3:
 
Well, here's a pic of miss Sadie. It's gone from just barely being able to feel it, to this in just 5 days!

SadieFace.jpg


Now, it's not as bad as Hawk's. But I imagine Sadie will get there very quickly. I can no longer see down into her ear canal, so it's growing from in there. This of course makes sense for a ZG, as that gland runs behind their ear canal, and can often break through into the canal or cause infection. I just can't imagine this would be an abscess alone, as I would smell SOMEthing.

I've sent another note to my vet and am asking about getting her some Tramadol in addition to the high dose of Metacam. She was out last night, running about in the play area, and she still snaps cookies out of my hand...so it's not too painful yet. But I have a feeling this is going to change quickly. :sad3: :sad3:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top