[Ria P]

I took Ozzy to the vet last month to get his scent gland checked because it was blocked and for a general check up. The vet confirmed that it was not infected and that Ozzy was fine. My regular vet wasn't available and this one was more of a horse/livestock vet i think.

This month Ozzy started to look a bit dishevelled and his skin looked dry and flaky. He didn't itch and scratch excessively and still doesn't. I brushed him and cleaned his scent gland but his skin didn't improve and got worse within the past couple of weeks. I suspected a reaction to Demodex mites which live on hamsters naturally but hamsters can react to them as they get older or have underlying health issues. My regular vet was booked for the whole week but i didn't want to wait that long so took him to another yesterday. As it turned out, this lady knows about hamsters.
Ozzy was very grumpy and looked uncomfortable. The vet told me that lymphoma is the most common underlying cause of hamsters ailments like skin conditions, hairloss and can trigger an allergic reaction to Demodex. Ozzy doesn't have bald patches but he's a very fluffy hamster so gradual hairloss would not be that obvious.
She prescribed two treatments of ivermectin drops and daily metacam in case he's in pain with a follow up appt in a week.

I feel bad now for not taking him to the vet as soon as i noticed dry skin but Ozzy is a hamster who does get stressed when out of his cage and in an unfamiliar environment which made me hesitant. Bad call but can't change that now. Just another lesson learned going forward.

He loves the metacam and eagerly licks it off the syringe. I only have to locate him in his cage but don't have to take him out which is a great help.