Hey all,
I haven't been online for a while but some of you may remember my hamster Custard had surgery a few months ago to remove a malignant tumor from his back.
He recovered really well from this and has had no issues up until about 3 weeks ago.
I was holding him and his tummy felt more prominent than usual - not swollen but like he had eaten a lot. I thought maybe he is just gaining some weight because he loves to eat but sleeps a lot more now that he's an old man. Over the next couple of weeks I noticed he looked like he was slowly getting fatter and tummy felt like it was ballooning. He looks like a lightbulb!
Although he has been doing all normal activities and eating/drinking/pooping fine I booked him in for an urgent vet appointment.
The vet palpated his tummy and he was fine to let her touch and poke him with no issues. She listened to his heart (where he promptly tried to chew the stethoscope and was scolded!
) and said it sounds fine.
Her main suspicions at this point seem to be either: some kind of internal cyst causing excess fluid or, beginnings of renal failure due to old age. She doesn't think it is at all related to his previous tumor.
Custard is booked for an xray on Thursday as the vet couldn't feel any prominent swellings or abnormalities, just lots of fluid. She also said she can possibly drain a sample of fluid to see what comes out.
A compounded diuretic has been ordered in from their emergency hospital but she said this will only provide significant relief if it is some kind of heart/organ failure and not a cyst.
Hopefully this xray will shed some more light on what's causing this, but I'm worried because he is almost 2 and a half now.
If anyone else has had their senior hammies diagnosed with a similar condition I would really appreciate hearing what you decided to do in terms of course of treatment.
Although old, fat and lazy Custard still enjoys hamstery things and has a sprightly curiosity for anything interesting or food related.
I don't want to give up if he still has fight left in him.