Off to the vet we go. . .

[pinky]

As I may or may not have mentioned, Jayde's belly hair has been thinning, but she's otherwise her feisty self. Well, tonight I picked her up to put her in her play bin, and she's bleeding from her genital opening. It's not all over her/all over the place, but there was enough on the outside to smear on my hand, and it's fresh.

So I'll make an appointment tomorrow morning. . .

Anyone have experience with this?

[Die Fledermaus]

Yes, sort of. But the story of Snowball was not good. I wish her the best.

[tonyshuman]

I have only heard of it in conjunction with wet tail in Syrians, or with uterine infections/cancer in rabbits.

[pinky]

Well, Jaydee Girl saw a nice new exotics vet (new to the practice) today. He did a lot of palpating and said that he didn't feel anything unusual in her abdomen, so that was good. He noted that he could do an x-ray or an ultrasound, but he said that given the nature of the patient would anything we learn change how we would treat her? Answer: probably not--because chances are that what we found wouldn't be treatable. So he suggested that we treat the treatable--that is, treat for a possible infection. So that's what's being done--a week's course of Baytril.

I had removed the bedding and laid white paper in her cage last night to see if her urine was bloody, and it was not, so that may rule out a bladder issue.

He wasn't sure what to make of the thinning belly fur. There's nothing wrong with the skin. Age?

She was a very good girl. This practice doesn't get many hamsters, evidently, even though they have two exotics vets on staff, because they always fuss so much over my hams. I had to warn the staff that she was cage-aggressive, but I had the handy-dandy toilet paper roll in the container, so it wasn't a problem getting her out.

Anyway, they grabbed the camera right away. She didn't sit still and so these aren't great, but I am still happy to have them.





The third one reminds me of this one:


You can see how much she's silvered.

She was hilarious as she tried to jump and grab onto the edge of the (I think) 6 inch high travel container in hopes of escaping. She finally succeeded when we got home. She is the only hamster I've had (reminds me of a thread!) who has been a jumper, and I laugh so hard every time she does it. That in itself tells me that she's not really sick (at least not right now). She jumped long and hard while we waited for the vet to come in.

So we'll see how she does.

[Die Fledermaus]

That is good! And better than I expected!

Snowball - see the Memorial Gallery in sig* - was found dead one day. I noticed some reddish brown stuff, and looked closer. She must have had a uterine hemorrhage of some kind. There was a lot of dried blood. There had been no symptoms, and she was not old. She lived alone.

Whatever Jaydee's situation, it is surely not that,

Yes, "treat the treatable".

Glad you have the photos up.

Best.

* - I need to update the Gallery with Poppy, Jessica the GP, and Cal the hamster. But with my PC having crashed and awaiting repair (in the not near future; a replacement comes first) I have to wait. My photos are there. Although Poppy I can do as his photo, obviously, is online. You can see it below.

[pinky]

Update: all is well. I never saw actual blood after that night, and the redness of her vulva disappeared shortly after I started her on the Baytril. She's chewing the Silent Spinner stand behind me here. So yes, a good ending to this one.

[Die Fledermaus]

Then it was not a hemorrhage!

Maybe a hemorrhoid?!


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hope Katie sees those two photos of you on you-know-where! Cute.

[pinky]

Jayde went to the vet again today. She's bleeding again. Got more Baytril--that cleared it up last time. However, the vet said she felt more "full" in her uterine area today, so there seems to be something brewing there. The blood may be from a secondary infection that can be held in check with the antibiotic, but whatever the primary disorder is, it isn't something that can be diagnosed at this point. Not the best news, but, well, she's still my feisty Jaydee Girl! The vet and tech were captivated by her jumping antics as she tried to launch herself over the side of a 6-inch-high bin. It is indeed hilarious to watch!

[Hamsters82]

Aw, poor Jayde I hope she is doing well and that the Baytril helps this time. That does sound funny how she was trying to jump over the bin. I like the last photo of her.

[Dezzi]

Poor girl, I hope she gets better.

[Die Fledermaus]

>> The vet and tech were captivated by her jumping antics as she tried to launch herself over the side of a 6-inch-high bin. It is indeed hilarious to watch! <<

Funnier is when I had mice launching themselves into the mesh top of a tank and bouncing off, until they figured out there was something up there!

Best to Jaydee.

My two dwarfs are fine, and I still need names for them, but there are identical! *sigh* I will figure out something asap.

[tonyshuman]

Best wishes to Jaydee--I have run into some similar things trying to get treatment for my hammie. X-rays don't have enough resolution to tell apart the tiny organs of a hamster, and ultrasounds on animals that small are rare. Only the vet hospital here is willing to do it, but will not guarantee that it will work, as they have only done ultrasound on something as small as a rat.

Then the question is, after you spend $300 for an ultrasound, what can be done to treat whatever you find? Few vets will spay a hamster, and her advanced age makes it even more risky to do any abdominal surgery. In that case, all you can do for an infection is antibiotics, and for cancer is nothing. It is probably best to just assume it is something you can fix, like an infection, and give antibiotics.

I have a lot of experience with rabbit medicine, and I know whenever antibiotics are used, a probiotic is also important (like yogurt for people on antibiotics). Yogurt certainly is something hamsters can eat and like to eat, but rabbits can't digest lactose so we give them a veterinary probiotic. There are two options: Bene-Bac (comes in gel form for dogs/cats or powder form for small animals, either forms are fine, just don't use the avian/reptile one) or ProBios (comes in gel for horses, goats, sheep, etc, and powder for dogs/cats/bunnies/etc).

Also, many vets are reluctant to use any other antibiotic than Baytril--have you considered a different one for Jaydee? It's true she improved some on Baytril, so perhaps a longer course of the same drug will treat it, but another antibiotic may also be effective and clear the entire infection. There may be multiple pathogens--one that is sensitive to Baytril, and one that is not.

Just some thoughts.

[pinky]

Very thoughtful post, tonyshuman. Thanks for contributing.

Yes, we're trying a longer course of it this time. It's amazing how quickly she stopped bleeding--within a day.

I'm trying not to think about the fact that there's clearly something going on with her down below--she's fundamentally fine, and that gives me joy.

[Die Fledermaus]

Anyone recall Chlorpalm, another common antibiotic which I THINK is sometimes used for rodents, I believe? Ask your vets.

www.drugs.com/vet/chlorpalm-125-can.html

[tonyshuman]

I know of many antibiotics used in rabbits, and chlorpalm (chlorpromazine) is one of them. Of course, rabbits are not rodents. Baytril is enrofloxacin, which is basically the vet form of Cipro (ciprofloxacin). Penicillin G procaine and pen G procaine is used as an injection ONLy in rabbits, due to their sensitive GI tract. Others only used as injections (these are all sub-cutaneous, btw) are amoxicillin and Convenia (a veritable wonder drug these days, it seems). Zithromax (azithromyacin) is given orally as well.

You have to be very careful with what antibiotics you use in these animals that are hind-gut fermenters. They have a special part of the gut (our appendix is an evolutionary remainder of this) where high-fiber ingesta go to be fermented by bacteria. If these bacteria are assaulted in any way, total gut shutdown and death can occur. I assume many of the drugs that are not safe in rabbits orally are also not safe for hamsters orally (the -cillins). Additional ones that are ok in rabbits orally may not be ok for hamsters orally.