Help, is my hamster ill?

[Hanhanboban]

So a few weeks ago I noticed my winter white hamster had a bold patch all around her ear, it was bleeding & her eye was swollen & pussing. Took her to the vets the next day who said her pouches had loads of food stuck in them, she was trying to scratch them out; hence the bleeding & bolding. She also had a cyst on her eye, he could of operated but it's risky as she's so small. We decided against that & he squeeze what he could out of her eye & gave us some medicine for her to use twice a day for 2 weeks.

She was fine with it, took it everytime & it all seemed to clear up. She looked much better & was acting normal. She came off her medicine about 1 & 1/2 weeks ago, but today I noticed her ear has a massive lump on the back. My camera is broke so I cannot upload a picture, but I don't know what this is?

She seems to be acting fine & came out to get her dinner when I gave it to her, can anyone help with this? I'm worried!

[Pebbles82]

It sounds like you need to take her back to the vets I'm afraid. It might have been an abscess and it's trying to come out somewhere else now. Was it antibiotics (Baytril) she had before? Or Metacam (anti-inflammatory)? Any kind of lump needs looking at really.

[racinghamster]

What a shame this has occurred after what seemed to be a turn around. I agree with Serendipity that letting the same vet see her again just to check this out would be wise. If it is an abscess (infection) it will require flushing or at least, antibiotic again to see if that will help. better to get her checked again to have some peace of mind.

Did the pouches empty okay at the time? Just be careful about offering anything that may be sticky or something she`s not used to eating that could lodge. x