hi, my dwarf hamster Ginger is just over 1.5 years old.
sadly about a month ago i noticed a red pea sized lump of skin on his belly, next to his scent gland. a quick google told me that it's either a cyst or lymphoma (?). upon feeling the lump i can tell it's pretty hard, he's not biting or paying any attention to it, and it's also very slow growing, so i concluded that it's likely to be cancer. no photos since he's wriggly
in the last 30 minutes, i've noticed that Ginger's left eye is protruding a bit. this must have happened in the last 2 days. i'm wondering what i should do. i very much doubt it's an infection, and i'm 100% sure there's been 0 trauma to his eye since i don't hold him (see "extras"). do you guys think it's likely to be a brain tumour? what kind of symptoms would come with a brain tumour? you can see from the photos how swollen it is.
he's eating well, sleeping well, drinking well, not in any visible pain, no temperament change, no redness or discharge around the eye, basically he's otherwise healthy, just a bulging eye & a lump on his belly.
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Ginger is extraordinarily sensitive to change so a vet visit is likely to stress him for a few days at least (he starts screaming in his sleep if i so much as reposition the cage across the room, he bites and attacks everything for a day if he finds himself on a sofa/bed he's not been on in a few months)
plus, there's the obvious financial reasons - i don't want to spend money on useless procedures especially since he's so old and cancers are pretty much untreatable in hamsters. that being said, this isn't my main reason. it's just that the best vets in my area do enjoy charging lots of money for so-called "necessary" procedures and tests when the animal is clearly not going to make it.
I would absolutely be prepared to take him to the vet if he seemed like he was in any pain, to get him some metacam or similar, or to get him eyedrops if that seemed like a good idea.
extras: I can tell he's starting to get older since his fur is a little more unkempt than it used to be and he's a bit slower. other than that, he's happy as ever, active & friendly.
i don't hold him much but he gets run around time whenever he wants to come out of his cage (about twice a week)
he's had no previous health issues & i have always handled him responsibly and very gently. he's a bit like a cat and enjoys randomly attacking my hand every now and again, so i try to keep handling to a minimum and just use carriers to transport him, which he's perfectly happy with.
here is a link to the images i posted on reddit. don't worry about the NSFW sign.
dwarf hamster health issue : hamstercare