Hi guys,
Ugh, so I never wanted to think about the dreaded 'p' word ever again, having lost a gerbil to it a few years back. But I adopted a lovely large female Syrian hammy back in December 2015; a sweet-natured tortoiseshell long-haired satin of 6 months old whom I named Esme. And now, shortly after we celebrated having her a year, those horrible old symptoms that I dread so much are showing up
Brief timeline:
-I first found a few faded blood spots in Esme's nesting paper 2 weeks ago. My stomach plummeted, but I figured I had given her a tiny piece of tomato eat the the night before, so decided to wait 24 hours before freaking out. I cleaned her paper so I would definitely know if there was any more tomorrow. Her urine and poops were totally normal, behaviour seemed happy and healthy.
-The next night, fresh blood spots. Freaking out commenced. It was a Saturday, so we had to wait till Monday to get help. First thing on Monday, I bundled up the little poppet in her carrier and we walked into town to see the vet. The vet gave poor Ez a good prod, and showed me what I'd been unable to see - she had some pus coming out of her lady parts. The vet sat it was probably an infection and gave me 2 weeks worth of Baytril to put in Ezzie's water every day.
-I thought it was actually working... From the night she began the Baytril, for a week, the blood spots were present, but were fading and getting fewer. A week after she'd begun the Baytril, there were no spots at all. There continued to be no spots until tonight, and I was hoping we'd beaten it - until I felt all the strength go out of my legs when I looked into her nest. No, Ez, you were doing so well!
And of course, I put the last dose of Baytril into her water today. She has none for tomorrow, or Monday morning. darnit.
-So, basically, I'm taking her back to the vets on Monday. I don't know whether to take her back to the same vets (who gave her the Baytril) or go to my usual vets, who are bigger than the other vets and have more equipment, but also a longer wait list. It's a long story of why I didn't go to them first the way I always have with my small furries, but the short version is that recently they have become horrendously expensive and I don't feel their care is worth it; there was a big mix up with some antibiotics for my (now passed away) cat and I felt they handled it very badly and didn't even apologise until pushed...anyhoo, you can see my dilemma. If I take her to the vet who gave her baytril, they can scan her but I don't think they can do anything bigger, because they're only a clinic. Whereas my regular vet probably can do both. But I might not even get an appointment this week, and then it's booking a separate appointment for her op and another wait...I don't know who to go to, tbh.
-Oh and on top of everything else, I upgraded her cage this week, but because fate has a cruel sense of humour bloody DPD delayed the delivery of it until...yeah, you guessed it, Monday. So what was going to be a fun and delightful day watching her explore her new home, now would probably stress her out after a vet visit, so will have to wait.
I know the next step after a scan is a womb removal, and I'm just terrified. I've only had Esme a little longer than a year. She's not even 2 yet. After my gerbil Lola had this horrendous condition I never, ever wanted to see another pet go through it. Lo died under anesthetic during the procedure and I'm so scared of that happening again. Esme is such a happy little hamster, so bright and playful and loving. She knows her name and comes when I call her, jumping into my hand. We have hours of bonding/playtime every night. I know I can't just let her get worse, but the idea of handing my cheerful little bundle over to the vets and then getting back a cold little body makes me want to cry. We literally only lost the family cat back in December, right before xmas, so this is such a kick in the guts.
Sorry to be negative! That's me done venting...I read the Pyometra info thread and was actually very heartened by the lady's hammy Honeydo and her success story. God knows our small furries need success stories, and vets, as well as owners, to give them a fighting chance.
Thanks for listening to me ramble, fellow hammy lovers. If you have any suggestions please feel free to shout em at me. Knowledge is power. Also...sorry this is my very first post here. I've been meaning to sign up for a while but this prompted me. I didn't want to feel as alone as I did last time if we're gonna go through this again.
From me and Esme x
Pyometra in Female Hammy
Threaded Mode