Isis' Surgery and Isla

Hello again readers,

We thought we would write about Isla and Isis in one post - with them being cage mates/sisters. We will go through everything in chronological order, but we will highlight each chapter clearly, making it easier to read.

Isis' surgery

We noticed Isis had an unusual growth on her scent gland, it didn't really look like a tumour, especially not a malignant one anyway. We decided to take Isis to the vet in order to find out what the growth was, and how to go about it. The initial vet we saw believed the growth was something along the lines of a Neoplasia and it would probably be best for it to be removed. We agreed, we also noticed Isis had been nibbling at it slightly - she could've done a lot of damage if she chewed it off. So, it seemed more sensible for a vet to safely remove it.

The surgery was a great success, and it turned out the growth was more like a harmless wart. Initially the wound was stitched, but Isis chewed them before she even left the surgery. So, she then had to have the wound glued from the inside and stitched on the outside - it seemed to do the trick.

Isis left with some painkillers and antibiotics, and had to live on her own for a couple of weeks whilst she healed. Isla and Isis loved to have some rough play fights, and we thought it wasn't worth the risk.

Isis made a full recovery from her surgery, and was extraordinarily brave throughout the whole process.

Re-Bonding Isla and Isis:

As always, you must be extremely careful when re-bonding gerbils - particularly elder females. We were confident we could bond Isla and Isis together again, as their reason for parting was due to surgery - there was no history of violence between them.

We used the split cage method. We have linked a solid website on some tips, tricks, and advice for those who are in the same boat, or just wanting to learn more about the subject.

We swapped Isla and Isis between the barriers about 5 times daily for over a week. Once we knew the pair were 'acting normal', we finally removed the barrier. It is important to note; if you're doing this yourself, make sure you have a lot of solid hours free (without any breaks) to closely watch the gerbils when you remove the barrier, as a fight could break out at any point.

Luckily, in Isla and Isis' case, Isla was very submissive, and other than an initial 'scrap', the sisters quickly sorted things out. 

The sisters were very pleased to be back together!

Isla's Tumour:

Some months after Isla and Isis were successfully re-bonded together again, we noticed Isla had developed an internal mass. We took Isla straight to the vet, and they confirmed it was a sizable tumour, and was causing Isla some discomfort. We decided it was within Isla's best interest to be put to sleep.

We had Isla since she was only 6 weeks old, and were heartbroken to lose her.

Isis is doing well after the death of her sister - we are still working closely with her during her grieving period.

Isla crossed the rainbow bridge on 03/05/18.

 

You can keep up with Isis on our Instagram.