Gerald Loosing Fur!

[SnuggleHam]

I made a similar post not long ago but then it was more about dry skin, now Gerald seems to be going bald! This was brought up once before but I discovered the reason for Gerald’s baldness was his old SS wheel. That wheel was removed some time ago… this is a new kind of bald.



Gerald is completely bald under his chin at his chest between his two front legs. I have a picture I took where you can clearly see the wrinkly skin. I’ve looked at it and from what I can tell the skin looks healthy and pink.. there is just no fur.



http://www.hamstercentral.com/images/misc/oldgerald02.jpg



The other bald spot is on the back of his neck.

http://www.hamstercentral.com/images/misc/oldgerald.jpg



There have been no recent changes made that I can think would cause this, all my pets are fed the same thing and given the same bedding and everyone is fine. However since I cleaned Gerald’s cage last I didn’t realize the water bottle was beginning to leak and I discovered that half of his cage was all damp, and right near his sleeping area. I wonder if the dampness for a long period of time has something to do with it?



Ive changed the bedding and given Gerald some carefresh for his den and added some more funs thing in for him to do. As far as I can tell he drinks plenty, runs on his wheel still and eats well. His eye are bright and nose is clear.. Im thinking that my poor Gerald is just getting very old!



He looks old.. don’t you think?

http://www.hamstercentral.com/images/misc/oldgerald01.jpg

[souffle]

I think it is just as you suspect Candace and a sign of ageing. It seems to be much more noticeable in long haired hams than short haired for some reason. As long as he seems healthy I would not worry. Just make sure he is warm and has plenty bedding and treasure the time that you have with him in his twilight years.

[SnuggleHam]

Ya.. my gut feeling doesnt seem to think anything out of the norm is wrong, I really think its just that hes getting old. But I will still be keeping a very close eye on him. Thanks for the feedback Souffle!

[Emma]

The skin there looks a bit thickened too.........I think as you say it really is just that he is getting on - how old is he now? It seems like you've had him ages now :)



He probably has various things going on - maybe with his kidneys, maybe with his hormones - just as part of the aging process, and these may have effects on his hair. It's not really anything to worry majorly about I don't think, as long as he is eating well, drinking alright, going to the loo as normal, and as active as you'd expect an elderly ham to be, I'm sure Gerald doesn't mind that he's a bit bald :)



I think he looks distinguished.

[SnuggleHam]

Lol Emma!



He does run around and act normal.. I mean he doesnt act old at all hehe... he just looks old. I honostly cant tell you his age since I adopted him and his previous owners knew nothing about hamsters, maybe then I guessed he was a year and a half, he must at at least two years by now if not two and a half. His looks speak for his age though..



When I got him his colors were still very bright.. I mean compare him with his logo image at the top of the forum.. he looked much more stidly then :P



Well anyway.. thanks for the input Emma.. appreciate it.

[babyboos]

Maybe just keep an eye out for mites as well. They can often appear in older hamsters as their immune systems' weaken and the naturally occuring mites on their bodies start to over-produce. A bit of baldness, wrinkly and thickened skin are signs I especially look out for in older longhaired hamsters.

[Skwee]

Just had a post similar to this on another forum teehee, thought i'd add something.



http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index ... 171531.htm (http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/171531.htm)



If you scroll down to the bottom, read the text and click on the photo for a clearer view... looks like your hammy... and this one has mites..

[babyboos]

Excellent link Gemma

thanks for sharing

[SnuggleHam]

Well I have cleaned Gerald’s cage and kept a very close eye on him. The bald spot on his chest started to grow back some fur, though in other areas I find its thinning quite a bit. His skin does look dry and there are small scabs here and there. Now that his fur is thinning I found a dark black spot on his back side, which I’m sure inst a marking, it's best described as looking like some sort of skin cancer or something :?



Over the past month or so I have noticed that Gerald’s drinking quite a bit more water, and just recently he’s finishing a large bottle in the span of about four days. He had one corner soaked in urine, and it was very smelly :?



I took him out of his cage and inspected him thoroughly. He seemed alert, ran around and acted normal. But he is looking thinner to me, though I’m not sure if its the fur loss. I also noticed he didn’t seem to have any food stored in his nest. Usually he takes it all and sleeps around it. This leads me to believe his appetite is failing.. My poor ham.. he’s so old! :cry:



Perhaps if its mites and he’s treated for it he will get better, but I have a feeling that his kidneys are failing.. just as Emma suggested. I think it would explain the large amount of water consumption and I have a feeling it may have something to do with the dark spot on his skin.



He doesn’t appear in pain or bothered by the skin problem.. though to me it looks itchy. I think Ill go and make an appointment with vet for a check up. Hes not showing sign of illness, clear eyes and nose still.. but I do get the feeling that anytime he /will/ go down hill fast..or pass on during a future night. I’m not sure I want to put him down or what.. Poor guy, its hard watching them age.



What do you guys think? I want him to be comfortable.

[souffle]

I think if you are fairly certain he is not suffering in anyway it is best to let him live his last twilight time in comfort and security. If he is not scratching then he is probably not itchy so being a bit thin in the fur department is probably not worrying him. Mite treatment and bathing and things may just be so stressful for the old lad you may not wish to put him through that. Ours drank lots towards the end and we always made sure they had plenty and cleaned the wet area daily. You will know when the time comes and he has such a low life quality or if he is in pain and then you can give him the last great gift of a peaceful, painless passing if it is necessary but hopefully he will simply sleep away when his time comes in the security of his own nest.

[SnuggleHam]

Some good news!



I took Souffle's advice and decided that since Gerald didn’t appear to be suffering I wouldn’t take him to the vet right away. If he was in fact fading away due to old age I didn’t want to stress him by dragging him to a vets. I decided to just watch him and keep an eye on things longer. I've been vigilant about keeping his cage cleaned as well as "wet" areas in-between.



I started to feed him this cat food I have that is very greasy/oily to the touch. I figured the oil might do him some good (At least I know dog owners will put vegetable oil in their kibble if they tend to have dry flaky skin) I’m not sure if offering the few pieces of kibbled once and a while helped, but all Gerald’s fur has come back! And his skin looks healthy! I thought he was going bald from old age for good. But he has nice new fur, so soft and smooth! I wonder what the heck happened to cause him to loose his fur in the first place?



It may have been the dry air that was during his skin out over the winter since we heat with one heater with propane. I know my skin gets irritated during the winter. Maybe the change of seasons is helping as well?



Anyway I’m glad his beautiful long fur has come back in!

[babyboos]

That is great news and I bet he enjoyed the cat food, and will continue to do so in future if he gets the chance :wink: :oops: