Possible Cheek Abscess

[robsnr318]

My daughter's female syrian has been with us for 7 months - the pet store did not tell us her age when we got her, but I would assume she was young. She's been great! A week or so ago I noticed one of her cheeks seemed swollen - like she had food stored in her pouch on that side, but it didn't seem to go away by the next time she came out of her hidey-hole. I kept an eye on it for a few days and it didn't seem to get bigger or anything. Yesterday I noticed that it was completely back to normal, but now it looks like she may have a small wound on the outside of that cheek. There is no bleeding; it looks like it may be a little wet and slightly red, but definitely no blood and it definitely doesn't scream "infection" to me (I have some medical background). She does seem to be skinnier that usual, but she is acting completely normal. She does fill her cheeks with food at feeding time and take it away to her typical hideout, and then comes out without it, but I have no way of verifying that she has actually eaten it. As I said though, all of her behaviors have been normal and she seems to be drinking just fine. After some basic google searching, I think it may have been a cheek abscess that has "popped" on it's own. I know that can cause it's own issues too. She does not appear to be in pain or suffering in any way, she's her normal Trinket self. I do keep her cage clean weekly and she always has fresh food and water daily. I don't see anything in her cage that could have caused injury, so I'm thinking she had an internal abscess there and was scratching at it from the outside (I had a dog do that once).

I can't get a picture right now because she's in my daughter's room and it's after bedtime. Is there anything I should do for her or just monitor for now? I read about trying to feed her organic vegetable-only baby food, and I can pick that up tomorrow morning. She will let me pet her, but she isn't super comfortable with being held, so I'm not sure the best way to clean the wound and/or apply antibiotic ointment - a cotton swab to apply it while she's eating maybe? My daughter is very attached to her baby, but I don't think my husband would agree to an expensive vet bill right now, so I need to figure out what I can do for her on my own. Thanks!

[Amethyst_ice]

Hello and welcome

Hamsters are pray animals and very adaptive so they hide pain well.

Anything face related really does need a vet visit. Even if it was an abcess that has started to heal, it may have been caused by a dental issue, or could have partly drained. Either way, some anibiotics and a proper examination of the pouch and mouth would be adviseable.

Often small pets are not seen "worth" a vet visit like say a cat or dog, to some family members. However, when we take them on, we owe them the same duty of care as we would any pet..morally and legally. Vets are expensive so having a vet fund is vital when taking on any pet. Exotic vets (who specialise in small pets) are often harder to find also so it's good to research and prepare in advance.

Offering sof foods such as baby food, chicken, soft veg, egg would ease the strain if there is something trying to heal there.

You mention you clean the cage weekly, this shouldn't be needed if substrate is deep enough and can cause stress having the home changed around so often. During clean outs, you should be able to check your hamsters store to see how much they are eating vs storing. When giving wet foods it's important to check these though so nothing goes mouldy.

Good luck, but I really would advise a vet visit sooner than later