*VET APPOINTMENT UPDATE*
Bijou went in to the vet today. This being the new vet she had never been to before, not the other one I have taken her to in the past. (as that clinic has never been super helpful/knowledgeable, despite having the most and best reviews out of the small handful of vets here willing to see hamsters)
Today, this new vet said that Bijou was too small and delicate, as well as too wriggly, for a skin scrape. So she put a piece of clear Scotch tape on Bijou’s flaky bald areas, and with a microscope slide, confirmed that Bijou had demodex mites. At first she said the mites were dead, but then said she may have seen one move. She let me look in the microscope too, I didn’t see any movement but I could see the mites as she described to me what they looked like. She then told me she would go into the back room to see how demodex mites are treated in hamsters. When she came back, she said that the drug of choice is Ivermectin, but that Ivermectin must be given every day for quite a long time. She said that she had read a new study in a Veterinary Journal, released just at the beginning of February, where a different drug was being used to treat demodex mites in a Syrian hamster, and the drug only needed to be given a couple times, unlike ivermectin. I don’t remember the name of the drug, but she said it was the same one often used for demodex in dogs and cats, in a smaller amount. She told me she was going to research more into this new study and would get back to me through email, and if it isn’t possible or she’s unable to obtain it, we would try Ivermectin. I now know demodex mites proliferate when there’s an underlying cause, so I made sure to bring up all the possibilities I could think of, and mentioned diabetes, tumours, cysts etc. She agreed that the mites may mean that there’s “something underlying.” She said that Bijou is too small for bloodwork, and too fragile and wiggly to properly palpate for tumours, but she did feel around a bit on Bijous lower stomach and said she couldn’t feel any masses or lumps. I brought up diabetes as a possibility and asked if a urine test would be helpful, as well as asking if an X-ray is needed, but she said she would look more into it and get back to me whether an X-ray is possible or useful. Honestly, I feel dumb and regretful for not collecting and bringing in the urine sample myself, but I really did think they would just do it there today, being such a basic test and often the first test vets will do...but I guess the vet wants to do more research first before doing tests. That being said, I kind of hope I don’t have to pay another $90 viewing fee if the vet does decide to have me come in again to do tests, considering today was an “I’ll get back to you” sort of thing, and if I were to come in again it would basically be a continuation of the last appointment. I don’t have a lot of money but I will do anything to help Bijou and I’d prefer to spend it on tests to find why the mites have proliferated in the first place, as well as to treat the mites themselves. This vet definitely seemed to care more about actually treating Bijou than my past vet, which was refreshing, and she listened to what I had to say and was very nice. But she told me a few times how she doesn’t know a lot about treatment of demodex in hamsters and would further research the brand new study before contacting me. This doctor I saw today wasn’t the main practitioner at the clinic, and I couldn’t help but wonder if the main vet would have been more knowledgeable, or would have done tests right then and there like I’d hoped. But since they’re associates I’d hope this vet would consult the main practitioner if she believed they could be of any advice.
The vet prescribed antibiotics for the cut on Bijous stomach, and I’ve attached a photo of the prescription here:
https://imgur.com/gallery/rpKnFNN
I’m worried if the antibiotics will cause more harm than good, or if they will even be of any use? I’m assuming Bijou is scratching the wound, which is why it hasn’t gone away. If she continues to irritate the area with scratching, I don’t think the antibiotics would be able to really heal the wound and do their thing if the area is being continuously disrupted... :•\
I’m not completely sure what to do next, I guess all I can do is wait for the vets email response and go from there. I’m planning on submitting the antibiotic prescription to the compounding pharmacy tomorrow after work, but I am still worried if antibiotics will be harmful or even helpful.
Overall I’m not really sure how to feel about today’s appointment or this new vet. I still feel pretty lost and confused, I’m glad we confirmed the demodex mites, but I hope tests will be done to get to the actual root of the mite problem. She seems just focused at the moment on treating the mites.