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Toa Payoh
Vets Clinical Research
Making veterinary surgery alive
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Hamster Abscesses & Other Cases
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
Update:
06 March, 2010 |
2002 Case:
A Hamster Loses His Fighting Spirit
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
Update:
06 March, 2010 |
 toapayohvets.com
Be Kind To Pets
Veterinary Education
Project 2010-0129 |
He was two years old, huddled in the sanctuary
which was a corner at the bottom of the stair case
whereas most hamsters of his age would be actively
checking out the veterinary premises. Occasionally,
he
scratched himself. He just wanted to be left
alone.
"He has lost so much weight in the past few weeks.
Now he is as light as a young hamster," Mr Turkle
said. "He has no more energy even to groom himself."
The hamster was becoming emaciated, yet his feed bowl was
filled to the brim with seeds including corn and
pellets.
"There's
a big lump near his left thigh," Mr Turkle turned
the lethargic hamster upside down to show me the
small skin ball. "He used to bite me
whenever I tried to hold him, but now he does not
resist."
"He is aged," Groomer Ken said. He had transported
the hamster and the owner to the clinic.
"Hamsters live up to around 2.5 years and yours is
already two years old." Mr Turkle nodded his head
sadly. This must be the
 end of his old companion,
a fighter who would bite whenever he handled him.
Ken continued: "He must be dying of old age and
old hamsters, like old people, do get tumours
which affect their health badly. The British
researchers at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute
has just found a gene called BRAF which is mutated
in 70 percent of skin cancer melanoma and causes
uncontrolled cell growth and division and this
skin lump is a melanoma." Ken read a lot and
considered himself better than some veterinarians
in knowledge of pets.
Ken liked instant diagnosis and this big skin lump
was definitely skin cancer. Otherwise why should
it grow so big in a short period of weeks?
Therefore, the hamster must be suffering from
tumour and not putting on weight, despite being
given good food.
I palpated the lump. It was soft. "It could be an
abscess," I said. "Was he bitten by another
hamster?"
"No, he had been living alone for the past year
since he fought with the other hamster," Mr Turkle
said.
 "I
would need to put the hamster under gas
anaesthesia to examine further and lance the
abscess," I advised. "However, your hamster may
die as he is already so weak and is not fit for
anaesthesia. Do you want to take the risk going
back with a dead hamster?" I hope Mr Turkle
would not want to take the risk as some owners
would say to friends that the veterinarian killed
the hamster.
Was the abscess the cause of weight loss? Mr
Turkle said that his hamster had an appetite. If
he ate normally, he should be putting on weight.
"The hamster used to bite me whenever I hold him,"
was what Mr Turkle had said straight from his
heart as if he was proud of this indomitable
creature. Could there be something wrong with his
teeth?
Mr Turkle lifted up the hamster from his sanctuary
corner and held him with two fingers. The hamster
struggled a bit as I pried open his mouth with a
pair of forceps. He did not like his mouth
to be opened.
I could see only one upper front tooth when there
should be two. One of the upper tooth must have
dropped off. There were two lower front teeth
which were of the normal length of about 3 mm.
However, the lone upper tooth was 10 mm long and
curving inwards cutting into the lower gums.
I clipped 7 mm off the upper front tooth while the
hamster tried his best to close his mouth.
After that I put him inside his cage.
Nothing happened for a minute or two. Then he went
to the exercise wheel and feebly tried to
exercise. He came out of the wheel as he could not
do so.
 Then
he went straight to the water bottle and drank as
if he had been deprived of water. I could see
that his tongue was deep red in colour, as
if he was severely dehydrated. The normal
colour of the tongue would be pink. Hamsters don't
get cracked lips when they are dehydrated but the
deep redness of the tongue was one sign of
dehydration.
He used to have problems drinking. But now, the
overgrown upper tooth had been cut short, he could
suck water from the nipple in the water bottle, as
he used to do so. As for his skin lump, nothing
would be done till he had recovered his weight and
strength.
Mr Turkle was most happy to see his hamster lively
once more. He did favour soft seeds, Mr Turkle now
told me as I asked him again whether his hamster
could crack open the shells of the bigger melon
seeds. Now he should be able to do so.
 This
was certainly not a case of instant diagnosis. The
skin lump or abscess might be a red herring, to
distract my attention from the real cause of the
problem of weight loss. I would need to review his
case next week as Mr Turkle rushed into his
friend's car to avoid the imminent pelting June
thunder shower. I doubted that there would be a
second visit as most Singapore hamster owners
don't do it in 2002.
UPDATE.
In 2009, most of my hamster clients are Singapore
hamster owners are young adults and females. They
do care for their hamster's poor health. The older
generation - the baby boomers who are parents in
their 60s now- think that it is a waste of money
getting hamsters treated when a new hamster costs
only S$8.00.
Why not euthanase the sick hamster and buy a new
one instead of paying veterinary fees which may be
10 times the price of a replacement? Such thinking
do not gel with the younger internet generation.
As the younger ones are concerned about the health
of hamsters, I get more cases and therefore, I am
able to document more interesting cases for
readers. |
BE
KIND TO OLDER HAMSTERS
GET TUMOURS REMOVED EARLY ---
WHEN THEY ARE SMALLER
More hamster case studies,
goto:
Hamsters |
2010 Case:
A hamster has a gigantic encapsulated abscess.
A high-risk anaesthetic case requiring surgery
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
Update:
06 March, 2010 |
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Tumours cannot be ignored if you want your hamster
to live long. The above surgery was fortunate to
have a good outcome. Don't tempt fate by delaying
treatment of your hamster. |
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BE
KIND TO OLDER HAMSTERS
GET TUMOURS REMOVED EARLY ---
WHEN THEY ARE SMALLER
More hamster case studies, goto:
Hamsters
To make an appointment for your hamster:
e-mail
judy@toapayohvets.com
tel: +65 9668-6469, 6254-3326 |
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toapayohvets.com
Be Kind To Pets
Veterinary Education
Project 2010-0129 |
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Payoh Vets
Clinical Research
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All rights reserved. Revised: March 06, 2010
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