Anti-inflammatories not helping; what next? (Semi-graphic pics attached)
Hello everyone! Firstly, this is less of a "Do I need a vet" and more of a "my vet's advice makes no sense, suggestions please?" but I figured I should flair it as this since it is, technically, vet related.
I'm in the UK, finding a small animal vet with experience in gerbils is *tough* here, at least in my part of the UK. The practice I go to does have a vet who knows gerbils well, he's great, but I had to take the first appointment I could get for Sparrow on Tuesday and it was with a different vet. I need more advice, because I can take Sparrow in for a second look if I *need* to, but I honestly don't know if I do or not, and even if I did, I might have to wait days to get the gerbil guy.
On Monday, I noticed Sparrow was leaving blood on the bedding and immediately worried. I did the best check I could with a very squirmy gerbil trying to bite me and immediately thought "tumour". The blood was coming from his scent gland, specifically what looked to me like a red, fleshy mass. I was technically incorrect, in that the area is red and fleshy, but not because of a growth. Evidently, the skin on his gland had thickened and become itchy, and he'd over-groomed himself, resulting in it being opened. He was also lethargic and camped out under his water bottle, drinking more than usual (expected with blood loss, I figured) and only eating if I put particularly yummy treats like dried mealworms or sunflower seeds right under his nose.
Fast forward to the vet's appointment the next day, she tells me it's not a tumour and recommends anti-inflammatories. She said that hopefully, if it didn't keep hurting, he wouldn't keep trying to groom himself better, and it could heal over. She was confident there was no infection and I concur, at least as far as an observer can (no pus, no odour in the wound, etc).
Then she said that if it didn't work, it would be antibiotics next, which makes no sense to me. It's not infected, and I fail to see how antibiotics would help an uninfected wound heal/stop bleeding. But, I figured I'd try the anti-inflammatories and see how they went, because that at least made sense to me.
Tuesday (after his first dose of antibiotics), Wednesday, and Thursday, things were looking good. No bloody spots, his energy was up, and he didn't seem to be trying to groom his gland any more than usual.
Then today, I noticed a drop of fresh blood in the gerbilarium. I immediately folded up a paper towel and got Sparrow out, holding him securely and using the towel to stem the bleeding. It subsided fairly quickly, which is good, but he's also back to the lethargic, drinking more, eating less behaviour from Monday. I've given him his dose of anti-inflammatory today, but I'm a bit lost on what to do for him next.
What, if anything, can be done here? Do I try and book an appointment with the gerbil guy and hope Sparrow holds out until whenever that turns out to be? Is there anything I can do here, at home, to help Sparrow? Is this a case of just hoping luck is on his side and he heals up sooner than later?
These are the best pictures I could get of his gland without stressing him out to the point of it being cruel. I know they're not great, but it's better than nothing.