[Coco61]

So to what I hope will be part of Mocho's legacy.
All that happened to him over Cushings is on his thread but I thought I could summarise it so that it can be found more easily. I hope those interested in hamster illness as well as owners who have to deal with this, can ask vets about it. It is just a question of spreading knowledge. I make no pretence to any vet's knowledge nor am I promising a cure.

The first sign in Mocho was fur loss on his lower back but not around the scent glands. My vet performed a blood test. This carries risk because a hamster needs a whiff of gas. The blood test is to check for the level of cortisol. This is the stress hormone and the pituitary gland over produces cortisol, thus Cushings. Any mammal can suffer from this.
For a hamster, normal is a reading of 25 in the blood. Mocho was 47. The vet has seen over 100. So he was highly likely to have Cushings. The vet will not do a second blood test after medication to see if the level has reduced as too risky. I assume that with a dog say, this would be done.
The medication was the dog one. One capsule of VETORYL was broken open and the powder emptied into a medicine bottle. This must be diluted with 9mls of water. Then one drop a day. Each bottle lasts a month. So once the expensive blood test has been done, the treatment is very cheap. In Mocho's case, all the typical symptoms were kept at bay. His fur re grew over the bald patch.
This treatment will not help if the cause of the malfunction of the pituitary gland is a tumour growing and pressing on it.
My vet is Matthew, the senior vet at CJ Hall in East Sheen. I know they are always willing to speak to other vets for second opinions. Contact details on their website.

I hope this will help others as it is a distressing condition.

Error Alert!

Re reading my description of Cushings, I realise I have made a basic error. Cortisol is produce by the adrenal gland not the pituitary gland and Cushings is the result of overproduction.
The treatment will not help when there is a tumour pressing on the pituitary gland which results in the wrong messages being sent to the adrenal gland.