Percy's unknown skin lesion

[MaryRobinson]

Seems only yesterday I was posting on here about Percy's baby habits... Now he's 1 yr 10 months and a senior ham!

I'm a bit concerned as just over a week ago, I spotted a small round scab under his chin as he had a drink. It looked like an injury - very odd as there's nothing sharp in his detolf but I sanded and checked every inch to make sure there's nothing sharp; the only thing I could find was the corner of his granite roof which I smoothed off more. The scab is about 4mm round and dry, no pus or blood. He's a wriggler but I can't feel a lump under it - just scabby. He's perfectly well, runs like the clappers all night, still stuffs that cheek full and I haven't seen him scratch it at all. There's only that one scab.

One and a half weeks later, it's still there - no bigger; possibly a tiny bit smaller (is that wishful thinking?!). But I'm really worried as our last-but-1 ham had skin cancer (she was a P@H rescue so no surprise..) Percy is a pedigree ham so I'm hoping it's not that same thing - it hasn't changed in a week like Dora's did.

Terrible thing is...we just booked a holiday. I was worried about leaving him as a senior ham but he loves my friend who is often here and she'll look after him so well. I literally found the scab the night we booked our holiday!! But now I'm worried he'll deteriorate when we are away. Do you think I should ask our vet for metacam for him if the scab doesn't disappear in another week? Should I take him to the vet before we go? Obviously I will if it changes but for now, I'm in limbo and I feel so guilty that we will be leaving the little guy for a week...

[Ria P]

For your own peace of mind, why don't you get him checked out by your vet. That way anything that may need treatment will get diagnosed and you will be able to enjoy your holiday without worrying about Percy.

[Pebbles82]

Hello Mary! I can't believe Percy is an older ham now . Does he seem ok in himself? When do you go on holiday? If he seems ok in himself, then if it is something serious there isn't much they would do at his age apart from keep him comfortable and give metacam so it's a tricky one.

It'll be upheaval for him going to your friend's house but he'll settle there. One thing I'd suggest is having a phone call or two with him If your friend doesn't mind. I vowed to do that if I ever left a hamster with someone again - just so they hear your voice. We left Charlie somewhere for 10 days and that is a long time for a hamster - I think he'd adapted to never seeing us again and was quite stressed on his return. After that I've either had a petsitter coming to the house (worked well) or taken the hamster with us (holiday let). But if I did leave them at someone's house again I would arrange for a phone call or two - a familiar voice to reassure them.

As to whether to go to the vets. It's up to you really. If he is well in himself then it would probably be fine to wait till you get back. If there is time it could be an idea to take him and get some metacam. But if he's not showing signs of pain or discomfort he'd probably be fine without it.

I think you will worry if you don't take him to the vets before you go away. Timing wise though he'll probably need a few days to settle after the vet visit before he goes to your friend's house. So if timing is tight I'd wait till you get back - if he seems fine in himself or it's extra stress and upheaval.

Just read back and you say he's acting fine! He doesn't sound in pain. So I would wait till you get back. He could have caught it on something. If it was something like skin cancer there isn't much you can do. And you would know if it started to bother him.

One thought - have you checked his nails? They can get overgrown as they get older - he could be scratching it maybe? Do you have a photo of the scab?

[MaryRobinson]

Thanks guys! Good thing is, my lovely friend is going to house-sit for us so Percy won't even have to leave his beloved Detolf... so minimal upheaval for him.

We are off in 2 weeks, which is why I'm getting jumpy! Percy is fine, very much himself, just with a scab. (Will post pic). I always worry a vet visit in day(i.e. night!) time would stress him out as he is a definite creature of habit. I think I've decided to watch it for another week and if there's any change to the scab (except for getting smaller) or his behaviour, i'll take him to the nice exotics vet here next week. After that, he'll probably be delighted to see the back of me for a bit!!

I've bought in baby food, written my friend an emergency food plan in case he goes downhill when we are away and will set up a travel cage before we go, just in case. Hopefully by planning for it, it won't be needed!

Good point re.nails. He's a little monkey; he would rather sit sideways for his bottle than sit on the nice stone in front and does avoid his granite roof by walking IN his bowl to cross it so he is a bit of an avoider of all things nail-wearing! He still digs in his sand bath at least but I have noticed his back nails are a little longer than they used to be. I will monitor them.

Senior hams are such a worry, aren't they...!! (Meanwhile, Percy is probably party-planning for the moment we go away lol!)

[Pebbles82]

If you're not going for a couple of weeks then it could be an idea to take him to the vet now - especially as he can stay in his detolf! Reason being, if she does prescribe meds (eg a week of antibiotics) you can get those over with before you go. It would be tricky and worrying to expect someone else to get antibiotics into him successfully. If they prescribe metacam as well that's less of an issue as not drastic if a dose is only partly taken or missed and tastes nice so easy to mix in with baby food. Whereas the full dose of antibiotic is important (and harder to get them to take).

Also at the same time you could ask them to clip his nails (if they need clipping!) and kill two birds with one stone. And he'll still have a good week to adjust after the vet visit with you around, before you go away.

I suspect they will probably prescribe baytril and metacam just to see if either work - which is fairly standard when they don't know what it is. Just in case it's infection or as an antiflammatory. But I may be wrong - they may just prescribe metacam or nothing at all.

I took our first hamster to have his nails clipped by the vet when he was about 2 I think - after that I did it myself but it took a LONG time - about two weeks! I'd get one nail clipped every time he was out of cage (holding them didn't work for me - just surreptitiously snipped one while he was distracted eating something). And I find it a bit tricky even now - wear two pairs of glasses so I can see them clearly and don't cut the quick!

Anyway maybe his nails don't need clipping! Yes it's an upheaval going to the vets and can stress them but he should settle again in a few days and definitely in a week I'd say. Especially if you know a good vet who is nice with him and handles him nicely.

Latterly I took to making vet visits as least stressful as possible by taking everything but the kitchen sink with me!

Hamster would be in the Ferplast Aladino. But rather than being taken out of there and plonked on a table and them not liking that, I also took a RUB box with me - about 30cm high and 50 x 40 ish. With a hemp mat in the base of it, a couple of toys and a tunnel and some food and treats to put in it.

Then I would put that on the vet table, take the hamster out of the pet carrier myself and into the rub playpen type box and let him run around in there and enjoy the treats and food. Distracts them completely from the whole clinical thing and it was actually helpful for the vet to see him in action as well and get a good view of what's what without picking him up.

Of course she did need to pick him up at some point to examine him but by then he'd chilled a bit! And went back into the taming box afterwards enjoyed that, and I didn't put him back in the pet carrier again until I was ready to leave - and did it myself.

Also in the pet carrier I use a fuzzbutts snooze cube! As a house. It just fits, on top of the substrate. All our hamsters have loved those as a cozy hide and tend to be in it when getting to the vets. So easy to get them out without them hiding at the bottom or feeling grabbed by a hand. You just lift the snooze cube out with the hamster in and put it down in the taming box and they just walk out - very civilised!

However those snooze cubes have a second exit at one corner they can get out of and fall so I close that off with a bulldog clip so there's only the one entrance. Something similar might do.

It makes the whole thing a much more pleasant and less stressful experience. I get some surprised looks carrying the taming box in and a bag with all the bits in and setting it up (only takes a few seconds) and having to say to the vet - do you mind if I just put him in here first - they just accept it.

They just sleep in the pet carrier on the car journey sometimes and I don't think that's a stress for them really - just out of cage experience! It's the homer snooze cube (the mini one - good size for syrians - not the larger ones for rats).

Fuzzbutt mini Snooze Cube fleece house for your mouse,hamster,degu,glider

[Pebbles82]

Just to add - I usually cut off the hanging rings by cutting off the cloth tags they're attached to at the seams - never had a hamster get caught in the rings yet as I haven't hung them in the cage - just use them for out of cage time (and they do love them) - but I still cut them off anyway. You can see the second exit on the photos - in the seam of a back corner - I just clip that closed with the bulldog clip (bulldog clip stays on it in the pet carrier and until we get home).

Doing this was really important, I felt, with a couple of elderly sick hamsters - who were still active. Without seeing them active and running around the vet would just have seen the ailments and not their level of activity. That made quite a difference in one case - with our robo. When she saw the large lump she was immediately thinking pts because of it affecting his mobility. But when she saw him running around she could see how he worked around the mobility issue himself. He literally tucked the lump under him with his paws when climbing onto something.

[MaryRobinson]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

If you're not going for a couple of weeks then it could be an idea to take him to the vet now - especially as he can stay in his detolf! Reason being, if she does prescribe meds (eg a week of antibiotics) you can get those over with before you go. It would be tricky and worrying to expect someone else to get antibiotics into him successfully. If they prescribe metacam as well that's less of an issue as not drastic if a dose is only partly taken or missed and tastes nice so easy to mix in with baby food. Whereas the full dose of antibiotic is important (and harder to get them to take).

Also at the same time you could ask them to clip his nails (if they need clipping!) and kill two birds with one stone. And he'll still have a good week to adjust after the vet visit with you around, before you go away.

I suspect they will probably prescribe baytril and metacam just to see if either work - which is fairly standard when they don't know what it is. Just in case it's infection or as an antiflammatory. But I may be wrong - they may just prescribe metacam or nothing at all.

I took our first hamster to have his nails clipped by the vet when he was about 2 I think - after that I did it myself but it took a LONG time - about two weeks! I'd get one nail clipped every time he was out of cage (holding them didn't work for me - just surreptitiously snipped one while he was distracted eating something). And I find it a bit tricky even now - wear two pairs of glasses so I can see them clearly and don't cut the quick!

Anyway maybe his nails don't need clipping! Yes it's an upheaval going to the vets and can stress them but he should settle again in a few days and definitely in a week I'd say. Especially if you know a good vet who is nice with him and handles him nicely.

Latterly I took to making vet visits as least stressful as possible by taking everything but the kitchen sink with me!

Hamster would be in the Ferplast Aladino. But rather than being taken out of there and plonked on a table and them not liking that, I also took a RUB box with me - about 30cm high and 50 x 40 ish. With a hemp mat in the base of it, a couple of toys and a tunnel and some food and treats to put in it.

Then I would put that on the vet table, take the hamster out of the pet carrier myself and into the rub playpen type box and let him run around in there and enjoy the treats and food. Distracts them completely from the whole clinical thing and it was actually helpful for the vet to see him in action as well and get a good view of what's what without picking him up.

Of course she did need to pick him up at some point to examine him but by then he'd chilled a bit! And went back into the taming box afterwards enjoyed that, and I didn't put him back in the pet carrier again until I was ready to leave - and did it myself.

Also in the pet carrier I use a fuzzbutts snooze cube! As a house. It just fits, on top of the substrate. All our hamsters have loved those as a cozy hide and tend to be in it when getting to the vets. So easy to get them out without them hiding at the bottom or feeling grabbed by a hand. You just lift the snooze cube out with the hamster in and put it down in the taming box and they just walk out - very civilised!

However those snooze cubes have a second exit at one corner they can get out of and fall so I close that off with a bulldog clip so there's only the one entrance. Something similar might do.

It makes the whole thing a much more pleasant and less stressful experience. I get some surprised looks carrying the taming box in and a bag with all the bits in and setting it up (only takes a few seconds) and having to say to the vet - do you mind if I just put him in here first - they just accept it.

They just sleep in the pet carrier on the car journey sometimes and I don't think that's a stress for them really - just out of cage experience! It's the homer snooze cube (the mini one - good size for syrians - not the larger ones for rats).

Fuzzbutt mini Snooze Cube fleece house for your mouse,hamster,degu,glider

Hehehe "Fuzzbutt"... never heard of them... Wow, thanks so much for this! I've now shared the phot with our vet who was lovely and it looks as though the scab has come off now. She thinks it was just a scrape and I"m inclined to agree; it looks tons better and now is just a little hairless patch. I can't think what he poked it on but he does zoom around like a mad thing and I've seen him bash into stuff in his playpen before now so I'm not hugely surprised!

When we go away I'll leave a similar set up as you describe in case he needs a vet trip but i'm hoping it looks like he won't. I use a medium plastic box without a lid and then fit a wire cooling rack from the kitchen which sits on the top and can be tied on; in it I put Percy's little square cardboard box which he uses when he's out in his playpen and smells right... and lots of his substrate and treats etc. But now I've seen Fuzzbutts, I may be investing in one of those cubes! They're great, thanks very much.

[MaryRobinson]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Just to add - I usually cut off the hanging rings by cutting off the cloth tags they're attached to at the seams - never had a hamster get caught in the rings yet as I haven't hung them in the cage - just use them for out of cage time (and they do love them) - but I still cut them off anyway. You can see the second exit on the photos - in the seam of a back corner - I just clip that closed with the bulldog clip (bulldog clip stays on it in the pet carrier and until we get home).

Doing this was really important, I felt, with a couple of elderly sick hamsters - who were still active. Without seeing them active and running around the vet would just have seen the ailments and not their level of activity. That made quite a difference in one case - with our robo. When she saw the large lump she was immediately thinking pts because of it affecting his mobility. But when she saw him running around she could see how he worked around the mobility issue himself. He literally tucked the lump under him with his paws when climbing onto something.

Good point. Yes, i'll cut off the rings too; Percy's in a Detolf in any case so there's no need for them. Thanks again for the top tip!

[Pebbles82]

I don't use them inside the cage - just in case they get chewed. But they are brilliant for getting them out of the cage. All our syrians have enjoyed them and they just walk into them and you lift it out of the cage with them in. Then they walk out of them on the sofa for sofa time - but go back in them now and again for a wash. Much more civilised than being picked up by a hand in the cage or being tempted into a tube!

I have sometimes left them in the cage when they are very old (not hanging, just sitting) and not likely to be chewed. It worked wonders with our older robo who was virtually impossible to get out of the cage - but he'd walk into that.

Also a good way of transferring them somewhere.

Glad the scab is sorted!

[MaryRobinson]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

I don't use them inside the cage - just in case they get chewed. But they are brilliant for getting them out of the cage. All our syrians have enjoyed them and they just walk into them and you lift it out of the cage with them in. Then they walk out of them on the sofa for sofa time - but go back in them now and again for a wash. Much more civilised than being picked up by a hand in the cage or being tempted into a tube!

I have sometimes left them in the cage when they are very old (not hanging, just sitting) and not likely to be chewed. It worked wonders with our older robo who was virtually impossible to get out of the cage - but he'd walk into that.

Also a good way of transferring them somewhere.

Glad the scab is sorted!

They sounds like a much more civilised taxi than Percy currently has (square tissue box!) Thanks!