Zymbal's Gland tumors

[Squirrel Nut]

New ailment we believe this is what Lovely Lita died from.

[sqrlady]

The Zymbal's Gland is an auditory sebaceous gland that is unique to rodents.  They are commonly used in research to test the carcinogenic effects of chemicals.  My beautiful Lita dealt with recurrent "abscesses" on one side of her face for almost 4 years.  When they first started coming up we had them drained and they would immediately start coming back up.  They contained a nasty pus that had a horrible smell, most of the time.  I finally found that it worked best to leave the abscess alone and allow it to pop on its own.  Then we would clean it up and try to keep it open as long as possible to allow it to continue to drain.  We tried all kinds of antibiotics on it, Silvadene cream in the abscess and nothing seemed to work.  Another person I know of had her squirrel's teeth removed to try to stop the abscesses but they continued to return.  I ran across this site that talks about Zymbal's Gland tumors in rats and it sounds exactly like what my Lita went through. I have another little one that has one coming up and will be taking a picture of it soon.  This is the link to the rat site that tells all about Zymbal's Gland tumors.  

http://ratguide.com/health/neoplasia/zymbals_gland_tumor.php

[sqrlady]

I recently noticed one of the nonreleasable squirrels I have was getting a nasty abscess in this area.  I had heard that NuFlor was good at helping control these abscesses so I tried it on him.  It has been about a month and the abscess has gone.  Within a couple of days he was back to eating and running around, but the abscess was still there.  I thought it would pop but instead it went down without popping.  He is still scratching at the area a lot so I suspect that it will reappear at some point but for now he is feeling pretty good and is abscess free. 

[Squirrel Nut]

Maybe you found something that will at least control it. That sounds good so far. I hope it continues to work.

[sqrlady]

I am more and more convinced that this is what killed my Lita.  I believe it to be something that few squirrels do get but that can be a concern for a few.  The swelling that shows up on just one side of the face becomes an abscess.  It returns again and again.  If you do anything to try to help or cure it it seems to make it worse.  The NuFlor did take the abscess away on my little guy.  The area remains almost normal and he is eating well and doing what he always has.  I do believe it will eventually return though.  When it does I will give him another dose of NuFlor and see how it works.  It took it down in just one dose this time.  I suspect as it gets worse over time it will be less likely to work but only time will tell. 

[Squirrel Nut]

This is quite interesting. Please keep us informed on the little guy.

[sqrlady]

Will do.  He seems to be doing very well right now.  You can tell there is a difference in his face on that side but it is not badly swollen and for now he does not seem to be scratching at it.  If it is like Lita's it will come back but this definitely seems to have helped more than anything we tried with Lita.  Eventually they seem to turn cancerous but for now he is happy and doing fine.

[sqrlady]

The area is slowly beginning to swell again but he continues to eat well and be happy.  If he gets to where it is bothering him or he stops eating or starts feeling bad then I will dose him with the NuFlor again.  This is what the zymbal's gland tumors do, come back over and over again. 

[Squirrel Nut]

It sucks there is nothing that kills it. Does it reoccur often?

[sqrlady]

Lita's would sometimes stay away for a few months then return.  Later as it progressed there would be shorter times between the swellings, and they sometimes would appears as more than one on the same side of her face.  Even later it basically stayed open most of the time and drained. 

[sqrlady]

The little guy (Peter Pan) continues to eat and play.  The area has not gotten too swollen at this point and he seems fine.  I will continue to watch it and see how it goes. 

[Squirrel Nut]

It is just so sad he can't live a normal life.  At least he has help dealing with it thanks to you Karen.

[sqrlady]

Peter Pan's swelling has not increased in size for now.  He continues to eat well and live happily.  I know eventually it will start swelling up and causing him problems again but hopefully the NuFlor will continue to help for a while. 

[sqrlady]

Still no increase in the size of the swelling.  He is doing well so I am pleased with how he is doing. 

[Squirrel Nut]

So this NuFlor seems to be working huh? 

[sqrlady]

Well it would appear it at least helps.  When he first had the abscess come up it was quite large and he would not eat or even come out of his box.  I gave him one dose of it and within a couple of days he was out moving around and eating again.  Over time the abscess went down but you could still see where the swelling was starting, near his ear.  It began to swell some again but has not gotten big and he continues to come out and to eat very well.  I will try it again if it gets big again but at this point I see no reason to give it to him.  I do have to say that a single dose of this antibiotic has helped more than anything we tried with Lita.  I wish I had known about it with her.  The problem with it is that it will still end up turning cancerous eventually but at least he is living his life happily and not having to undergo a lot of medical procedures.  What I found with Lita is the more it was messed with the worse it got.  I know another squirrel that had the same thing when Lita did and she had all her teeth removed.  It continued to come back and she actually died much sooner than Lita did.  From what I have read about the tumor in rats it seems the more that it is messed with the more aggressive the tumor gets. 

[sqrlady]

I was looking at Peter Pan's face today and there does not appear to be any abscess there at all, just a big lump.  I suspect that is a tumor or maybe a little bit of fluid in there but he is eating really well and running around like a madman.  He appears to be healthy except for the lump on his face, near his ear. 

[sqrlady]

Peter Pan continues to do well.  He was even begging for food today.  The lump is still noticable but not swelling up more at this point. 

[Squirrel Nut]

Poor little guy. At least he is begging for food, which is a good sign in my book. 

[sqrlady]

He seems to be doing remarkably well actually.  I am happy with the way he is behaving and hope that he will continue this way for a long time to come.  Lita lived with these nasty abscesses for almost 4 years of her life.  At least the actual abscess went away on this guy all that is left is the lump which I suspect is a tumor, not an abscess.  Only time will tell how he does but I can say that if I have any more with this show up I will definitely use the NuFlor with them as this helped a great deal to make him feel better at least.