Hamster Anaesthesia and Surgery
2 Cases

"The abscess has ripened and it will burst soon but it will be messy and toxic for the hamster," I said.  Hamster tends to be very clean and will lick away all pus. The pus would usually be thick, greenish yellow and sticky and would contain bacteria and dead cells. Ingestion of the large volume of pus might kill this hamster as pus could be toxic - being the product of inflammation and the destruction of bacteria by the hamster's white blood cells.

So now, Ms Chen had to decide. To operate or not to? 

Ms Chen could not decide. There was still at least 6 months of life in this fiery brown companion.  She had been bitten by the other two hamsters and that was what caused this big swelling near the right eye.

The chances of it surviving are higher. But vets must warn the owners about the risks of anaesthetic and surgical intervention for such a small creature.

Bad mouthing of "my pet was killed by the vet" by unhappy clients when a pet dies at the veterinary clinic may be due to a lack of communication as to the risk of anaesthesia and surgery.  Some owners sent malicious e-mails advertising friends not to go to the vet that had "killed" their hamster. Other naive friends forward such e-mails to their circle of friends.

It would be too late to mention the risk once the pet had died.  Even when the risks were told orally, there would be another member of the family who would be very angry when the pet had died from anaesthesia. 

Some vets would use written forms for owners to sign so that there would be no dispute.

Unhappy clients in the internet era do send mass emails via the internet to warn others about the "killer vet."  Litigation to prevent electronic libel via e-mails would be very costly.  The veterinary procedure was fifty dollars and libel litigation could be at least one thousand dollars. 

Should we let the abscess break in the next few days when the hamster rubbed against it? 

The problem here would be that the hamster would get poisoned by the ingestion of the toxins as it groomed itself and swallowed the pus.

The hamster was very uncomfortable. The mother, Mrs Chen, a slim lady in her forties, decided that the surgery should proceed in spite of the risk of dying from anaesthesia. 

I put the hamster in the gas chamber. He slept after the gas knocked him out.  I cleaned the swollen area, took out a scalpel blade from its packet and incised into the swelling.

2 ml of thick greenish yellow pus oozed out. I pressed the skin wound till  some red blood appeared. This indicated all the pus had been drained off.  

The hamster's eyeball bulged as I pressed but did not pop out. He woke up fast and recovered just as I emptied his abscess of pus.  He groomed himself and ejected small pieces of white bread from his right cheek pouch.

"Will there be any medication for the hamster?" Ms Chen enquired.

"The hamster is strong and healthy and will not need antibiotics," I said.

"This hamster eats only bread and chicken meat" said a happy Ms Chen.   "She does not like hamster pellets and commercial feed."

An omnivorous hamster.  Most people think that hamsters are herbivorous creatures. What do you think?  The hamster went home and I did not hear from the owner. I presumed there were no complications.
 

Case 2 recorded: 2006.  Internet query on a swelling above the left eye in a hamster living in the U.K

The above article was written by Dr Sing in 2001 to educate and share the knowledge about hamster's medical conditions with hamster lovers.  In 2006, a sophisticated hamster owner searched the world-wide web to research whether there were other hamsters with similar medical conditions as his and found the above-written report and e-mailed to Dr Sing. 

Would he risk the anaesthetic to operate his hamster or not?   See below.

Subject: Hamster With Swelling Above Left Eye Date: 1. E-MAIL DATED Sun, 7 May 2006 12:46:26 +0100 From: ....@bt.com  To: judy@toapayohvets.com Hi,   I came across your website whilst in desperate search for some answers about my Hamster Basil. asiahomes.com/singaporetpvet/misc/ 0429hamster_faceabscess.htm. From your website it looks as though you specialise in small animal care.   He's a 2-year-old Syrian Hamster in good health apart from a swelling above his left eye that he keeps scratching and which is making his eye bulge and not open properly.   The Vet he is under first tried him on oral Baytril and Metacam. This didn't have any effect so he then tried him on Fucithalmic eye drops. The eye drops seem to have opened the eye up nicely but the swelling still remains above the eye.   The Vet now wants to anesthetise him to look in his mouth as he thinks he might have an impacted cheek pouch that needs cleaning out. Neither me or my girlfriend can understand why the Vet thinks it might be an impacted cheek pouch as we weren't aware Hamster's cheek pouches reached above their eyes? We're also very concerned about the Vet anesthetising him as we've heard the risk of death is so high with Hamsters, especially older ones.   We would be very grateful if you could make any suggestions on what you might think the problem might be and a possible course of action. I've looked through the cases on your website and the only one that kind of resembles Basil's problem is the one where the Hamster had an abscess above his eye (3. Apr 27 2001. The swollen faced hamster can't open its eye.) could this be the problem?     Many thanks in advance for any advice you can give. Best Regards, 2.  E-MAIL REPLY DATED MAY 7, 2006 I am from Singapore. It is hard to diagnose by pictures. If possible, e-mail me 3 pictures from different angles - front view, side view, top view. 1. Does it feel soft? Or is it hard as a rock? 2. And how big it is? 3. E-MAIL DATED MAY 8, 2006 ...@bt.com wrote:   Hi Dr Sing   Thanks for writing back to me.  I attach a few shots of Basil's swelling above his  eye. I tried my best with the camera but you know how much Hamsters move about. Can you make anything out from the pictures? I hope so. Basil won't let me or the Vet touch the area to feel it as he bites if we try. The swelling is about the size that eye brows are on a person if a Hamster were to have them.   Regards, Mike 4. E-MAIL REPLY DATED MAY 8, 2006 1. Can't see the swelling. 2. You get somebody to help you by covering the hamster's body so that it can't move much. Take 3 pictures of head with good lighting. 3. Swelling looks soft? 4. Re-take pictures 5. E-MAIL DATED MAY 9, 2006 > ...@bt.com wrote:   Dr Sing Will try and get some better pictures when my partner gets home. Does the position of the swelling suggest an impacted cheek pouch to you?   Regards, Mike   6. E-MAIL REPLY DATED MAY 10, 2006 It is very hard to diagnose from afar. The best I can help you is to see the pictures and they are blur. Position looks more like an abscess or tumour. If THE swelling is soft (take towel and hold the hamster, prevent it from biting), it is an abscess or infected tumour. The operating procedure is to lance an abscess in an old hamster, without anaesthesia. Needs a fast hand. Usually, I use anaesthetic gas, but the vet must know when the hamster is anaesthesized.   There are no eye reflexes like in the dog. Anaesthesia may kill if the observation of hamster is not so good.  It just stops being active and it is a very difficult sign to observe. Usually light anaesthesia is achieved less than 60 seconds after receiving gas. You may need to find a vet who does hamster anaesthesia and surgery. 7.  E-MAIL DATED MAY 15, 2006 ...@bt.com wrote: Hi Dr Sing,   Well the Vet gave my Hamster another 7 day course of oral Baytril and Fucithalmic eye drops when I saw her last Monday as she felt there was an improvement as the eye was beginning to open (although the swelling around the top of it still remained) Today is his 7th day of that treatment and there is no change really from when he see the Vet last Monday in that his eye is still open but the swelling remains around the top of it. My partner said the swelling felt hard to her.   I had a go at taking some more pictures of his eye in the positions that you suggested with my partner holding the Hamster and attach the results. I think 2 of them are quite clear?   My quandary is now whether to leave him be and just give him the occasional drop of Fucithalmic in his eye if it were to start to close again or to take him back to the Vet and have him anaesthetized so that she can look in his mouth for further clues. The thing is though she said the risk of anaesthesia in a 2 year old Hamster is very high and so it was up to me what I wanted to do as he was my pet. He's fine in himself other than this bad eye. He still eats and drinks well and loves to play in his wheel and come out and have a run about of a night. I would appreciate any further advice you could give. I'm not really sure what to do. Many thanks in advance Regards,   Mike 8. E-MAIL REPLY DATED MAY 15, 2006 Pictures of the supra-orbital swelling are much better than previous ones. A hard swelling (as felt by your partner). This could be an abscess which has not "ripened", a tumour above the eye or an infected tumour above the eye. From the hamster's behaviour, the antibiotics and eye drops and your care had cleared bacterial infections. So, it is active. Most likely, the infection would recur. You have to decide whether to take the anaesthetic risk of the hamster dying under anaesthesia as the hamster is nearing the end of its life span. If anaesthesized, the hamster's swelling should be lanced (if it is an abscess) to drain the abscess. Or it should be taken out (if it is a tumour). This will be my approach. Diagnosis is not possible with actually examination. Seeing photos may or may not help in the diagnosis. I would say it is unlikely to be an impacted cheek pouch. But there are always "exceptions to the rule" surprises in veterinary medicine and surgery. This case is not similar to the 2001 case (described above) as the location of the swelling is distant from the cheek pouch.  Yours is unlikely to be a cheek pouch abscess as the swelling is located on top of the upper eye-lid. Most likely a supra-orbital abscess or tumour. However, surprises do happen in veterinary medicine and surgery as there can be "exceptions to the rule".  It could still be a cheek pouch abscess!  The chances are that this is a tumour (being an old hamster).

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