First the good news:  GIZMO IS HOME!!
 
The surgery went well (we ended up sticking with our regular vet).  He had
to stay about 36 hours at the vet.  Incision looks nice, a little lumpy,
some bruising around the sides.  Now Gizzie's tummy is a naked as his
back! :-)
 
He's become a major druggie, though.  Amoxi drops 2x/day, prednisone every
other day, omedizole (sp?) for seven days, Nutrical 4x/day, lots of TLC!
Whew!  I found the best trick was to mash the prednisone pill up with the
contents of the omedizole capsule and mix it on a spoon with the Nutrical.
Giz never knew the difference.
 
Boy when he got home, did he eat like some football player in training,
though!  They must have fed him that "nasty" food (;-)).  Can't slow him
down either.  He tried to jump off the bed last night.  Yikes!
 
Vet said he removed 3 large pancreatic nodules and the left adrenal which
was 5x's its normal size!  He said the right had atrophied because the left
was over-producing, but Giz should be OK.  No hairballs.  Still waiting for
the biopsy results though.
 
I am sooooo glad to have my baby back.  When the vet tech put him in my
arms last night, I burst into tears.  Silly, sappy me.  Then Gizzie licked
some off my cheek, which made me bawl harder.  Sigh.  Our miracle baby has
made it through again.
 
Gizmo wanted me to let you know that his thoughts are with everyone who has
a furry going though this ordeal or who has lost a loved one to this or any
other problems.
 
Second, about the "marking" thing, Gizmo has always done this (I've had him
for 3+ yrs.).  I had assumed that it was related to scent-marking.  I used
to have a male gerbil (until Gizmo killed him, actually) that would scent
mark everything in the same way that Giz would rub his tummy over things.
Male gerbils have a scent gland on their chest that they rub on things to
leave behind an oil to mark territory.  I knew Giz didn't have this kind
of gland, but I thought maybe he was leaving behind some urine.  Very
interesting...
 
Anyway, cheers to all and thoughts and prayers to those with sick fuzzies.
 
Aileen & the "glad Gizmo is home" herd
Slinky, Kyle, Noel, & Sandy
==
"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." -unknown
[Posted in FML issue 2592]