Cancer maybe?

[Mandi4Hams]

So about a week ago my hamsters weight seemed to balloon which I decided to just watch for now and keep an eye on his food.

This morning during playtime I realised that it wasn't so much fat but a lump so straight a way I booked in a trip to the vets and he's said that he reckons it's cancer but as a 2 year old who seems in no pain at all he thinks the best course is to do nothing and just keep an eye on him. They've given him a month

Has anyone had this with your hamsters? Did you just wait it out? Should I see another vet or just let him see out his life peacefully?

[BrainGirl]

I have been through this and internal tumours will be difficult if not impossible to remove. Plus at his age surgery will be risky. If he even survives, his recovery will be slow and difficult. Personally, I would just fill his last days with love and peace. And maybe a few treats along the way

[Shannonmcn]

Tumors in rodents are awful I think, personally, if they're eating and drinking okay and aren't visibly uncomfortable you can let them have their twilight days comfy and happy. If there comes a point where thats not true anymore then you're doing a great kindness helping them over the bridge.

Sorry about your little one, it's not a nice thing to have to gauge their quality of life

[Thin Lizzy]

I agree with BG & Shannon.
Keep a close eye to make sure he's eating & drinking. Ensure he has extra bedding for comfort.
Operating would be risky because of his age, I know the vet has said a month but you can't really guess this so ensure you treat everyday with lots of extra cuddles and talk.

[Avocado]

Hello,

We lost one of our Syrian's to tumours this week. She was very young (only 4 months) and our first sign was she stopped playing a week ago. We didn't know if it was cancerous or not, the vet just told us it was a 'large mass' with lots of smaller clusters. She would have had these from birth.

Anyway, I would just say, I am sorry for your news. I know some hammies can live a healthy happy life with slow growing benign tumours, so just fill her time with cuddles, treats and play. We did this for our girl who didn't have long at all, before helping her to rest peacefully. They will let you know when they want to go. Best of luck xxx

[kyrilliondaemon]

I agree with the others. We've had multiple pets with cancer, we have mice with it at the moment and sometimes waiting it out really is the best option They can surprise you though, a few weeks ago we thought we'd be making that final vet visit with a mouse, its been a few weeks now and she's still going strong. Its really, really tough to judge and hopefully your ham has a lot longer than the vet thought

[Thin Lizzy]

Avocado, sorry to hear you lost your hamster to cancer this week. xx

[Snowz]

So sorry to hear about your hamster. My snow had lumps on both of her sides. She wasn't active and only came out of her bed for food and water. I wasn't sure what it was and thought maybe she had a little more weight than usual. I guess that is what Snow had and she sadly passed away.

[Mandi4Hams]

Originally Posted by Snowz

So sorry to hear about your hamster. My snow had lumps on both of her sides. She wasn't active and only came out of her bed for food and water. I wasn't sure what it was and thought maybe she had a little more weight than usual. I guess that is what Snow had and she sadly passed away.

That sounds exactly the same as Chester... It's been about 5 weeks now since the lumps really grew big and he spends most guys time sleeping but when he's out playing on my bed our in his play pen you wouldn't know anything wrong.... It's so confusing! I even caught him using his wheel last night for the first time in months. I'm trying not to get my hopes up because his lumps are so big now but he seems happy(ish)

He did bite me for the first time ever the other day. Completely out of the blue.

[BrainGirl]

He could be feeling some discomfort and that caused him to turn on anything handy, which unfortunately was you this time