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Old 09-06-2005, 02:44 PM   #1
neeshkabeesh
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Default hammy with a lump

I don't know how common lumps are in hamsters but I was just stroking my hamster now and felt a lump on her shoulder, it feels the same as one of my rats' lumps.



I'm a bit annoyed (read: miserable) at the moment. Both my rats have lumps and have already both had lumpectomies for past lumps, my neutered rabbit Rosie has a lump and now my poor hammy has one too. Not feeling good.



I don't know how old my hamster is, I was looking after her for a friend of mine while she went on holiday. My friend didn't get in touch and when I asked whether she wanted her hamster back she actually said she had forgotten about her I suggested that I give the hammy a home and she said I could, she'd had her for 12-18 months.



Are there any herbal remedies for hamsters with lumps? Could my hamster have a mammary tumour? For my rat's mammary tumours they are on Mycoplex Coriolous, info here: http://www.freewebs.com/miscrats/howtotreatatumour.htm

And there is also this anti-lump mix for rats: http://www.ratz.co.uk/antilump.html



Is there anything similar for hamsters?
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Old 09-06-2005, 03:03 PM   #2
SnuggleHam
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Iv never had a rodent with a lump, but I’m sure that any lump isn’t a good lump. My suggestion to you would be to take the hamster to a vet and have it looked over. Perhaps the vet can do a biopsy to see what it is first, or maybe an ultrasound instead. I’m sure that from there they will be able to tell you what might have caused this strange lump and what to do next.



It seems really strange to me that so many animals you own have lumps? I wonder if there is something that is causing it? They are all rodents so I’m assuming that you use similar products for them and what not? What sorts of things do your rodent’s share besides same bedding materials?



You may also want to mention to your vet that many of your other pet rodents have lumps. Maybe there is something causing it, bedding, diet, treats, something! It just seems odd you have more then one case? Could it just be you have bad luck? There must be something else at work here?
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Old 09-06-2005, 03:06 PM   #3
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i hope its nothing to worry about, or easily corrected, it terrible that you have had to go through this, you are doing really well coping, i also can only think of taking the liitle one to a vet, but have no experiance myself, so hopfully someone else here has
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Old 09-07-2005, 02:21 AM   #4
neeshkabeesh
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I read your post last night Candace, and I know you don't mean anything by it because you don't know, but it so upset me.



Mammary lumps are very common in female rats, I happen to be unlucky that both mine have had them but at least they're lucky that their previous lumps (Lola's four and Avril's one) were removed. I saw a post on a rat forum a while ago titled "3 rats, 3 lumps", it isn't uncommon and it isn't contagious. It is because of their female hormones (or lack of them?) something like that, I'm not entirely sure. I have my rats on the best diet of my knowledge (the Shunamite Diet on http://www.shunamiterats.co.uk/diet.html) which was made by a long-time fancy rat breeder who has researched well into the nutritional needs of rats. Rats are what they eat, so low fat high carb diets are best for their health, fat content has something to do with mammary tumours too I believe. I also give my rats herbal remedies to try and slow the growth of their tumours and give them things to help with their immune system. I'm trying to get hold of a book that the breeder who made the Shunamite diet wrote too, except its always out of stock online



My rabbit's lump has been seen by three different vets and all have said to keep an eye on it, they didn't say what it could be. She is four and a half which is middle aged basically so I have to expect something like that to appear as they get older, I thought if she was neutered she would have less chance of getting mammary lumps but male rats also get mammary lumps but they are much less common. I don't think its an abscess because it would have surfaced, I don't think it could be a cyst because I think they are painful and my rabbit doesn't seem aware of it. It could be a mammary lump or a fatty lump, neither are contagious but both could be because of diet. My rabbits have hay all the time, fruit and veg and not a lot of their high-fibre pellets as I know they are high calorie. I'm also trying to get my hands on different kinds of grasses and hay, they're in their run every day from around 9am until 11pm at night.



I know I'm trying to defend myself or prove myself and its sort of pointless, but honestly I really do try to take the best care I can of my pets and as you may know the best breeding, best diet, best quality of life sometimes isn't enough to keep them from falling ill. I see your point though and I will be taking my hammy to the vets and not resigning her life over to a mammary lump that may not even be a mammary lump! Thanks for both your help
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Old 09-07-2005, 04:09 AM   #5
neeshkabeesh
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Sorry, I've made it personal, I'm just not having fun in life at the moment. I've just checked my hamster and I can't find the lump anymore, I don't know what it was or where its gone, I overreacted.
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Old 09-07-2005, 04:27 AM   #6
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Neesh, I don’t understand what upset you about my post? I never accused you of not taking care of your animals or not caring about them, and I haven’t assumed that either. If its because if the statement I made about it seeming odd they all had lumps I didn’t mean to imply you were ill educated and didn’t know how to take care of your pets. But it did seem funny to me that all these animals had lumps. But I guess it is just a bit of bad luck or coincidences.



Obviously you are educated, as you have even posted links to the things you have researched about your rats and so on. As I said in my first post to you, Iv never had to deal with lumps” in my animals before. I was merely trying to speculate what it may be. I guess I am the uneducated one here, and I’m sorry to have upset you by making it sound like there was a lump epidemic going on in your home.



If you find the lump again or are still worried then a trip to the vet cant hurt though. You did say you felt it in the shoulder, maybe you were just feeling a shoulder bone or something.



Again I apologize for any emotional trouble I may have caused you, understand it wants intended.
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Old 09-07-2005, 06:48 AM   #7
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Default Lump

Hey Neesh, if the lump has suddenly gone is it at all possible that your hamster had something far back in it's pouch and has now taken it out. It can feel like it is on the shoulder sometimes. Worth a thought? Candace is trying to help you find a cause and would offer similar advice if say all your pets were sneezing. Some viruses, allergies can affect many species. Anyway really happy thoughts coming your way and best best wisher for all your animals good health to return.
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Old 09-07-2005, 01:08 PM   #8
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Hi Neesh....sorry to hear about all your animals having problems! I know how much we worry when our pets are ill, and just so you know I'm a 4th year veterinary student too so I have some knowledge in this area. Warning - I got carried away, a mini-essay on lumps follows!



Lumps are very very very common in most species of animals.....just like people, I think 1 in 3 people have cancer in their lifetime according to some advert on TV! For example mammary lumps in rats affect something like 70-80% of all unspayed females, so it's not surprising at all to have 2 rats with them. Lumps are a problem of older animals so with better care of pets, they live longer and it's more likely we'll see more lumps in them.



As a rule lumps are not contagious. There are a few that can be caused by viruses but they are not at all common.



Lumps can either be benign or malignant. Benign means that they shouldn't cause a general problem, other than being a lump in the way of walking or pressing on other structures. Malignant means that as well as this, they may spread to other parts of the body such as the lungs or liver, this is generally what we mean by 'cancer'.



To tell if a lump is malignant or benign, you need to either take a biopsy (a surgical procedure in itself, so you may as well remove the whole lump and send that for histopathology) or take a fine needle aspirate (FNA) which involves sucking a few cells out of the lump and looking at them under the microscope. This can be done in a conscious animal, but does not give as good/reliable results as a biopsy or histopathology on a removed lump. However we can know the likelihood of a lump being malignant from statistics....for example with rat mammary tumours, only 10% of them are malignant.



One rule to remember with lumps is, that they don't get easier to remove as time goes on. If surgery is an option, sooner rather than later is best.



In hamsters the most common neoplasia is lymphoma, which has various forms. They don't have the high incidence of mammary tumours that rats do, they also don't have as extensive mammary tissue as rats so whilst a lump on the shoulder in the rat may well be mammary, it'd be unlikely with a hammy.



But anyway.....the good news! My guess is, if you found a lump in the shoulder area that disappeared, that it might have been an unusual shaped bit of food in her pouch. The pouches can be very extensive, and I've thought before that a ham of mine had lumps in that area when it turned out to be food, so don't feel silly about that possibility. Other possibilities are maybe some sort of cyst or abcess that has burst. With an abcess I'd expect her to be a bit unwell though too - is she fine in herself?



I'm interested in that herbal remedy for rat lumps that you mentioned (although slightly worried about that link; quote from the site these are natural treatments, and cannot be overdosed on, so are completely safe for your rat is completely wrong and quite a dangerous statement). I'll look into it more - I am very interested in alternative & complementary therapies but retain a healthy scepticism, and am most interested in the most effective treatment for a condition, whether it's modern or traditional.



Anyway, I hope your hammy's lump doesn't return and she was just tricking you!



Em x (phew!)



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Old 09-08-2005, 08:49 AM   #9
neeshkabeesh
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Thanks everyone, I've taken what you have all said on board



Will pm you Emma
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