Animal Lovers Web Blog

Trouble our Syrian hamster is starting to show increasingly worrying signs of his advancing years. For a couple of months now he has suffered from very swollen testicles and we were aware that his old age was starting to catch up with him. Visits to the vets had reassured us to some extent that there really was no active treatment that would relieve his symptoms anymore and that he just needed lots of our love and cuddles so that he could enjoy the twilight years of his life.

Over the past couple of weeks, Trouble has developed a distended abdomen, to such a degree that we have now had to remove the tubing from his cage and make sure that he couldn’t get into any tight spots, as it’s difficult for him to turn around very well. Trouble doesn’t appear to be in any pain and his abdomen, although very large, feels soft. We suspect that he may have ascites, which is a collection of fluid in the peritoneal cavity, commonly associate with liver failure and tumours. It may be that Trouble has developed secondary disease due to his testicular probems.

Trouble still comes out to see us and he seems to enjoy his daily exercise in the hamster pen and has certainly not lost his appetite! We were worried however that he could in pain and so we took him to the vets yesterday for a full health check. The vet was very kind and empathic to our concerns and understood that we really don’t want Trouble to suffer. Obviously, we would rather not have him euthanized but felt that a professional opinion was needed to guide us. The vet confirmed our suspicions to the cause of Trouble’s problems. He did not feel that there were any treatments that would help to alleviate any of his symptoms and that really it was just a matter of time before Trouble would pass away.

Fortunately, our vet agreed with us that Trouble was still well enough to come home provided that we kept a close eye on him. If there is any deterioration in his health e.g. loss of appetite, weight or signs of distress, then we will have to reconsider Trouble’s future and make some difficult choices.

It was with mixed feelings that we came home with Trouble, knowing that this will be our last Christmas with him. We can only hope that he manages to live that long. He really is such a lovely, placid little boy hamster, who won’t be short on love and affection in the last few weeks of his life.

Diane
Animal Lovers Web.com

Our Syrian Hamster, Trouble, is over 2 years old now and entering the twilight stages of his life. Over the past month, we have become increasingly concerned about his health after he developed swollen testicles.

As any owner of a male hamster will probably concur, hamster testicles are rather
large in comparison to the size of a hamster generally. However, problems with testicular cancer and infections are also well recognised in the older hamster. Trouble was also exhibiting signs of being generally unwell. He seemed more lethargic, was spending less time awake and appeared quite disorientated at times. His testicles also felt very warm to touch.

A trip to the vets reassured us that a diagnosos of testicular cancer was unlikely. There were no hard lumps (which the vet found out to her cost as Trouble - our very placid and tame hamster - sunk his teeth into the vets finger!) and the fact that both testicles were equally swollen, suggested that an infection was the most likely cause. The poor mite had to have an antibiotic and anti-inflammatory injection and we were given 5 days worth of oral medication to put in his water.

In my ensuing discussions with the vet, it was difficult to be completely reassured that this was an easily solved medical problem. Although Trouble’s medication had helped to reduce the severity of his infection, he continues to have quite swollen testicles which do affect his movement. Castration is an option but for a hamster of advancing age, any operation poses serious concerns - the vet was not keen to go down this route.

The problem for us now is whether we wait until Trouble becomes so uncomfortable that euthanasia is the best option, or do we risk putting him through an operation that he may not survive anyway?

As any pet owner will appreciate, these decisions are difficult but come as part of the responsibility of pet ownership. If only animals could talk! It is difficult not knowing how uncomfortable Trouble is but we can only keep an eye on him day to day and try to make rational judgements about his quality of life. If only keeping a pet were that easy!

Diane
www.AnimalLoversWeb.com