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Old 11-08-2020, 07:45 AM   #1
imawizard
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Join Date: Mar 2019
Posts: 27
Default Facial abscess

Hi everyone! Has anyone had experience with their hamster having a facial abscess?

My 2 year old, one eyed female Syrian Evie has an abscess above where her eye should be.

The vets do not know the cause, but they have speculated that it could be when she had her eye removal operation something got left behind causing an infection (I adopted her at about 5 months old, she had the eye removal op before I adopted her), or there is an issue with her teeth.

She's seen several vets and as they lack experience with hamsters their only suggestion was to be to put her to sleep I finally found a vet who tried draining the abscess and did a bacterial culture. The abscess kept refilling several times. After several weeks of administering antibiotics and draining the pus it appeared to have finally gone and her head had healed.

Now a month later the abscess has returned. If I take her to my local vets they will probably just PTS and the other vet who did the draining and culture has left.

I don't know if it's fair to go through the process of draining and meds again (not even sure I'll be able to find a vet willing to do so) or if it would be kinder to have PTS.

I would really appreciate some advice, thank you.
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Old 11-08-2020, 09:25 AM   #2
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Facial abscess

Hello. You need an exotic vet to diagnose this really. It is a difficult call though when she is two - which is elderly- the equivalent of 80 in human years. Balancing the stress of procedures with her quality of life. It could be a tumour rather than an abscess. If it was a tumour then it may be kinder to have her pts as they can really suffer with cancer when it progresses. If it is an abscess caused by tooth problems then an exotic vet could possibly remove a tooth to get rid of it. And more antibiotics.

So ultimately you need to see an exotic vet to get a clear diagnosis and prognosis - if you Google exotic vets, see how far the closest one is.

It’s a very difficult situation.
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Old 11-08-2020, 11:00 AM   #3
imawizard
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Default Re: Facial abscess

Thank you for your reply Serendipity.

Can you get pus with tumours? I should of said the vet who did the draining was an exotic vet but she's left. Unfortunately there are not any exotic vets near me, the closest is 2 hours away. I rely on public transport so I think it would be too stressful due to her age
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Old 11-08-2020, 11:16 AM   #4
GhostsInSnow
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Default Re: Facial abscess

Pus is indicative of infection so it is likely an abscess if you're getting pus from the area
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Old 11-08-2020, 11:38 AM   #5
imawizard
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Default Re: Facial abscess

Quote:
Originally Posted by GhostsInSnow View Post
Pus is indicative of infection so it is likely an abscess if you're getting pus from the area
That's what I thought. If it was a tumour then it would probably be best for her to be put to sleep as her quality of life would not be great.
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