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*10 a.m - 5 p.m (Mon - Sun,
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Dr Teo
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Case first
written: 20 Nov 2002.
Case updated:
13 April, 2009
A Hamster Loses His Fighting Spirit
Dr Sing Kong Yuen, BVMS (Glasgow), MRCVS
 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 scratching 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. No more energy even to
groom himself. He 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. No
hamster do.
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 |
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TOA
PAYOH VETS
