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kesaiserris · 02-27-2019, 08:16 AM

So I will start by giving my data. I am trying to see if there are any common factors it has nothing to do with judgement of care.

1. Syrian
2. Shredded paper and plain toilet paper for her nesting material and some sort of compressed paper/pellet substrate.
3. A glass water bowl because she chewed through everything pertaining to the water bottle. We changed the water daily and more if needed. As we have multiple glass bowls of the same type we washed them in the dishwasher.
4. Oasis Vita-Drops
5. Tiny Farm Friends Hamster food. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any good quality hamster food in Sweden not even online (they don't ship here). I have been so disappointed with the food selection that I have considered making my own hamster food mixes.
6. I offered fresh vegetables several times a week such as bok choy, kale, spinach, cucumbers, carrots, celery leaves. I offered fresh fruit 1 to 2 times a week such as mango, apples, grapes, kiwi, blueberries, cherries. I offered a nut once a week such as cashews, walnuts, peanuts, pecans, hazelnuts. I offered her a vegetarian doggie treat once a week Trixie brand. She also received Whimzees toothbrush chews to help with her teeth. Very rarely she had VitaKraft drops. Sometimes she got a tiny bit of carrot juice (only carrots, fresh).
7. I never gave her hay. She received oats several times a week. Quinoa and rice rarely, sometimes Paulun's sugar free cereals
8. Cherries, cashews, oats, mango, any leafy veg, carrot juice
9. Yes she maintained her weight very well
10. She has only tried kefir one time to help with tummy troubles (related to her current condition). She refuses to eat meat or meal worms. She has never eaten an egg but I will try today a little piece of boiled egg. I usually remove the corn from her mixes because I believe corn causes cancer (it has been shown to do so in rats) and quite frankly they use way too much corn in mixes. Sometimes she did get plain popcorn but not often. I gave her fruit which contains sugar of course and carrots. She does not eat bread.
11. In her youth Stella was very active. She could not eve sit still for a cuddle. As she got older she would sit for longer snuggle periods. She never ran on a wheel try as I might she adamantly refused. She ran around safe rooms in the house, her cage, a ball (though she didn't like confined running in general) and she loved loved climbing!
12. We don't have carpets. We don't have issues with drafts or mold. I have super sensitive skin myself so we can't use harsh cleaners and I don't use a lot of products. As a family we avoid aggravating scents like cedar etc. She did, however, escape a few times once for 3 days. She got into the insulation, chewed up some wrapping paper, seems to have just eaten the food I left, seems to have only drank the water I left but obviously I can't be sure what she might have picked up. She was not sick when we found her but she had cut her paws on the insulation where she was hiding. I do have a child and everyone in my family is prone to respiratory ailments. I have chronic year round allergies. We live in the country so pollen.
13. She used the sandbox as a potty for both peeing and pooping which was on the opposite side of her bed and opposite to her food dish. She did sometimes bath in the sand that she did her business in so she would sometimes smell like urine. She always kept her nails and teeth trimmed. She groomed herself but whenever ill that was almost always the first thing she stopped doing. She never pooped or peed on us and tried never to do it outside of her cage but sometimes she did potty in her own bed. She was usually excellent about keeping her water bowl clean and still is actually.
14. She had an accident at 3 months where she fell and knocked out 3 of her 4 incisors. They grew back and she was able to eat properly and to keep them trimmed so as much as we freaked out over it, she ended up being just fine. She has had 2 respiratory infections. One she recovered from in the normal length of time and the last one took her more than 2 weeks and occurred right before she developed pyometra. Prior to that my husband had suffered from a very vicious bout of bronchitis and although he did not handle her while ill we still believe she may have contracted it as their symptoms were so much the same and the recovery time was the same.
15. I believe hers was every 3 days. She smelled more strongly than another female hamster I owned for sure. From the very beginning we were very surprised by her musk. I have no idea if she might have been effected by my hormones because I had menorrhagia and had terrible hormonal imbalances. I have since had a hysterectomy but I worry that my hormones somehow might have affected her.
16. She was never pregnant.
17. My hamster is extremely loving, very curious, smarter than any hamster I have ever previously owned, and she listens surprisingly well to instructions. She is rarely grumpy. Does not bite when sick or when woken up. Is exceedingly patient. Is optimistic and highly determined. She does not startle easily and calms quickly. She will seek out her human companions for comfort and protection when possible. She is trusting so much so that when she injured her paws she actually offered them to me so I could inspect them and clean the blood for her. She will even choose to eat on my lap.
18. 20 months. She is currently alive. We were only given antibiotics. Nothing not even euthanasia was offered. I do not think the local vets have any clue about hamster care. Right now she is on a special diet containing foods to fight infection, reduce inflammation and hopefully pain, balance hormonal levels, and shrink tumors encase she has a uterine tumor instead of pyometra. The symptoms are so much the same I honestly don't know which diagnosis is the right one.
19. Because she was sick with another condition right before we were letting her recuperate and because my husband was so very sick we didn't want to expose her unnecessarily to anything so I feel sadly that in trying to protect her from one thing that we might have missed earlier warning signs like discharge. I do feel that her current symptoms match up with either pyometra or a uterine tumor.

02-27-2019, 08:16 AM
kesaiserris Newborn Pup Join Date: Jan 2018 Posts: 42	Re: Pyometra Questionnaire So I will start by giving my data. I am trying to see if there are any common factors it has nothing to do with judgement of care. 1. Syrian 2. Shredded paper and plain toilet paper for her nesting material and some sort of compressed paper/pellet substrate. 3. A glass water bowl because she chewed through everything pertaining to the water bottle. We changed the water daily and more if needed. As we have multiple glass bowls of the same type we washed them in the dishwasher. 4. Oasis Vita-Drops 5. Tiny Farm Friends Hamster food. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find any good quality hamster food in Sweden not even online (they don't ship here). I have been so disappointed with the food selection that I have considered making my own hamster food mixes. 6. I offered fresh vegetables several times a week such as bok choy, kale, spinach, cucumbers, carrots, celery leaves. I offered fresh fruit 1 to 2 times a week such as mango, apples, grapes, kiwi, blueberries, cherries. I offered a nut once a week such as cashews, walnuts, peanuts, pecans, hazelnuts. I offered her a vegetarian doggie treat once a week Trixie brand. She also received Whimzees toothbrush chews to help with her teeth. Very rarely she had VitaKraft drops. Sometimes she got a tiny bit of carrot juice (only carrots, fresh). 7. I never gave her hay. She received oats several times a week. Quinoa and rice rarely, sometimes Paulun's sugar free cereals 8. Cherries, cashews, oats, mango, any leafy veg, carrot juice 9. Yes she maintained her weight very well 10. She has only tried kefir one time to help with tummy troubles (related to her current condition). She refuses to eat meat or meal worms. She has never eaten an egg but I will try today a little piece of boiled egg. I usually remove the corn from her mixes because I believe corn causes cancer (it has been shown to do so in rats) and quite frankly they use way too much corn in mixes. Sometimes she did get plain popcorn but not often. I gave her fruit which contains sugar of course and carrots. She does not eat bread. 11. In her youth Stella was very active. She could not eve sit still for a cuddle. As she got older she would sit for longer snuggle periods. She never ran on a wheel try as I might she adamantly refused. She ran around safe rooms in the house, her cage, a ball (though she didn't like confined running in general) and she loved loved climbing! 12. We don't have carpets. We don't have issues with drafts or mold. I have super sensitive skin myself so we can't use harsh cleaners and I don't use a lot of products. As a family we avoid aggravating scents like cedar etc. She did, however, escape a few times once for 3 days. She got into the insulation, chewed up some wrapping paper, seems to have just eaten the food I left, seems to have only drank the water I left but obviously I can't be sure what she might have picked up. She was not sick when we found her but she had cut her paws on the insulation where she was hiding. I do have a child and everyone in my family is prone to respiratory ailments. I have chronic year round allergies. We live in the country so pollen. 13. She used the sandbox as a potty for both peeing and pooping which was on the opposite side of her bed and opposite to her food dish. She did sometimes bath in the sand that she did her business in so she would sometimes smell like urine. She always kept her nails and teeth trimmed. She groomed herself but whenever ill that was almost always the first thing she stopped doing. She never pooped or peed on us and tried never to do it outside of her cage but sometimes she did potty in her own bed. She was usually excellent about keeping her water bowl clean and still is actually. 14. She had an accident at 3 months where she fell and knocked out 3 of her 4 incisors. They grew back and she was able to eat properly and to keep them trimmed so as much as we freaked out over it, she ended up being just fine. She has had 2 respiratory infections. One she recovered from in the normal length of time and the last one took her more than 2 weeks and occurred right before she developed pyometra. Prior to that my husband had suffered from a very vicious bout of bronchitis and although he did not handle her while ill we still believe she may have contracted it as their symptoms were so much the same and the recovery time was the same. 15. I believe hers was every 3 days. She smelled more strongly than another female hamster I owned for sure. From the very beginning we were very surprised by her musk. I have no idea if she might have been effected by my hormones because I had menorrhagia and had terrible hormonal imbalances. I have since had a hysterectomy but I worry that my hormones somehow might have affected her. 16. She was never pregnant. 17. My hamster is extremely loving, very curious, smarter than any hamster I have ever previously owned, and she listens surprisingly well to instructions. She is rarely grumpy. Does not bite when sick or when woken up. Is exceedingly patient. Is optimistic and highly determined. She does not startle easily and calms quickly. She will seek out her human companions for comfort and protection when possible. She is trusting so much so that when she injured her paws she actually offered them to me so I could inspect them and clean the blood for her. She will even choose to eat on my lap. 18. 20 months. She is currently alive. We were only given antibiotics. Nothing not even euthanasia was offered. I do not think the local vets have any clue about hamster care. Right now she is on a special diet containing foods to fight infection, reduce inflammation and hopefully pain, balance hormonal levels, and shrink tumors encase she has a uterine tumor instead of pyometra. The symptoms are so much the same I honestly don't know which diagnosis is the right one. 19. Because she was sick with another condition right before we were letting her recuperate and because my husband was so very sick we didn't want to expose her unnecessarily to anything so I feel sadly that in trying to protect her from one thing that we might have missed earlier warning signs like discharge. I do feel that her current symptoms match up with either pyometra or a uterine tumor.