Syrian hamster losing hair and scabs and wounds appearing everywhere. - Page 4

rinn123 · 11-16-2018, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

How is she doing now, is there any change, better or worse?

There is not much change, but there seems to be no new wounds appearing. The wounds are scabbing but some I think she scratched off. I'm also applying coconut oil to the wounded areas as they look quite dry and itchy, which has seemed to help abit. She eats alot and is active too. She still has another 5 days to go on her antibiotics. Should I give her any probiotics? Like yoghurt ?

cypher · 11-16-2018, 03:56 AM

Good to hear that no new wounds have appeared, it will take time for to heal but that is promising.
If you can't get any probiotics for small animals where you are then you could try a little plain live yogurt & see if she'll take it.

rinn123 · 11-16-2018, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

Good to hear that no new wounds have appeared, it will take time for to heal but that is promising.
If you can't get any probiotics for small animals where you are then you could try a little plain live yogurt & see if she'll take it.

I have bene bac paste which I give my piggies, are they ok for hamsters? How long after or before should I give it to her?

cypher · 11-16-2018, 05:47 AM

That's ok for hamsters but I've never been able to figure out what the dose should be.
While she's on antibiotics you need to give it as far apart from those as you can, once the antibiotics finish you could continue to give it for a while, maybe a week I'm not sure with that brand as I've never used it.

rinn123 · 11-16-2018, 05:55 AM

I see, okay thanks!!

Pebbles82 · 11-16-2018, 11:57 PM

That’s good no new wounds have appeared. It may well have been the scented sand that was the culprit. It might also be worth asking your vet for a test to rule out Cushing disease. That does cause hair loss and sores but the sores are usually much later. Not all vets can do the blood test - it may be best to see an exotic vet if you don’t already as Cushing can be treated if diagnosed but a lot of vets aren’t experienced in this. But it can also be other things .

cypher · 11-17-2018, 03:37 AM

It's possible it could be Cushing's I guess but the onset would be quite atypical for that I would have thought.

rinn123 · 11-17-2018, 11:56 PM

Update: I think she scratched the above of her eye which caused her eye to squint. I still have 3 days to go on antibiotics but the leftover in the bottle looks too much for 3 days? I don't know, I will see the vet asap. She's still eating and drinking normally. Maybe drinking a little more than before. I might have to get a smaller bottle to monitor that. Now she doesnt pee in her litter tray anymore, but she pees in her hidey, which is quite worrying me as lying in her pee would worsen her wounds, but I stuff it with alot of tissue and clean that out daily.
She seems to be scratching scabs off too..
It doesn't look like cushings because her hair loss is only significant on her left hind leg. There are small spots on her body which has hair loss , but not in big patches as seen in pictures depicting cushings. But maybe she just has different symptoms.. The cage does smell stronger in a shorter period of time.

Is it recommended to do biopsy to diagnose for cancer or any other disease? Will it stress out the hamster too much?

cypher · 11-18-2018, 01:48 AM

I would think scratching at the wounds is inevitable really, they're probably getting tight & itchy as they heal so I'm not sure there's much you could do about that other than using the coconut oil.
I wouldn't worry about the amount of antibiotics in the bottle, I don't think they always give the exact amount & I've had some left over after finishing treatment before now.
Blood tests & biopsies are very difficult for hams, they can be done if necessary but that's something you'd need to discuss with the vet really.
I think with her peeing in her nest you'll just have to keep doing what you are already for now, I wouldn't try to change anything until she's getting better, just take out any wet tissue & replace that but leave any dry tissue that will have her scent on for minimum stress.

rinn123 · 11-18-2018, 07:53 AM

Guys, I cleaned out her cage yesterday because she shredded the tissue paper ( like 15 layers of it) and dug to the bottom of the cage, I cleaned it out and wiped it cause I was scared that her wounds would get infected.

And I realized that she hasn't been defecating since yesterday night, it has been about 24 hours since I cleaned her cage. I'm not sure when it started as there were already poops in her cage before I cleaned it. I will bring her to the vet tomorrow. Her area near her abdomen also seem to have sores on it. Even with the medication, new wounds seem to be appearing out of nowhere...