I could cry.......

[souffle]

Fab news and a speedy recovery for the little man. They are amazingly resilient little creatures. Our WW Gus had a lump removed from his tummy. He was transformed after the op. Whizzing around and seemed really glad to be rid of it. He lived for 9 months after his op and they were happy and comfortable and he died age nearly 2 which is a good age for a WW. The lump never came back again. I hope Paddy has the same outcome. Keep us posted.

[cornishrobos]

Thanks for all your best wishes. He's doing really well! He is a tough little cookie after what he's been through and especially as he's 19 months old now!!

I was up with him at 5 this morning putting his cage back to how he liked it. I thought last night i'd take his ball and the helter skelter out so he didn't have to climb up to the top level of his Imac and also so he didn't go running like a maniac and thought rest would be best. Well obviously not for Paddy, when I checked him after my partner got up for work at half 4, he was bar chewing, which is something he doesn't do normally and then he was climbing up the side of his puzzle playground thingy trying to reach the hole that takes him to the upstairs of his Imac. So seeing he was doing this I put everything back, except his ball (I dropped it and it broke, so he's got a silent spinner again ooops) and he was back happily mooching around upstairs and downstairs.

I think it'll be me needing the rest, not him!!

[Toria]

When my Robo was very hurt and was still very wobbly i did the same taking out the tubes to the next level on my IMAC fantasy and the wheel which was when her bar chewing started too. However she also used to climb and try and swing up to the next level through the hole
Her little sister M-O actually managed to get to the next level by swinging, i was very impressed

I'm really glad to hear he's getting better, i do hope he makes a speedy recovery asap!!!!

[cornishrobos]

Paddy went for his check up yesterday and the Vets are well impressed with him. His little scar I say little, it's about an inch long, so quite big for little Paddy is healing really well, it's just a line now with a scab over the top of it and he's still as lively as ever!!

Think he made their day when they saw him as by what the vet said, they'd had a sad day and seeing how well Paddy was made sense of the job they do!! She was going to inform the nurse that assisted with Paddys op that he was ok at check up. It's nice to think he made an impression. We were again told it could grow back but we'll cross that bridge when or if it happens (fingers crossed it doesn't).

I'm glad we made the decision to remove the lump. A colleague of mine said we were made paying for him to have the op, I didn't even warrant that with a comment. We would have paid whatever amount it was to give him a better quality of life. Some people eh?!

Anyway, again thanks for the best wishes. Much appreciated!!

[souffle]

Sounds like a great recovery and glad to hear it I'm sure his quality of life is so much better now. I have no idea how people are unwilling to spend the money needed to care for their pets. Obviously they have never had the pleasure of sharing a hammies life

[babyboos]

Gosh they would commit us if they saw our annual vet bill Food bought in 15kg sacks, bedding 20kg etc
you can't out a price on them if you truly love them

[cornishrobos]

I know.....we've spent a fortune on our hammies since getting our first 2 at the beginning of last year. We wouldn't have it any different either. They also want for nothing and have the best we can get for them, their wellbeing is the most important thing!!

[h3rne]

I'm having a similar dilemma, except Beth is the last surviving Rob from a group of three cage-sisters (who were separated early after in-fighting). Aleph and Gimmel both passed away at almost exactly 2 years old, but Beth - the feistiest (although also the longest sleeping), is still bright as a button at 2 years 5 months.

In September we noticed a large groin-lump during nail-cutting. I took her to the vet who said "probably a tumour, keep a daily eye on it and bring her back if she seems in pain, stops eating, rubs it raw or starts self-cannibalizing". I'm glad to report that none of these is yet true, and in the intervening months it has grown a little, but not as much as I'd feared. Truth be known I feel very lucky that she's still with us, as I suspected the worst was soon to come when I discovered it in September.

Anyway, I've re-fitted her cage to remove anything that might aggravate the tumour physically and compensate for her reduced mobility:

• the log-with-holes had to go because the position of the tumour made her back left leg stick straight out and I got worried about her catching it on the internal holes - replaced with similarly cut out loo-rolls which she now shoves around and chews.
• The high platforms, of which there were two, accessible either by ridged tubes or climbing the bars - both of which were difficult to do with the tumour - have been replaced by a single low platform accessible by a ramp. She also had an alarming habit of jumping from the platforms onto the top of her wheel and then paddling along the bars until she dropped off one side, usually when she had pouched the day's selection at feeding time. Probably only a fall of 6", but it looked very uncomfy, often landing on her back, despite her knowing she could descend either by climbing or down the tubes, but was clearly in too much of a hurry to get back to her food store! It seemed no bad thing that this was also stopped

It's a bit tricky to separate the slow decline in mobility due to the tumour with that due to age. She sometimes walks awkwardly on the cage litter, but still runs on her Silent Spinner (a nice smooth interior) with legs ablur. Similarly she sometimes ends up with three legs and head in the food bowl and one leg plus tumour hanging out, but not often and even then she doesn't seem distressed by it.

So here's the dilemma. She seems happy and very much herself, but the tumour is growing albeit slowly which is limiting her mobility. Given her age, the vet was not keen to operate, which I can understand. The stories of successful ops of this type on younger Robs are encouraging, but given her age I'm not sure how relevant they are.

Has anyone got any thoughts about what we should do? Stories of their own experiences?

Under the circumstances, stories from people who didn't operate and the consequences would be particularly helpful.

Many Thanks

h3rne

p.s. I'm posting in this thread because I think it's the most relevant - I'm not sure what the board policy is on thread necromancy. Could a mod please PM me if I got this wrong and should've started a new thread. Thanks!

[souffle]

I think you are doing a grand job in making things as comfortable as possible for her.
You will know in your heart when she has had enough and is starting to find the lump a burden. When that time comes it will be a great gift to help her on her path to the bridge.
To us, as long as the hamster is going about their normal hamster business and is eating and drinking well and happy to come out, being interested in treats and food then we beleive they are still happy to go on with life. Even if the lump seems to be holding them back if the hammy does not seem to notice it much then we will let them live out their time. We have had a lump removed from a dwarf who is now having a regrowth but we have decided she is too old for another op now and will let her go on as long as she wants. She seems quite happy for now.
I hope you little one manages a while longer in comfort.

[h3rne]

Dear Souffle

Many thanks for your thoughts and good wishes - it's nice to have a second opinion, especially when it agrees with your own!

I also think this is one of the friendliest forums I frequent and certainly the most supportive. My RL friends and family often given me "but they're only hamsters", so it's nice to have a place, albeit virtual, where my usual response of "no, actually they're members of my family" is implicitly understood and shared.