Very Worried

[Teacake]

i'm very worried about my little Syrian boy ,Griddly Bear .
On Friday night when everyone came out for playtime and cuddles he was nowhere to be seen i just thought he was having a bit of a lay in even though he is usually monkey bar-ing like there is no tomorrow.
On Saturday morning i was a bit worried so i woke him up and he didn't seem himself also his stomach seemed a bit swollen (he is normally quite sleek looking ) i kept an eye on him yesterday waking him up every now and then and he was much the same once he was awake he pottered abut a bit but nothing like his usual self, last night his stomach seemed a lot more swollen ( he now looks pregnant) and he was very lethargic so i took his cage upstairs with me to bed so i could keep an eye on him during the night im a light sleeper and he didnt stir at all.
After a sleepless night i called the emergency vet about 5 am this morning i explained his symptoms and said i wanted to bring him in she advised what it may be - tumour ( im hoping this isn'-t the case as the swelling was quite sudden) . heart or liver problems and that as it would cost £160 plus any treatment i would be better off bringing him in tomorrow as whatever he had it wasnt going to make a difference as he was eating and drinking normally
after a bit of reassurance from the vet i agreed,
now i'm not so sure what if it does make a difference ? (the money isn't an issue )' should i insist he gets seen today ?
has anyone else had a hamster with these symptoms ? or know anything about heart or liver disease in hamsters ?
advice and opinions appreciated
x
sorry this is a bit rambly

[souffle]

I am sorry to hear your little one is poorly. With these symptoms it could be a number of things. Have you made any diet changes/ bedding changes lately? It could be a digestive upset or blockage due to infection or a tumour in the bowel. Sometimes in a younger hammy these are operable but it is risky but with a young one I personally would give it a go if the vet thought it was this. If you use the fluffy bedding (not recommended) he could have it impacted in the bowel causing a blockage. This is very serious and he is unlikely to make it with this I am sorry to say. Some tumours are slow growing and the hammies can toddle along to ripe old age and suffer no real ill effect apart from the swollen tum. Kidney and liver failure can result in fluid building up in the tummy. The pressure on the other organs can make the hamster quite ill. Another possibility is a fall could have caused some bruising internally (you say he monkey bars). Can you see any bruising under the skin? They usually recover with rest from this. He does need to be seen by a vet and if you can take him first thing tommorrow I think that would be OK unless he takes a turn for the worse. Some things are not treatable unfortunatly. Does he have any diarrhoea, can you see any normal poops and is he weeing OK? Are there any other lumps on him anywhere in the skin or anything? This info will help the vet make a diagnosis. I hope he gets better soon and please let us know if we can help anymore and tell us how he does. Everything is crossed for him.

[Spuds Mum]

Oh poor wee man Souffle seems to have covered most of the things that I would say, and I would take him to the vets at the earliest opportunity tomorrow.
Sending all best wishes to you and Griddly Bear x

[suga]

Hope the vet has some positive news. keep us posted.

[Teacake]

Hi,
thanks for the replies everyone x
i havent changed his diet at all he has p@h premium hamster museli with porridge oats mixed in and the usual veg and a bit of fruit and baby food , he has paper bedding , ive checked for bruising and i cant see any , hes in a gabber so he doesnt have far to fall ( i know this is still possible tho ) he is weeing ok but i havent seen poops which makes me think its some kind of blockage ? also one side of his tummy feels harder than the other although both side are swollen. He doesn't have any other lumps anywhere else.
i have woken him up a few times today and he has a some porridge and took some food out of his food bowl he doesnt seem to be drinking though so i gave him some cucumber which he pouched and took back to bed. ( ive rubbed cucumber on his water bottle spout too )
i will keep an eye on him and if he gets worse i'll ring the vet again and take him in tonight if not it will be first thing in the morning.
i'll let you know what happens..
fingers crossed
xxxx

[pophammy]

Could be constipation Teacake though this is not common really. I hope he get on well at the vets. Everything is crossed for him. Our Runty had an abdominal tumour and we had to massage his tummy to help him poop. Gently rub in the direction of his bot stroking towards it. It always worked and he would do about 20 at once It was the least we could do and he lived till over 3. The vet may be able to feel the problem. Good luck little man. I am thinking of you.

[Teacake]

I took Griddly to the vets this morning and she said he didn't look good and that they could investigate further but they probably couldn't do anything to help him,
i couldn't just give up on him without doing anything so i left him at the vets for X-rays, they called me a couple of hours later and said that he had a mass at the right hand side of his bowel and that the center of it had started to breakdown and was now gas ( i think this is why he suddenly got swollen ) and that they best thing for him was to put him to sleep ,.
i said i would think about it on the way back up there.
i was fully prepared to tell them to operate until i saw the X-rays, the lump was huge and the vet said he probably wouldn't even survive the surgery let along recover afterwards and he had gone downhill since i had left him there and was hunched over and looked in pain.
i had taken some of his favorite porridge with baby egg custard mixed in and he licked some off the end of my finger and we gave him lots of cuddles then let the vet take him to be PTS ( i wasn't allowed to be with him for health and safety reasons )
we brought him home and sat with him on my lap for a while.
i have buried him in the garden next to a lovely rose bush
i hope i did the right thing for him, i couldn't bear to see him suffer .
thanks to everyone for the kind words and thoughts
x

[Spuds Mum]

Oh I am so sorry to hear this, but in my view, hard though it was for you, you did do the right thing for poor Griddly Bear. He would thank you for it I am sure, and the fact that you brought him his favourite treat before he went is a lovely thing to do.

Big hugs to you, and sleep well Griddly Bear xx

[BatKat]

Oh Teacake i'm so very sorry. You did your best For Griddly Bear and he knew you loved him. In the end though the choice was taken from you . Sleep well Little Griddly, play at the rainbow bridge.

If it's any consolation we went through the same thing with our Freddie 2 weeks ago and his tumour grew almost overnight. Hamsters are very intelligent and can tell us when they need to go to Hamster Heaven. Griddly told you and he is now up on the bridge happily playing with all the other hammies .

Take care X

[souffle]

I am so sorry Teacake. Griddly was so much loved and his little character made a huge impact on your lives. You gave him the greatest gift of all when you gave him peaceful rest. It was a privilige to know him and his memory will be treasured forever. My thoughts are with you.
Play well at the bridge little Griddly bear.