Post by pinky on Nov 15, 2008 13:13:49 GMT -4
Here is what I wrote to the lady who rescued Mallory.
********
So Mal went to see the vet yesterday. She is a very good exotics vet, and there is another vet on staff who also knows much about critters. So, though I have to pay for it, my hams are always seen by someone with hamster experience.
I told her Mal's story--that turned out to be a potentially important thing, actually. I told her that she was a fur-plucker, and I pointed out the growth on her chest. She also noticed or I pointed out the tiny growth on the bottom of her one rear paw, the little bit of fur missing from below her eye, and the fact that her fur is thin all over her chest and belly, not just in the one area.
Here are her thoughts:
(1) The growth is either benign or a sarcoma--she can't tell by looking at it. Removing it is an option, but she doesn't recommend it. It is likely that muscle removal would be involved, and that isn't something easily done on a hamster. Watch and wait is what she advises. I should look at the growth regularly, measure it if I can, and keep notes. As I don't know when it first showed up, I can't say how fast it got to be the size it is.
She mentioned that one BIG problem with rodent surgeries is the need to keep them sedated for a few days afterwards to keep them from messing with their incisions. Elizabethan collars don't work because their head are smaller than their necks.
(2) The fur thinning could be ringworm, or hormonal. Ringworm strikes immunocompromised individuals--human and animal--and so that period of high stress in her life could be significant here. While she's truly doubtful that it's ringworm, she's doing a culture. The longer I don't hear from her about it, the better (if no call by 3 weeks, culture is negative). Her hormones could have been thrown out of whack by the pregnancy, and they can be "reset" with a hormone shot, but the vet didn't want to do that because it's "just fur"--Mal isn't tearing herself up.
(3) She thought Mal walked a little funny. I told her that she runs long and hard on her wheel and runs all over the blanket on my lap like a crazed woman. So
about that. I wouldn't notice this, as I have never had a dwarf before. I certainly know, however, how Chinese run. They are the "low-riders" of hamsters!
She showed me an ingenious way to get a good look at whatever part of Mal needs looking at without being bitten--pick her up and put the stick part of a wooden swab or some other wood object in her mouth for her to chew on during the examination. This really requires two people, though.
Her teeth look good. This is a relief, because I have had two hamsters with tooth/jaw problems. Fuzz's was so serious that he needed a soft food diet and had to have his teeth clipped every three weeks or so. And that wasn't his only problem.
I bring my hams to the vet in a purple Halloween pumpkin. It is famous there. "Purple pumpkin--new occupant!" said the vet when she saw it. The staff also fuss over my hams--I guess they don't see too many. From the talk on the forums kids' parents often don't want to pay for a hamster's care. It is expensive, but, well, my critters have brought me such joy that I feel compelled to do what I can for them, even if I could have two new pairs of shoes for what I paid yesterday.
So that's the story. If it's a sarcoma I thank God for bringing her into my life and give her as good a life as I can for however long it takes for it to take over.
Mal made me laugh this morning--she pulled her toilet paper tube into her igloo and was working on it. Silly girl! I love her to death and call her "my little gur-l." It's cool having a female, particularly since I haven't ever knowingly had one. Critter WAS a girl but I didn't realize it till I got Pinky and saw THE TESTICLES (they're SO big on a Chinese!).
*****
So there you have it. Yes, she has a growth. It's about the size of two or three cooked grains of rice. I have no idea when it first emerged because it's right under my thumb when I pick her up, and I missed it for some unknown amount of time.
I'll do what the vet said--keep a record--and that will tell us if it's an aggressive thing or just "there."
Something that was funny is that when we checked in, the gal asked me her sex. I said "female," and she said, "Are you sure?" I said, "Absolutely sure!" So amusing because it brings back the Marcus/Mallory confused sex issue. But she is 100% girl!
********
So Mal went to see the vet yesterday. She is a very good exotics vet, and there is another vet on staff who also knows much about critters. So, though I have to pay for it, my hams are always seen by someone with hamster experience.
I told her Mal's story--that turned out to be a potentially important thing, actually. I told her that she was a fur-plucker, and I pointed out the growth on her chest. She also noticed or I pointed out the tiny growth on the bottom of her one rear paw, the little bit of fur missing from below her eye, and the fact that her fur is thin all over her chest and belly, not just in the one area.
Here are her thoughts:
(1) The growth is either benign or a sarcoma--she can't tell by looking at it. Removing it is an option, but she doesn't recommend it. It is likely that muscle removal would be involved, and that isn't something easily done on a hamster. Watch and wait is what she advises. I should look at the growth regularly, measure it if I can, and keep notes. As I don't know when it first showed up, I can't say how fast it got to be the size it is.
She mentioned that one BIG problem with rodent surgeries is the need to keep them sedated for a few days afterwards to keep them from messing with their incisions. Elizabethan collars don't work because their head are smaller than their necks.
(2) The fur thinning could be ringworm, or hormonal. Ringworm strikes immunocompromised individuals--human and animal--and so that period of high stress in her life could be significant here. While she's truly doubtful that it's ringworm, she's doing a culture. The longer I don't hear from her about it, the better (if no call by 3 weeks, culture is negative). Her hormones could have been thrown out of whack by the pregnancy, and they can be "reset" with a hormone shot, but the vet didn't want to do that because it's "just fur"--Mal isn't tearing herself up.
(3) She thought Mal walked a little funny. I told her that she runs long and hard on her wheel and runs all over the blanket on my lap like a crazed woman. So
about that. I wouldn't notice this, as I have never had a dwarf before. I certainly know, however, how Chinese run. They are the "low-riders" of hamsters! She showed me an ingenious way to get a good look at whatever part of Mal needs looking at without being bitten--pick her up and put the stick part of a wooden swab or some other wood object in her mouth for her to chew on during the examination. This really requires two people, though.
Her teeth look good. This is a relief, because I have had two hamsters with tooth/jaw problems. Fuzz's was so serious that he needed a soft food diet and had to have his teeth clipped every three weeks or so. And that wasn't his only problem.
I bring my hams to the vet in a purple Halloween pumpkin. It is famous there. "Purple pumpkin--new occupant!" said the vet when she saw it. The staff also fuss over my hams--I guess they don't see too many. From the talk on the forums kids' parents often don't want to pay for a hamster's care. It is expensive, but, well, my critters have brought me such joy that I feel compelled to do what I can for them, even if I could have two new pairs of shoes for what I paid yesterday.
So that's the story. If it's a sarcoma I thank God for bringing her into my life and give her as good a life as I can for however long it takes for it to take over.
Mal made me laugh this morning--she pulled her toilet paper tube into her igloo and was working on it. Silly girl! I love her to death and call her "my little gur-l." It's cool having a female, particularly since I haven't ever knowingly had one. Critter WAS a girl but I didn't realize it till I got Pinky and saw THE TESTICLES (they're SO big on a Chinese!).
*****
So there you have it. Yes, she has a growth. It's about the size of two or three cooked grains of rice. I have no idea when it first emerged because it's right under my thumb when I pick her up, and I missed it for some unknown amount of time.
I'll do what the vet said--keep a record--and that will tell us if it's an aggressive thing or just "there."
Something that was funny is that when we checked in, the gal asked me her sex. I said "female," and she said, "Are you sure?" I said, "Absolutely sure!" So amusing because it brings back the Marcus/Mallory confused sex issue. But she is 100% girl!
Brings a tear how pets and people relate and help each other. I have not only foregone "stuff" I have foregone certain health-related stuff I should have done for me for the critters. And that does not include vast amounts of time spent on them. So be it. Glad I can help them.
I hope she feels better and nothing is wrong with her. 