Pyometra in Female Hammy

[Missy_Crane]

Hi guys,

Ugh, so I never wanted to think about the dreaded 'p' word ever again, having lost a gerbil to it a few years back. But I adopted a lovely large female Syrian hammy back in December 2015; a sweet-natured tortoiseshell long-haired satin of 6 months old whom I named Esme. And now, shortly after we celebrated having her a year, those horrible old symptoms that I dread so much are showing up Brief timeline:

-I first found a few faded blood spots in Esme's nesting paper 2 weeks ago. My stomach plummeted, but I figured I had given her a tiny piece of tomato eat the the night before, so decided to wait 24 hours before freaking out. I cleaned her paper so I would definitely know if there was any more tomorrow. Her urine and poops were totally normal, behaviour seemed happy and healthy.

-The next night, fresh blood spots. Freaking out commenced. It was a Saturday, so we had to wait till Monday to get help. First thing on Monday, I bundled up the little poppet in her carrier and we walked into town to see the vet. The vet gave poor Ez a good prod, and showed me what I'd been unable to see - she had some pus coming out of her lady parts. The vet sat it was probably an infection and gave me 2 weeks worth of Baytril to put in Ezzie's water every day.

-I thought it was actually working... From the night she began the Baytril, for a week, the blood spots were present, but were fading and getting fewer. A week after she'd begun the Baytril, there were no spots at all. There continued to be no spots until tonight, and I was hoping we'd beaten it - until I felt all the strength go out of my legs when I looked into her nest. No, Ez, you were doing so well! And of course, I put the last dose of Baytril into her water today. She has none for tomorrow, or Monday morning. darnit.

-So, basically, I'm taking her back to the vets on Monday. I don't know whether to take her back to the same vets (who gave her the Baytril) or go to my usual vets, who are bigger than the other vets and have more equipment, but also a longer wait list. It's a long story of why I didn't go to them first the way I always have with my small furries, but the short version is that recently they have become horrendously expensive and I don't feel their care is worth it; there was a big mix up with some antibiotics for my (now passed away) cat and I felt they handled it very badly and didn't even apologise until pushed...anyhoo, you can see my dilemma. If I take her to the vet who gave her baytril, they can scan her but I don't think they can do anything bigger, because they're only a clinic. Whereas my regular vet probably can do both. But I might not even get an appointment this week, and then it's booking a separate appointment for her op and another wait...I don't know who to go to, tbh.

-Oh and on top of everything else, I upgraded her cage this week, but because fate has a cruel sense of humour bloody DPD delayed the delivery of it until...yeah, you guessed it, Monday. So what was going to be a fun and delightful day watching her explore her new home, now would probably stress her out after a vet visit, so will have to wait.

I know the next step after a scan is a womb removal, and I'm just terrified. I've only had Esme a little longer than a year. She's not even 2 yet. After my gerbil Lola had this horrendous condition I never, ever wanted to see another pet go through it. Lo died under anesthetic during the procedure and I'm so scared of that happening again. Esme is such a happy little hamster, so bright and playful and loving. She knows her name and comes when I call her, jumping into my hand. We have hours of bonding/playtime every night. I know I can't just let her get worse, but the idea of handing my cheerful little bundle over to the vets and then getting back a cold little body makes me want to cry. We literally only lost the family cat back in December, right before xmas, so this is such a kick in the guts.

Sorry to be negative! That's me done venting...I read the Pyometra info thread and was actually very heartened by the lady's hammy Honeydo and her success story. God knows our small furries need success stories, and vets, as well as owners, to give them a fighting chance.

Thanks for listening to me ramble, fellow hammy lovers. If you have any suggestions please feel free to shout em at me. Knowledge is power. Also...sorry this is my very first post here. I've been meaning to sign up for a while but this prompted me. I didn't want to feel as alone as I did last time if we're gonna go through this again.

From me and Esme x

[cypher]

I can understand how worried you are about your Esme, many hams do go through the op ok & recover well so try to stay positive & optimistic for her.
It is important not to wait too long for the op but at the same time you need to have a vet you can trust, can the ones who gave her the baytril refer her to another good vet who could do the op if they can't do it?
Or perhaps the other vets would give an earlier appointment as it's an urgent issue, maybe best to phone them & ask?

Shame about the cage but if Esme has the op she would be best in a small hospital cage for a short while at least, a small bin cage is good, just lots of cosy substrate & toilet tissue & nothing she could hurt herself on so she can rest & heal.
Good luck with her.

[Drago]

I'm so sorry that you have to go through this with your little one However, I think you just need to keep looking forward and understand that your vet will do anything in their power to ensure your little ham will be okay. I've never had the awful experience of pyo with my little ones, but my greatest sympathy goes to you in hoping that she'll be alright. As for the whole vet situation, perhaps finding another exotics vet in your area would work best? As cypher mentioned, this is an emergency situation due to how badly small animals generally handle things like this. Hopefully you get in somewhere soon and everything turns out alright. Best wishes

[Missy_Crane]

Thanks so much for your comments Cypher and Drago, I appreciate it

Not a good update I'm afraid - I opted to take Esme to my regular vets, since I figured if she needs an op, they are probably my best bet.

The vet (who has seen many of my gerbils over the years) listened to my describe the symptoms, and simply said, 'No, I wouldn't even think of an operation to remove her womb, she's too old. She wouldn't come home.' I was shocked, and explained that Esme was only 20 months; not elderly yet, and that she was otherwise bright and healthy and very active. She replied, 'yes, given that's she's otherwise so healthy, and weighing the pros and cons, I can't do it. Since hamsters only live 18 months to 2 years anyway, it would be like operating on a 16 year old dog. She wouldn't make it, and if she did, the recovery time might be half her remaining life.'

I asked if she'd please check if the other 2 vets at the surgery felt the same - she went away to check, and came back saying they agreed with her and couldn't do the op. She gave me some Baytril and sent me on my way.

Now, I don't have a medical certificate, but surely a) hamster live 2-3 years, in my experience, not 18 months; b) surely Esme being happy and bright is a good reason to do the op, not a bad one, because if she was ill and sickly the op she'd have less chance of recovering?? and c) these are the vets who operated on my gerbils pyometra when she was 2 years and 4 months!! :/

Anyway, I don't know what to do next, feeling rather lost. I can take her back to the clinic tomorrow, to the first vet she saw. However I think all they can do there is a scan; they don't have the equipment for an operation. It's difficult because I live in semi-rural Cornwall and don't have a car, so I can't just hop in and drive her around looking for a second opinion. The nearest other vets is one town over - I could take her on the bus, if it comes to that. I just don't want to stress her out too much or make her ill from a chill

I wondered on my way home if I just shouldn't said 'please do the operation anyway' but the vet was being so negative, it felt like she's already decided Esme would die. I didn't want to hand her over to someone who like that :/ I don't understand why they don't even want to give her a chance.

[souffle]

I'm sorry to hear that. Maybe there is another reason why they don't want to risk it such as a possible tumour causing the issues which may have already spread?
Have you read Vectis Hamstery's article on Pyo? Galastop may be another medication that would be worth a try
Vectis Hamstery and Exotics - Pyometra in Hamsters

[Missy_Crane]

Hi Souffle, thanks so much for sharing that article. It's funny; I'd heard of galastop in passing during my research, but all I could find through a google search was other people asking about it, but no actual answers, so that Vectis page was super informative.

I have a tentatively positive update regarding Esme! I thought 'the hell with it, I'm not giving up on her' and rang up the main surgery of the branch clinic I'd visited first - they are one town over, a 15 min bus ride. I asked for their small animal specialist to give me a call back for some advice, and honestly, the guy was so nice that I haven't even visited this vets in person yet but I'd recommend them! We spoke for about 10 minutes when he called me after his afternoon surgery. I explained everything from the beginning, he listened kindly and patiently, and when I got to the part about how my regular vet said hamsters average lifespan is 18 months so the surgery was unthinkable, he made a confused sound and said 'that's not right'. I thought thank goodness, this is going well so far! I explained that I fully understood the risks and was about to say 'I just want to at least give her a chance' - he burst out 'well obviously you just want to give her the best chance, don't you!' I thought Oh bless this guy!! I said that since Esme is not even 2 and, and is active and healthy, I'd thought she'd be a good candidate for surgery, and he said, 'it certainly sounds like it, doesn't it!' He went through all the details with me and although he said there's always a risk with small furries (which we all know) he also ended by saying 'well hopefully we'll have her back to you and up and flying about in no time' which is just all I wanted to hear, really - someone with a bit of positivity and the will to at least try to help her.

So Esme is booked in for a morning appointment tomorrow. Please wish her luck I will keep you guys updated and hope to have good news. Dropping her off and then waiting for that phonecall is always the hardest part.

I'm a little worried about getting her home on the bus after the op as I know keeping her warm is the most important thing - instead of her usual carrier, I've lined a cardboard box with some kitchen roll, and will add some of her bedding to make it feel like home. I've then wrapped bubble wrap around the sides (don't worry, there's air holes) and I'll be carrying it in a grocery bag. Think that'll be ok?? I could always ask to borrow a heat pad from the vets and bring it back when we have the check up in a few days...

Also, what should I be feeding her when she comes back into the hospital cage? I know scrambled eggs, baby food, porridge, yoghurt...anything else?

Thank you Haha, so nervous now...positive thoughts...

[CMB]

Hope the operation goes well.

[cypher]

Great news, so glad you found someone to help her, wishing her well & sending positive thoughts.

[Missy_Crane]

Thank you CMB and Cypher! Everyone here is so kind ;___;

Happy Ezzy update! Took her to see the small animal specialist; he said that he was still happy to go ahead with the operation if I wanted, but that he'd been conferring with a colleague and had something new to suggest. He said that his colleague had suggested shots of Alizin - it's only recently been used for rodents, but was reporting a wonderful success rate and was actually curative for pyometra. He said Esme could receive the first shot then and there, and I'd just have to pop her back to the clinic in my town for the subsequent 3 (which were the next day, day 8, and day 15). he said hopefully this would see results, but if it didn't, we'd go to the op as the last resort.

Since this apparently has a great success rate, and is less invasive and stressful for her, I decided to go ahead with it. She's had 2 shots so far, so is halfway through the treatment. No blood spots at the moment, and I'll be keeping a close eye on her! I'm feeling very positive and hopeful about it, and Esme is looking her usual cheerful self She's still on the Baytril too, since the vet said it couldn't hurt to finish her current dose of it.

I'm SO happy I found a forward-thinking vet who actually went to talk to colleagues about what he could do for my hammy! He was a very nice man in person - he handled Esme very gently, said 'aren't you a pretty girl?' when he picked her up, and remarked to me that I was keeping her in lovely condition

[cypher]

So glad you found such a helpful, caring vet for Esme, it does sound positive & I really hope she goes on to make a full recovery now.