My sweetie

[BorisPasha]

Sorry to hear this I was hoping that everything would be ok after her op. Do you know how much longer you will be waiting for the results?

[fuzzyfriendly]

@cypher Yeah, when I told them at the clinic that it looks pretty much the same, they said that "this things can happen". And that as long as she is eating&drinking I can and should wait. But as you have said, I changed her rhythm too much. She is hiding at the moment, she usually comes outside at this hour and waits for me to take her out. But I checked her in the morning, so I will not bother her untill tomorrow. I'm also a bit stressed and I think she can feel it, when I handle her. That's ok I can't do much for her at this point.

@BorisPasha They will definitely get the results this week. So they told me, maybe even as soon as tomorrow. In any case I'm hoping before Friday ...

[Hamsterita]

I'm sorry to hear that the op didn't work.

I don't know what to suggest tbh. It's growing very quickly to be a tumour and I don't know what it could be. It's a pity the vets can't help you either till they have the results. Good luck! Keep us posted

[Thin Lizzy]

The tests will give accurate results and the vet wants to be sure before he operates.
Fingers crossed the results come in very soon.

[fuzzyfriendly]

Hey guys, another update. Yesterday, when I was checking her, I noticed that this thing beside her ear was gone and her ear was a bit red. And I was really confused. What is going on!! I guess they were right and it wouldn't make sense to operate on her again before. I was actually checking, if she might have somehow tore the thing off or bit it away, but there was no wound, blood. Really weird. Today her ear was a little bit less red as well.

Luckily, they called me from the vet's office and told me, that what they cut the first time is definitely not a tumor and that bacteria are to blame. I asked if there is something I can do, perhaps change something in her environment/food etc. They told me not to worry, that this things just happen with hamsters. And if she gets another growth, I should stop by and they will take care of it again.

Oh and they gave me medicine for her, that should help, Stronghold Selamectinum, which is I guess against lice, fleas. But I only heard of it being used on cats&dogs. I'm supposed to give her one drop now and another drop in a week and a half. I had to weigh her first for them to figure out the right amount. I have to put the drop behind her head, so that she won't be able to lick it off. I'm plucking up courage to do it this evening. I did it with dogs, but they are bigger, less wiggly and have a broader, well defined neck

I'm a bit confused, I guess there is no medicine to help hamsters fight the bacteria?

I was thinking, should I get rid of wood in her cage? She has a wooden house (with no bottom) and a platform/ramp with a tunnel. I don't think she pees on them, they don't smell bad, but they might be a source of something nasty, since I can't change them like the substrate. I can't really wash it either, I usually just scrub it with a brush. I don't know. She really likes the platform/ramp, and I haven't found anything similar to it in Switzerland. She came out two times today during the day, which hasn't happened in a week, so I think that this is a good sign.

I would appreciate any thoughts, advise, criticism.

[cypher]

Firstly I'm glad to hear it's gone, & she seems better in herself.
It does sound as though it was an ear wart then which isn't that uncommon really, normally they are just removed if they get too large but I think any kind of wart can just drop off especially if they are on a really thing stalk.
I am a bit confused by the treatment though tbh, I'm not sure what causes the warts to grow in the first place, I had an idea it was a virus rather than bacteria but could be totally wrong either way I'm not sure why they're prescribing a treatment for lice & fleas which hamsters don't get, totally confused there so not sure what to say.
If it was bacteria I would have thought antibiotics would be the most likely course of treatment so that seems a little odd too.
I have seen other cases of warts but from what I remember removal is usually sufficient.
Personally I wouldn't go overboard with cleaning or binning wooden toys with this kind of condition but that's entirely up to you of course.

[fuzzyfriendly]

Well there is a bit of a language barrier, but the vet told me, that it is probably a bacterial infection and that this makes her more vulnerable to lice, warts etc. We have no other animals in the house, so I guess there is slim chance of having fleas. And yes, I was asking her about antibiotics, but she said that there is no specific/focused treatment for this kind of bacterial infections. I don't know, I was kind of hoping for more specific results. I'm not sure if that thing was a wart or a byproduct of infection or a little bit of both.

I wrote to my friend, who has rats, if she ever got Stronghold for them. Some dogs have strange reactions to anti-flea medications, so I'm a bit worried about using them.

And I'm sure my hammie appreciates your comment about her wooden toys . Thank you for saying that as well. I'm always a bit afraid that I'm doing something wrong, so it's good to have advice from someone with more experience.

[cypher]

I really don't like to second guess vets but of all they've said I do find the flea treatment the strangest, I know dogs & cats can react badly to it as it is potentially quite toxic so personally I wouldn't want to be putting that on a ham without very good reason.
Infections & the stress that goes with them can impact the immune system & then the mites that all hams have can get out of control & need treatment so I don't know if maybe that's what they're referring to? Even so I would never use mite treatment without knowing for sure that the mites were causing a problem which your ham doesn't appear to have, if you want to help the immune system & help her cope with the general stress of illness, vet trips etc the only thing really is to maintain a good diet, give probiotics (for small animals) & sometimes a little nutritional yeast (sold as a supplement for humans) can help too.

[fuzzyfriendly]

I couldn't agree more. I'm thinking: Why did I take her to the vet, if now I don't trust them enough to treat her. But on the other hand, at least now (despite all) she is eating, drinking, active. I know it can get worse.
From what I gathered: your interpretation, of why the gave me this medicine, is exactly right. Although it wasn't put quite that way. But she has no fur loss or anything. All hamsters have mites, from what I've read, that doesn't necessarily mean that they are dangerous.
I will put it on. I hope I won't regret it. They were obviously right with advising me to wait with the second thing that grew.

I will look into probiotics&nutritional yeast, thank you.

[Thin Lizzy]

Your vet doesn't seem to have a clue and I really don't like it when they guess what's wrong.
So agree with Cypher.