Uncontrolled Itching

[Whisky]

My Campbell's hamster Koosh is about 21 months old now (getting up there, I know) and has severe itching. He's seen two exotics vets and been examined multiple times.

Things we've tried: Revolution (for mites, 3 times), TMS (in case of bacterial infection), Baytril (same reason, and for an abscess he had at the same time), Metacam (for inflammation and pain relief), and diphenhydramine (an antihistamine, which I think made his eyes dry and sore).

His main vet (who is knowledgeable about hams) is as frustrated as I am because, as she says, it simply doesn't present as anything. It doesn't look like any specific condition. He has raw scabby areas on his face and abdomen, but no sign of infection or parasites. All the marks are dry and self-inflicted.

The only thing that seems to help is the Metacam, and it doesn't stop his scratching at all, just provides some pain relief, I think. He was pretty quiet and not himself a couple weeks ago, so we put him back on the Metacam and he bounced back quickly. He just won't stop scratching!

His scent gland may be infected, too - it's been swollen and red, and I removed a hard plug from it yesterday. He's still scratching it.

I'm going to call his vet tomorrow to update her, but I think she and I are out of ideas. I know Koosh is old, but I really want him to be comfortable while he's here. So I'm just wondering anyone else here might know of a solution, or an explanation, or might have experienced this with their own hams. Any replies would be welcome. Thanks.

[cypher]

Sorry to hear Koosh is having such problems Whiskey, it sounds as though you & your vet have ruled out most things now so it may just be age related, they can develop skin problems as they age so it may not be something that responds to medical treatment but it's good he's getting some relief from the metacam.

Have you tried adding anything to his diet that might help?
Things I've found that can be very useful are evening primrose oil, oats, flax seeds & Potent brew which is a probiotic that can help general health.
They only need a tiny amount of oil so I usually mix that with some oats then feed a few flakes of the mixture daily.
It's not an overnight cure by any means but I have seen great improvement with older hams having dry itchy skin & or hair loss.
Another thing to add is brewers yeast which can also help.

[Whisky]

Thanks! The vet was doubtful that it was age related, but like I said, it doesn't seem to resemble any actual condition. It's so frustrating not to be able to fix it.

I haven't tried adding anything to his diet yet. I'll look around for those things!

[cypher]

I was just looking through your other threads & he does seem to have had one problem or another with his skin/coat virtually since you got him so I'm guessing it may be some problem he was born with, something not functioning quite how it should be maybe.
A bit of extra nutritional help is still worth a try.
If you're still feeding him Carefresh then forget the yeast, I checked the ingredients again & it looks as though he would be getting plenty of that & the extra b vits & best not to overdo things.

[Cinnamon Bear]

Don't mean to interrupt but did you have the vet test about 3 different places with the skin scrapes? My vet did this & only found one mite.

If he was treated for mites already idk? Maybe unless the treatment wasn't for his type of mites?

[Pebbles82]

I'm guessing you've ruled out allergy? Just wondering if there's anything in the cage that could be causing it. You could try paper substrate (although Carefresh is similar but he might sensitive to some kind of chemical used in processing maybe?). Also some people use things like scented granules at the bottom of the cage or in litter trays. Guessing it isn't anything like that but it's a thought. It does sound like something aggravating his skin or some kind of allergy (speaking as someone who has eczema and asthma!).

What diet is he on? Just wondering if it's a food allergy. I don't know much about that in hamsters but it's possible. If it is allergy it would be a) contact (ie substrate etc) b) something he eats causing him to break out c) some kind of chemical sensitivity to something used in the cage possibly? (what do you clean it with).

Just thinking what else it could be. I know you tried antihistamines but these don't always work. Never had any effect on me at all! Steroids work but not nice things. Removing the source works as well although can take about 2 or 3 weeks before symptoms subside - it's not always immediate.

Sorry if you are already doing this but suggest - only use warm water to clean cage. Keep cage cleans to a minimum to avoid stress (spot clean and only do big cleans once every month or two and don't clean everything at the same time - eg do toys a different week to substrate and wheel a different week again).

And maybe try switching to a paper only substrate like Fitch or Finacard in the Uk, or Oxbow Pure Comfort bedding or Boxo in the US.

Also which hamster mix do you use?

[Cinnamon Bear]

Just to add Serendipity, a vet once told me to get children's Benadryl for itchy skin. I don't remember if that was for allergies or not?

[Whisky]

@Cypher: Yeah, poor Koosh has been a bit of a lemon... lots of skin and eye problems. He's never been itchy like this before though. We actually started going to the vet shortly after my last post, about the yellow bumps on him - he's down to just a couple and the vet wonders if it may be a sign of cutaneous lymphoma. I should have mentioned that, but she doesn't seem to think the two things are related. He doesn't scratch anywhere near them or even seem to notice them. Tape cytology of his skin and the bumps didn't show anything but normal bacteria. I declined further diagnostics because it would mean sedating him and removing them.

@Cinnamon Bear: We didn't do a skin scraping - the vet is pretty confident that the failed Revolution treatments have ruled out mites. Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) is what I tried last, I only gave it for a few days and stopped on the weekend because it didn't seem to be making a dent in his scratching and his eyes seemed really red and sore even though I tried giving him his lubricating drops. (Benadryl reduces secretions to the eyes and nose and can cause dry eyes.) One eyelid is still red and swollen from him scratching at it.

@Serendipity: He was on Carefresh at the start of this, but I switched him to All Living Things white paper bedding. It's unscented and very similar to the Oxbow bedding. It's very inoffensive, I brought some to show the vet at our last visit a couple weeks ago and she doesn't think it could be irritating him.

He eats a mix of Oxbow and Hazel Hamster, which is not available in Canada anymore, my friend had to bring me some from the States. He was on a mix of Oxbow and National Geographic hamster food when the itching started - I substituted that for the HH for about a month or two when I couldn't find HH in stores or even order it online, but he didn't like the Nat Geo much - and the itching continued when I was able to switch him back. He started losing weight when I couldn't get Hazel and I'd be afraid to take it away again, though I guess it could be a food allergy. In that case though I would think the antihistamine might have worked better. Plus, he wasn't on Hazel when this started.

I agreed to try steroids even though, not knowing the cause of the itching, it could make him worse; but the vet calculated his dose and found that there's no way not to overdose him, so she's uncomfortable trying that.

I clean his tank with Nature's Miracle small animal cage wipes normally, but last time I cleaned it was last month and I did a deep clean of everything so we could definitively rule out mites (gave the last Revolution dose at the same time), so I wiped it all down with dilute bleach and then rinsed it out with warm water. Fortunately he wasn't too stressed by the massive clean. That seems to rule out the Nature's Miracle wipes... but I'll use just warm water for the next tank clean for sure.

I really think his scent gland is infected so I think I'll restart him on Baytril. I don't expect it to do much for his skin, but... maybe. Fingers crossed.

[cypher]

Scent glands do often get infected but, fingers crossed the baytril & just bathing with warm water or saline should clear that up.

It sounds as though it's really difficult getting good dwarf food there, the National geographic one is a bit of a strange mix & I think he'd be much better generally on the HH & Oxbow if you can continue to get hold of that. I don't see that there's anything there that should be causing or adding to his problems tbh.

I think you're probably right to err on the side of caution regarding tests & treatments, there's only so much they can take & sometimes the stress & possible side effects of meds can be worse than what you started with.

[Cinnamon Bear]

I don't know why he didn't do a skin scrape? Are you going to an exotic vet?

Recently heard that the vets stopped giving ivomec steroids