Operations and survival

[Scampi16]

Hi,

Some of you may remember that my Sirius had a really nasty lump in his testicles, this had gone down before taking him to the vets the next day but it was still sore and scabbed.
I took him to the vets and was given a scrub and baytril, he cleared up nicely, but then returned and has since cleared again.
When at the vets, the vet checked Sirius' testicles all over and stated that Sirius had an extra lump on both sides (this baffled him as a tumor would only appear on one side and the other side would start to shrink as the tumorous side would grow), the vet still said that he thought Sirius had tumours, but said they would most likely be benign and wouldn't cause him too much trouble, but keep an eye on him. The vet didn't want to castrate him as it is quite dangerous for such a small animal, but would if it came to it.
Since his second sore cleared up he hasn't had it again, but his back bulge (sores where underneath where he hanged out) seems to be getting bigger, but not by much but it is also harder and the other side is smaller than the right side.

What are the chances of Sirius surviving a operation to castrate him, should I have it done, or should I leave it and see if it comes to a point where it defo needs doing (if ever) and take the chance that he will pull through, he doesn't seem to be in pain, he is happy and lively, no sores, eating and pooing fine.

Your thoughts and advice please.
How many people has had their hamster operated on like this and how many have survived.

Sorry for long post & thank you.

[ThePipsqueakery]

If he is in good health and you have a good experienced vet then his chances are very good. If it is a tumor (that could be cancerous or benign) it would be better to do surgery asap to prevent it from spreading and give him a better chance of long-term survival.

I have had surgery done on three of my hamsters. One roborovski (at about a year old) had a lump on her side that was interfering with her movement, we had it removed it never came back and she is doing fine. A second roborovski (at about a year and 9 months old) had a huge tumor in her uterus, we had that removed and she is doing fine. The third hamster I had surgery done on is a russian dwarf hamster. She had a huge lump on her chest that I had removed. Unfortunately, it appears that it was cancerous and it came back along with a second tumor. Since we now know it will likely come back no matter what we do we have decided not to do repeat surgery and she is still living happily with two large tumors (once they become a problem, or she seems to be in discomfort we will have to have her pts, but until then she is good to go).

Recovery was very easy for all three hamsters, and although I was skeptical about doing surgery on hamsters before the first one I think it was a good decision for at least the first two, and although it didn't work out as well for the third hamster I don't regret doing the surgery either.

There was one more hamster who could have used surgery because of either a tumor in her uterus or a closed pyometra (vet couldn't tell which at that point) but we decided not to do it because she was very old and already sick. She died shortly after, and I think we made the right decision to not do surgery but it's hard to say.

[SoapyVP]

My little Kiwi, Campbell, had an operation to have a couple of tumours removed. He was about 18 months old, recovered quickly and lived at least another 6 months.

Good luck with your decision.