Poorly hammy

shawniyatwain · 02-21-2016, 11:52 AM

Today I went to clean my hamsters cage and found blood (from her bottom area) and a lump on her back. Took her for an emergency vet visit. The vet believes she has a cyst that may be causing some internal bleeding, she didn't however want to fuss with the lump as little Bambi is 2 years old and the stress of procedures has more negatives than positives. She has been given some pain killers and Baytril.
I was wondering if anyone has any experience with things like this, what was the result of it and is there anything further I can be doing?

racinghamster · 02-22-2016, 06:20 AM

Hi shawniyatwain. Blood coming from the back end or the in urine is never a good sign, especially in female hamsters as they do seem more prone to womb infections and later-life issues. id the vet say if the blood is coming vaginally or from the back passage? Are her poos okay?

The Baytril is an antibiotic so should help with any bacterial infection, but not so much if there is a tumour in there. They are so small it`s difficult to treat and tell if the medications are helping or not, but o as your vet suggests dosing-wise and see how she is after three/four days. Keep an eye on her physically and feed her small amounts of raw broccoli, cauliflower, sweet corn, garden peas and a little piece of lettuce. If she`s always had fresh greens then great, but if not, these will be a good fibre source as well as essential vitamins.

The lump on her back...well again, just monitor that really. How is she today? x

**Cinnamon Bear** · 02-22-2016, 06:47 AM

I can give you my experience, I had a RCD who was less than a year old who started bleeding from vagina & she had cushings disease & diabetes. The vet diagnosed her as having an internal tumor on the uterus. She had x-rays & testing done. The vet didn't want to do surgery he didn't think she would survive the surgery.

She was put on Baytril & then just monitored while she struggled with her health issues. I surrendered her to another couple more experienced with sick hamsters & who could afford her vet bills.

It was a very hard decision but the hamster is still alive today, being over a year old now. She continues to bleed off & on but for some reason they still feel that the hamster still has quality of life & she is not being PTS at this point even tho the tumor was never removed.

**Cinnamon Bear** · 02-22-2016, 07:06 AM

That's interesting to know that the vet said just to monitor the cyst/tumor on her back cause I also have an elderly hamster who has developed at least one rapidly growing tumor near her tail area but no bleeding. I never had a hamster this old before but I learned last night that unless the cyst/tumor on her back ulcerates, all you can do is monitor, or until it interferes with quality of life

**Sm_banks** · 02-22-2016, 07:15 AM

I hope you can limit her pain. If not, the kindest thing for her at this age would be to have her PTS. I hope she recovers. Praying for you and Bambi

**Cinnamon Bear** · 02-22-2016, 07:31 AM

PTS maybe premature unless she is definitely in pain. I understand that hamsters can mask their pain but if you know your hammie, then you know when it's time to let go but I wouldn't do it prematurely like i was saying.

All this I'm just learning now re: older hamsters

shawniyatwain · 02-22-2016, 04:26 PM

Thank you for all the replies and well wishes

She seems very much the same, a bit grumpy but otherwise active and if she is in pain she isn't showing it plus the pain killers would help. She has been getting daily veggies as she is not eating much of her mix and I want to keep her strength up. I have also downgraded her cage size to a mini duna so things are closer together for her.
The medication giving does seem a little traumatic however

It was very hard to tell where the bleeding was coming from and she has normal stools.
Also I haven't heard of PTS, what is it?

shawniyatwain · 02-22-2016, 04:30 PM

Ah silly me I know what you mean by PTS now, brain has been frazzled buy a busy 12hr shift hehe.
I really hope I don't have to do that I have lost 2 hamsters in 2 weeks and I couldn't cope with her too

**Sm_banks** · 02-22-2016, 08:44 PM

I'm really sorry about that

shawniyatwain · 02-23-2016, 03:31 PM

Bambi is still spotting, not very heavy but for an animal her size I guess any blood is a fair amount of blood loss. After a closer inspection it looks to be vaginal bleeding still no improvement but doesn't seem to be much decline either. Poor thing hates having medication twice a day :/