[Pebbles82]

It’s just a different antibiotic with a broader spectrum in case the first one didn’t work or the infection was resistant to it. I understand your concern - it would be good to have a diagnosis before giving more meds - ie know what they’re treating. But it’s very common with hamsters that they find it hard to give a clear diagnosis so they tend to try treating infection and if it works it was infection - if it doesn’t work it’s probably cancer.

If they suspect something like infected ovaries or womb and want to rule that out then I can understand them trying a different antibiotic. But I think a good exotic vet would look at the whole picture in deciding whether or not it’s likely to be infection. Having said that my vet was prepared to try a different antibiotic with Pickle’s head swelling of the first one didn’t work but ultimately she was sure it was cancer and felt he shouldn’t suffer any more (as I did too when he went downhill). But the difference there was he’d already had diagnosed cancer before.

So you have a couple of options. You could go with this vet and try the different antibiotics or you could get another opinion with another exotic vet and see about a scan and diagnosis possibly. But that could cause delays as well. Is the current vet an exotic vet and how is your hamster’s condition? Is she acting fine and seeming fairly happy apart from the swelling?

I know with Moo my exotic vet took one look at the lump and knew it was a mammary tumour straight away. And it was a case of just Metacam and keep him happy. He showed no signs of illness or discomfort until just before he went. But a lump at the side could be slightly different.

The third option you have is do nothing for a while and see what happens. If she starts to be unwell that might be the time to try the second antibiotic. But if she stays well in herself it’s most likely a tumour. And it will be more of a slow decline.

I would want to be giving Metacam in any event in case she’s in any pain. Moo was quite happy on that and then just went in a couple of days.

I don’t really think anything you do right now would be wrong. I wouldn’t worry about her kidneys if she has something wrong- I’m not sure antibiotics affect kidneys anyway.

So you could

1) Try these antibiotics. If they don’t work you know it’s probably a tumour.
2). Do nothing for now and see if she shows signs of infection like staggering and seeming unwell
3) Get another opinion