# Oral Cancer or tooth abscess?



## weena9998 (Apr 1, 2019)

Hi everyone! My hedgehog Max who is a little over 5 years old has started to have something wrong with his mouth/jaw. I took him to the Vet and she told me he like had an osteosarcoma in his mouth and they could biopsy. I declined it because of money purposes, but she still wasn’t 100% positive If cancer was the problem. I know it’s common, but wanted to share some photos to get opinions on what others think. Do you think it could possibly be an abscess? I posted some photos. The best I could since he likes to wiggle a lot. Thanks!


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## nikki (Aug 28, 2008)

It looks more like a tumour to me than an abscess. Did the vet prescribe any antibiotics in case it is an abscess or any pain meds. That looks extremely painful and your hedgehog needs pain meds at the very least. 

Did they try to aspirate the area to see if there was any pus present?


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## weena9998 (Apr 1, 2019)

No she didn’t prescribe anything. He doesn’t seem to be in any pain as of now. He keeps eating and drinking and running on his wheel. He does his little happy squeaks when he drinks. I crush his food so it’s easier to eat and I’m weigh him everyday and he actually has gained weight.


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## Kalandra (Aug 25, 2008)

Talk to your veterinarian about getting some pain medication and antibiotics. If there is any chance it is an infection, you will need medication to treat it. Its a small chance, but I'd ask about it. In my experience tumors in the mouth seems to easily become inflamed and can get a secondary infection as its easy for them to get damaged while they eat. I've seen a couple of hedgehogs have a small decrease in tumor size because we got rid of the infection, which improved their initial quality of life. It won't cure the cancer of course.



Going forward, you will want pain medication anyway.


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