Poorly Chinese dwarf

Hayhaymac · 05-03-2016, 11:40 AM

Hi all I would like your advice on my 2 year old Chinese dwarf hamster stokey. His tooth suddenly started growing so I took him to the vet for a routine tooth clip and a day later noticed he had developed a lump/abcess on the side of his face where the tooth was trimmed. I immediately took him back to the vet and she gave me some antibiotics and the pea size lump has halved in size thank god and I still haven't finished the course yet. He is also eating and drinking normally again. What I'm worried about is that he doesn't seem to be sleeping very well (I have two of them in separate cages in the spare room) the room he is in is clean, warm and there has been no changes in his environment. The vet said that as long as the lump is decreasing and he is eating then he should get better. I'm just not sure why he is so restless I may just be assuming wrongly that he is feeling better I just don't know what I should do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated x

CMB · 05-03-2016, 11:48 AM

Do the teeth meet each other top and bottom. If there is a tooth growing at the wrong angle it could have rubbed/poked the mouth and caused the lump

Hayhaymac · 05-03-2016, 11:51 AM

No they don't meet and it's the bottom right side where his tooth was trimmed the day before the lump is definitely going down though I am just worried about him not sleeping

CMB · 05-03-2016, 11:55 AM

Good to hear the lump is going down. Hopefully there is no pain and he is getting some sleep.

cypher · 05-03-2016, 10:41 PM

See how he is when you finish the meds, the antibiotics can often make them feel unwell so it's hard to judge if it's that or pain that makes them unsettled.

Hayhaymac · 05-04-2016, 01:18 AM

Thanks guys I will do. I checked their teeth again last night and it looks like they are growing back already I might have to learn to trim them myself because the £33 GBP it's costing me each hamster is far too much for me to afford long term. Is it difficult to cut them yourself? I'm going to call the vet today and ask her to teach me I think

cypher · 05-04-2016, 01:28 AM

When one of my hams had problems with his teeth they needed trimming every two to three weeks so it did get expensive, some people do it themselves but I would never feel confident enough!

racinghamster · 05-05-2016, 01:16 AM

Hi Hayhaymac. It`s not easy when they have over growing tooth issues. The vet needs to tell you why either both lower teeth are growing the way they are rather than the hamster being able to maintain their length by natural nibbling. I`m assuming the teeth are misaligned or something may have happened to make one tooth grow longer than the other one? I had this issue with a gerbil I had but never with my hamsters.

Sometimes the vet finds this easier if they give the hamster a whiff of anaesthetic gas to get a better look at the teeth and inside the mouth cavity. I had this done once with my gerbil and the vet did find it easier, but there were occasions where the tooth was clipped and the gerbil was wobbly and on one occasion, seemed to be fitting inside the carrier while I was paying for the treatment. Thankfully he came round though and the vet was right there to see what was happening. This was not on a day he had any gas though, I think it`s just the trauma of being gripped and the stress this can cause.

Teeth can be totally removed, but it`s a bigger operation. When we have a clean at the dentist we can feel a bit sore afterwards, so I imagine having the teeth trimmed by a clipper has some kind of after reaction for a small animal. Perhaps not pain, but a dull feeling afterwards. It`s worrying that your hamster developed a lump afterwards which sounds like either infection or reaction/inflammation. Hopefully this will calm down. x

cypher · 05-05-2016, 01:58 AM

Removing the teeth is generally considered too difficult for dwarf hams RH, it's very hard to cleanly remove them & there's a real danger of leaving bits behind which can cause even more problems.
They don't generally have any after effects from clipping & should go straight back to eating normally afterwards, I know mine couldn't wait to get stuck into real food when his had been done!

racinghamster · 05-05-2016, 04:04 AM

It is a radical approach yes, so possibly better avoided. I saw a small dwarf rabbit on a TV vet show have it`s two lower teeth removed as they were so long the poor thing looked like a tusked boar. The vet said the teeth are so very deep rooted that they can be just as long within the cavity as they are viewable. With a small hamster, I imagine this kind of surgery is just not `do-able`. Such a shame as it would prevent repeat trips to have them clipped or burred down. x