My Hamster

[Genny]

Our hamster Honey doesn't look the same anymore. We don't know how old he is since we got him when he was already grown and I'm wonderin if this is just from old age. He has wrinkly skin (very wrinkly skin) all over and his stomach feels hard inside. Like when I hold him I can feel like a knot or something...I'm wonderin if it's a tumor?? On the outside he has a little brown spot on his back and I wondered if that's the tumor showing a bit from the outside?? I really don't know....I thought maybe someone could give me some answers... He still eats and drinks fine. He never plays on his wheel though (he never has)

[Genny]

And also I forgot to add he is losing really big patches of hair!!

[Genny]

Just wanted to give this a bump-does anyone know what could be wrong? Am I right about it being old age??? THANKS!

[DriftyAlison0]

It could be cancer. I don't know. But a trip to the vet would be a good idea.

[Whisk_Luva]

Sorry Honey is not very well:(

Is he a syrian? Is the 'little brown spot' to the side of his back? If so these are scent glands called hip spots.... these are normal and nothing to worry about.... just saying that when they lose fur these do become more noticable, hence you might not of seen them/it before.

As for the lump..... it could be an abcess.....

Abscesses occur when a bite, scratch or wound becomes infected and pus forms under the skin resulting in a lump. Often the bite or scratch may go unnoticed. Indeed by the time the lump is noticed the bite or scratch which originally became infected may have healed so it is often difficult to establish whether the lump is an abscess or a tumour.

If a bite or scratch can be seen on the lump then it is almost certainly an abscess. An abscess will require the pus to be drained and a course of antibiotics may be needed to treat the infection and so veterinary treatment must be sought. In extreme cases it may be necessary to visit the vet regularly as the pus may need to removed more than once whilst the infection clears.

Or a tumor/cancer

Internal tumours such as those involving internal organs may be difficult to treat but many external tumours can be successfully surgically removed.

A hamster suffering from cancer may develop a hard lump which can increase in size quite quickly. It is often difficult to distinguish between a tumour and an abscess. A tumour may be accompanied by fur loss, lethargy, poor condition or wasting but not always.

Info about old age

As a hamster passes the age of one year signs of old age may appear such as fur loss, some weight loss, drying of skin and a general slowing down, although many hamsters do not show signs of old age until much later.

Big patches of fur could be mites... My Kenco has them at the moment.... of course fur loss could be due to old age, but if it's a large amount in not much time, I would watch out for the skin looking sore etc just in case it is mites.

Anyway, I hope that may help in someway (all info comes from http://www.hamsters.co.uk/hamster_health.htm )

[Genny]

Thanks for replying back, but Honey died last night. I went in to feed him and I put his food into his bowl but he didn't come down from his little room on the top (he had like a 2-story cage) so I opened up the top part to see what was up and he was already dead. :( He was my little neice's hamster really and we didn't want to tell her about it but then we didn't want her to wonder about it so we thought letting her see Honey would be the best thing so she'd understand what happened to him. My brother (her dad) buried him for us and Morgan wanted to watch. She cried and said she missed him, but we tried to comfort her by telling her that now Honey is in Heaven with our other hamster Munchkin that died years back. It helped a little to let her know that but she's stil upset today about it. She has been drawin pictures of Honey.