Hamster with skin disease - fatal?

Question

Hi everyone. I have a hamster (male) who´s about 2 years old. He´s always been healthy. I live in Brazil and there aren´t vets around here that treat rodents. He´s developed a skin condition where the whole underside of his body has a humungous scab on it. It´s more than a millimeter thick. Looks pretty much like an infection. It´s spreading to his back. I´ve been to a vet (non-specific), and he told me to clean the wound every day with hydrogen peroxide and put a cream on it. It doesn´t seem to be getting any better and I can´t find a vet willing to put him to sleep. What do I do? Anyone have any other suggestions? The worst of it is that he still eats and drinks tons of water, and seems almost like he knows his condition and is fighting it. This is breaking my heart. I´m not sure I´d have the guts to have him put to sleep anyways when he looks like he´s actively fighting his problem. What do I do?

Also, when he dies, what should I do with his body? No pet cemetaries around here, not even ground to bury him in - I live in an apartment.

Answer 1

CHANGE HiS BEDDING to another type right away. Clean his cage out entirely every day and try treating it with foot powder (anti-fungal)
A

Answer 2

That is so sad! If your hamster is still eating and drinking, don't worry about putting him to sleep. It is amazing what they can recover from, and there are still things you can try to help him.

Try to find out what the infection is caused by. Look all over the internet and call as many vets and breeders and pet stores as you can. Then you can try to better treat it.

From my experience, it sounds like it is a reaction to something, like mites, bedding, or maybe even a scratch that got really irritated. For any of these problems, you should take all the bedding out of the cage and use plain rabbit pellets, with a soft nest in one corner made out of paper towels. This is kind of a "hypoallergenic" bedding, since it does not have harmful oils like pine or cedar, and doesn't have dust that can stick to the wound. I would only use hydrogen peroxide if there is pus present, and then just use a tiny layer of triple antibiotic cream (like neosporin). If it is mites, the oil in the cream will help suffocate them, and the medicine will help heal the scab. If you use too much, he may lick it off and get diarrhea. If he does get diarrhea, stop using the cream for a day and give him a little glob of plain yogert, and even a drop of pepto bismol a couple times a day. You should be able to get liquid antibiotics from the vet, just make sure it is safe for rodents. I believe about .25cc of Clavamox twice a day would probably be OK, but ask a vet, because it may be half of that, or another antibiotic. I have used this on my rats before, though. Baytril is another antibiotic I've had good luck with, but it is stronger than clavamox.

Give the home treatment a try for a couple weeks and see how it works! Hopefully you can find out what it is so you can treat it in the best way. Good luck!

Answer 3

What kind of bedding is he on? It could be contact dermatitis -- a bad rash from the oils in the bedding. It started on his belly, which is why this is the first thing I'm thinking. If he's on a wood based bedding, try him for a few weeks on a wood-free bedding (CareFresh, paper towels, etc).

What diet is he on? I am not a hamster expert, but with mice and rats some of them get bad skin conditions if they're given way too much protein in their diet.

Mites/lice are another possibility but it's been my experience you'll get little scabs all over, not one big raw spot on the belly and nowehre else. Your vet probably did a skin scraping (sample of dander/fur looked at under a microscope).

If he's still not well, please come back and give us an update. Good luck to you!

Answer 4

i agree with emily. if hes eating & drinking well no reason to put him to sleep as he may recover. use aspen or carefresh for his bedding. take out any pine or cedar immediatley. has he lost his hair? is he scratching? it could be mange caused by mites. if it is mites there is a home remedy u can use.
1 pint of room temperature water
1 Tablespoon of Witchhazel
1 Tablespoon of Listerine (not flavored)

Apply the solution to the mite infected hamster externally with a washcloth or put the solution in a spray bottle and lightly spray the hamster while being careful to protect the eyes, nose and mouth. After you treat the hamster it is important to clean your hamster's cage and accessories thoroughly, change the bedding and spray the solution lightly in the cage and on the hamster's toys and accessories.

make sure to use anti-bacterial soap after every handling.

Answer 5

It actually sounds less like a skin condition to me and more like mites. You may want to try getting treatment for that and even poke around online for care tips for it. Since there aren't a lot of vets dealing in small animals down there, you'll have to play doctor yourself. Good luck!

Answer 6

Try putting over-the-counter anti-fungal creme on him-like clomatrizole {spelling correct?} which is for skin fungus. Or you could try something for mites {is he scratching?} like olive oil,or veg oil. Or even generic antibiotic ointment. Anti fungal worked best here after a warm water swim in the bathroom sink !

Answer 7

he has mites which are little bugs that get on the skin and suck poor animals of heir blood once you have so many mites on one poor little hampster go to the store and get some baking soda and make a paste and rubb it allover his lil body except his eyes and nose and if he still doesnt live wait 9 months before getting a new one so the mites dye off as for for barrying the lil guyget a shoe box and go to the park and bury him ......