Need some help umbilical hernia

[ashleanne]

:( Now something wrong with another of my hamsters. I took on three rescue russians, one of them I found dead all of a sudden a few weeks after I got her.

Her brother like her is now starting to drink a lot. He has 3 legs, after an accident with cotton wool bedding when he was a very young baby.

The third,,,(this person got about 3 hamsters and ended up with lots and lots, so they are all inbred, they even removed some of them from their mothers and handreared them so not as healthy) has what I think is an umbilical hernia.

Im almost 90% certain thats what it is, its just so strange. Any one know anything about these? The two remaining russians are very hard to get near to as they are very fast and will bite. I managed to scruff this one as I felt a lump while I was handling it, it was very difficult to get a good look at as it was so wriggly but I am pretty certain of what I saw :( I dont know what to do, I thought I was doing a good thing taking on rescue hamsters, they were kept in tiny tiny tanks with no room to move but now they all seem to have health problems, which may have been there all along.

They were fed lots of sugary treats before I got them. With my other hamster having a genetic defect with her teeth, it looks like my only healthy hamster is my syrian.

Is diabetes in campbells inherited or genetic? The vet would have to anaesthetise the hamster to look at the hernia and probably to even get anywhere near the hamster that has been drinking loads as they are so aggressive and fast that they wouldnt be able to examine them

[racinghamster]

Oh dear ashleanne, your having a rough time of it right now. I think I`d be asking my vet to examine each hamster (under a whiff of gas if necessary) to determine what this lump is? Hernias in rats can usually be stitched back in, but I have no idea if this sort of proceedure is done in hamsters this small.

Poor little things. You done them a great favour taking them on, even though they were badly bred and treated. :( All my wee pets are rescues or rehomes too and you always get one or two that give you cause for concern. I`ve been lucky really as all mine have stayed relitively well and fit.

But yes, I would get them booked in and have the vet use gas on the one with the suspected hernia, unless they can scruff him in a towel to prevent this and have a good feel. I do hope it`s something `fixable`. x

[souffle]

Never doubt that you have done a great thing in giving these little ones a new and happier life. Whatever happens to them now is not your fault and they have had the best of care, ideed it may be no-ones fault and is just the way it is meant to be. You may have to accept that due to this difficult start in life they may never be tame and you will have to just enjoy watching them rather than playing with them. It may be what they want.

Are you sure it is a hernia ad not the scent gland which is on the tummy in dwarfs? It sometimes looks bigger as they mature. It can also become infected. Probably best to have it checked anyway by the vet. With possible diabetes I would read the section on this in hamster articles and perhaps modify the diet. This will be the best you can do and then just give her lots of love till her times comes.

[ashleanne]

I dont know about the scent gland in dwarfs, but the other male doesnt have anything like this, at first I thought it was an abcess or tumour, then with a lot of patience and help from my sister, I was able to get close enough to have a look at it, and I think its an umbilical hernia.

Would it be better put to sleep than going through surgery to fix it, it is very big and I could feel a lump when it was walking over my hand. I guess thats the problem with having animals that dont like being handled, you cant tell when they have things wrong with them but more than likely hes had it from birth and hes now about 7-8 months, so I'm hoping that its something that he can live with.

The vets here wouldnt have a clue and I'm worried they might see it and think omg best to put it to sleep as it looks so weird. I should really have took a photo of it last night! They dont really see a lot of hamsters or just rodents in general over here.

Im having problems finding vets to treat my rats as they just dont see them over here. The vets I use for the rats are quite good but not with things like antibiotic doses, they just usually give me what I want. They did manage an emergency spay on my rat last week, although I had to persuade them to spay her as she had been bleeding a lot from her vagina and because the vet didnt see any blood he didnt really believe me :?

As soon as I got the russians, I took the advice about diet, Sally was the first one I noticed with a problem (being diabetic) and she was ok apart from drinking loads and her cage always being stinking until she died all of a sudden one day, the vet said you cant treat a diabetic hamster.

Now house is drinking excessive amounts and his cage is always wet, I wonder if hes suffering and always feeling bad and if I will find him dead one day soon like his sister. Then I think maybe I'm over reacting as the person that had them before me never even realised there was anything wrong with them.

Thanks for your help, its just that people I tell are saying i should never have got them as ever rescue animal I get tends to be sick. Theres no sanctuaries that take small animals here so most people just dump them or say they will get them pts and usually the animals are always in a bad way :(

[souffle]

The world would be a sad place if people only wanted to adopt healthy animals with a guarantee of being perfect till the day they died. That just does not happen in real life and you are doing a great thing taking in these little ones. There is a place for all and no matter how short their life as long as it has been happy it was worthwhile. With diabetes I do not think it can be cured in hamsters so it is up to you to decide when the burden of drinking and weeing becomes too much for your little one to cope with. I would imagine when the hamster cannot get any sleep for drinking and is perhaps wetting itself in the nest then it may become stressful and you may feel the time has come to give it rest. You know and love the animal best and your decision will always be the right one so never be afraid that you were wrong. You will have done what you felt best in your heart.

Dwarf hamsters do have the scent gland on the tummy, like a raised, blackish lump in the middle so it is possibly this. If the little one has lived till this age with it and is eating, drinking and behaving normally I would leave it be and keep a close eye for any signs of illness, increase in size or discharge then seek veterinary help if need be.

[ashleanne]

Theres been a quite a few times when ive came home to find the hamster drinking at it has no water and then I blame my sisters for not giving him any and they swear that they did, so he must be drinking the whole bottle. He hasnt lost any weight but he is coming out in the day to drink a lot. Will just keep a close eye on him. Ghost the one with the hernia, I hardly ever see,hes never out playing, hes always asleep, I guess he comes out in the night to eat and do all the other stuff. Its not like a raised blackish lump that he has its very weird. I will try and get house out and have a look to see if he has anything similar but dont know how much success I will have with that lol Does anyone have any pics of scent glands in dwarfs, at least then I would know if I'm being stupid and thats what I am seeing. Thanks again

[babyboos]

I would be tempted to try going to your vet they are more resilient than we give them credit for - and hopefully the worst you will be told is you have an infected scent gland on your hands. I check all my guys every couple of days for this and often wipe them clean with saline solution, especillay if looking more yellow, greenish, sticky, or the skin around the scent gland is swollen, red or deep pink in colour. You get to know what is a normal scent production level for your little one. I hope with perseverence you will tame these little ones. Don't give up - they will respond to kindness eventually.

[ashleanne]

:lol: thanks everyone but Im an idiot and it is a scent glad that im feeling I think as my other russian has one as well. :lol: Well i got a good look at it yesterday and it def wasnt infected and there was no swelling or pus there, was nice and clean. I'm just silly, have never had russians before and cant really examine them, especially house, I once tried to turn him over to see if he was def a male and he bit me! Learn something new every day lol Now I just have house the diabetic hamster to worry about, his cage was absolutely filthy tonight and its cleaned out often, it really was disgusting and there was mould growing on it. How long can they really live with the condition before it kills them, I feel so sorry for them, I have a photo of the "tank" he used to live in it was SO tiny and he spent 7 months of his life in it

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p7/ashleanne1977/animal120.jpg

[babyboos]

with strict dietry care diabetic hamsters can live well into maturity now. I recommend you join the honeyhams message group for support (Google them - if you have any problems locating them let me know). I have found them invaluable over the years in caring for any diabetic hamsters which have come my way.

[racinghamster]

Well that`s good news ashleanne! :) As for the diabetic hamster, I would try and have two water bottles in the cage incase he/she IS drinking it dry! Cut out ALL sugars (these are included in fruit and some veg aswell like apple and carrot and even some low sugar cereals) so try and add items with no sugar at all. Kallo organic puffed rice (from Holland & Barret and other health food shops and even some supermarkets) is a good thing to add a teaspoonful each day. Organic jumbo oats can also be added (gluten free) and these can also be bought in the shops above. Budgie millet is enjoyed too.

Keep the cage spot cleaned each day and if there is ANY mould growing, scrub the entire cage with vinegar and rince in boiling water. Vets sell sachets of Virkon for cage cleaning and it`s very powerful. x

[ashleanne]

He had a very sugary diet before I got him. So seeds, high fibre, high protein, low sugar? Is that right, can he still have normal hamster mix or would I be better just to stop that, he doesn't get any sugary treats or anything like that