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Originally Posted by Charlie Dunn
I am so sorry to hear that Chippy has a tumour. It is always such upsetting news to get. Our last ham, bojo, had several tumours. We decided given his age that it was not right for him to have any stressful and invasive procedures so worked with the vet on keeping him happy, pain free and with the best quality of life he could have.
We gave him metacam for pain relief which he would take sometimes but not others! Over time he also lost some of his appetite after so we got some medicine to stop him feeling nauseous. That worked very well and he ate more after that. Towards the end, we fed him baby food and things like scrambled egg in addition to his usual muesli and treats.
We were very thankful that his quality of life was never impacted to the point that we felt the need to take him to the vet to be put to sleep. He ended his days at home and seemed to want contact with us as much as he could. He was so content snoozing in our hands or with us just being near him.
He did so well and managed quite happily for a few months, longer than the vet expected. Each ham will be different and it is important to have a good vet to speak to and get advice from. I also got such a lot of good advice and information from various threads on this forum. We did not have to make many adjustments to his cage until quite near the end. We just took it one day a time. I hope chippy continues on the same form as he is now for a while to come yet. X
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Hello. I'm really sorry to hear your little one has a tumour. It is such distressing news and I know that I felt really bewildered and helpless when my little Admiral Nelson was diagnosed with a tumour.
He was already two years old and one day I just noticed his fur was parted in an unusual way. I checked him closely and my heart sank when I realised he had a soft but firm mass on his one side. I immediately took him to the vet who didn't seem to know very much about hamsters but she took a cell sample and the result was that she said it may or may not be malignant.
Unsatisfied with her answer I booked him in at a specialist vet who kept him for a whole day and examined him thoroughly. Much like your hamster, Admiral Nelson didn't seem to mind at all that the mass was being felt or touched and the vet said that the tumour was most likely a benign fatty tissue tumour. He did advise that more might develop and he advised against surgery at his age as his exact words were that Nelson would probably pass away from old age before anything related to the tumours would affect him.
Little Admiral Nelson remained very active throughout and retained his good apetite. About two months later, I discovered a second tumour on his belly and shortly after that a third on his chest. By this stage he was very old and had become a lot less active but still ate well.
Four weeks ago, he took a turn for the worse over a 24hr period which was really to be expected at his age and we decided it may be time to help him along but while waiting for the vets to open he passed away quietly at home in his cage.
I don't believe that his tumours were the cause but rather his age. He remained alert, ate well and seemed his normal self right to the end.
If your hamster's tumour is benign, it may very well not be the reason for his demise. Sadly, older hamsters are prone to these things but he can live quite normally if given lots of love, care and good nutrition.