On the night of 15th June, I noticed that Pinky was bleeding from her rear. I couldn’t figure out whether it was from her rectum, vulva, or from her tail. At that point, I couldn’t do anything until the next morning. I only changed the Aspen bedding to paper towel because I didn’t want the Aspen bedding to irritate her behind.

The following morning, I was lucky to be able to schedule a vet appointment for the same day. The vet felt her tummy and couldn’t feel any lump. Upon further inspection, the vet determined that the blood came out of her vulva & that cancer was a possibility. Since Pinky is a dwarf hamster, it’s possible that the lump could be as small as a grain of rice & that’s why the vet couldn’t feel it. If the lump was that small, it may also not show up on an x-ray. The vet prescribed a medication that’s labeled as “SMZ/TMP Ped Susp” (0.03 ml twice daily for 10 days).

That was on a Wednesday. Because that same weekend I was away, Pinky was boarded at the vet’s clinic. Upon picking up Pinky the next Monday, she was doing a lot better & the vet technicians informed me that they didn’t see anymore bleeding!

Since Pinky came home, she’s been sleeping a lot more than usual. I think that she is getting older. She was brought home in August of 2008, which makes her almost 2 years of age by now.

According to the vet, the exposed skin looks healthy, no flakes to indicate dryness or possible mites. I initially suspected ringworm or mites because during a mites breakout last year & all of the hamsters, except her, were affected. So I thought that maybe it’s her turn to contract mites.

The vet thinks that it’s a psychological issue, mainly that she’s so bored that she overgrooms herself. She can’t groom anymore than the lower back of her body because that’s as far as she can reach.

I don’t understand how she can be bored because she has a lot of things in her cage: a wooden hidey house, a relatively large wheel for her size, plastic & cardboard tubes, ledges to climb on. I’ve since added more stuff in her cage & given her some chewable sticks that I have for the chinchillas & a 42-puzzle playground (that she NEVER goes into even though I hide treats in it!) to the point that there’s little walking space in her bin cage. The vet also suggested that I give her foods that are rich in good oils to encourage fur growth and more toys to keep her entertained. She doesn’t like the plastic ball because it scares her so I’ve only put her in the plastic ball a couple of times when I first got her.

Well, fast forward to today (about 4 weeks later), Pinky has certainly stopped overgrooming herself:

Lesson learned? Pack your hamster’s cage with tons of toys!

Brain already seemed better after a day of antibiotic. Now she lives on her own & is already her old self, running on the wheel & climbing the cage bars. The reason why she’s alone is because when I tried to put her back with her sister, Pinky, after a 24-hour separation, I guess Pinky doesn’t remember her anymore? Pinky kept picking fights with Brain even after I’ve continually stopped Pinky.

I can see the improvement with Dee Dee after a day of antibiotic, too! It’s amazing what these antibiotic can do, huh? Whenever I try to give her the antibiotic though, she always struggles, I guess that shows the old girly still has long ways to go No more clicking noises when she’s breathing & I can see that she can breathe a lot easier now (before, I could see her back going up & down rapidly as she was trying to inhale). She doesn’t like me syringe feeding her with drinks & food, but I don’t mind because Dee Dee is eating & drinking on her own.

I think they will all be okay, thanks to the wonderful wonderful vets & all of the best wishes.

Another interesting thing, I bought some baby food, pureed carrots & pureed peas, all of the hamsters love them! Except for Dee Dee. I guess Dee Dee is like one of those old ladies who is set in her ways I know I shouldn’t have favorites, but she’s my favorite Russian Campbell.

Today I found Dee Dee laying down on the mezzanine floor sleeping. At first I thought she was sleeping normally, until I realized that the area around her mouth is wet & she was making clicking noises (as if she was hiccuping). I looked up the symptoms online & she might be experiencing some respiratory problems. I don’t know what causes it, but she still seemed to be able to find food & go up to the second floor, even though at a much slower pace. As a precautionary measure, I changed the bedding from aspen (even though it already doesn’t have aromatic oils) to Carefresh. When I stroked her, she just ignored me, which is unusual because she would normally try to bite my finger.

*sigh* I don’t know what else I can do at this point for Dee Dee. I just hope that it’s a sign of aging (after all, I wouldn’t know what aging signs are, since I’ve never had hamsters before).

Come this morning, I was lucky that my vet had an opening. Also, Brain had stopped bleeding. According to the vet’s examination, there’s a cyst in her belly (but she doubts that it’s the cause of the bleeding) and her spleen is hardened. Apparently, the blood was coming out of her urethra. The vet explained how the urine & reproductive system both empty out of the same opening; she concluded that the cause of the bleeding could either be from some kind of kidney disease or mammary cancer. At this point, there’s nothing the vet could do, except for me to continue monitoring Brain & put her on Baytril to see how she progresses.

The vet explained how when she was in college, hamsters used to live up to 6 years, and her college classroom hamster was 5 years old. Due to inbreeding, apparently hamsters who make it up to 2 years of age are considered lucky. Look at what humans have done to these furry critters