Should I have her put to sleep?

Question

My serian hamster, Q.T., developed a fatty tumor a few months ago. I didn't take her to the vet because I know they can't remove fatty tumors, so I decided not to waste my money on a vet visit, when I already know whats wrong.

Well, the thing has gotten big, SO big. Its about the same size as her head. Its located right between her front arms.

It doesn't cause her any pain, but it does get in the way. She has to walk kind of funny because of it, and she has difficulty getting into her wheel because it gets in the way.

Do you think I should put her to sleep. This thing doubled in size in like 2 weeks, and its just gonna keep getting bigger. If we have her put to sleep, it will be tomorrow. Or, do you think I should wait a while longer

Please, I need advise!

The only way to remove the tumors is my surgery, and hamsters rarely even survive it. So, I decided to let her go about it naturally, and just let it go until it got to bad. That way, she wouldn't have to deal with the stress of the vet.

If we do take her to the vet tomorrow, and the vet says he can drain it, then thats what ill do, but you can't drain fatty tumors, so im almost possitive she will be put to sleep

Ok, listen here "sweetmom" I had a hamster that had a tumor before, so we took it to the vet. So, the vet drained it, and taught me how to tell if it is a cancerous tumor, or a fatty tumor. I KNOW this is a fatty tumor....it is not hard, but just full of fat, and it is huge. There would have been no point for me to take her to the vet, and get her all stressed out just so the vet can tell me exactly what I already know. I researched it, and decided what i was going to do

You should be glad that Im even going to take her to the vet at all..... only .5% of rodent owners take their rodents to the vet anyways....so don't harp me for doing the right thing!

My hamsters are all cared for extremely well, they get a clean cage once a week, and she is in a huge cage made for a rat (the bars are close together by the way). She gets her veggies, and gets a weekly health exam (by me)....so please don't tell me that I am a bad pet owner, because frankly, I think I do a pretty good job of it!!

Answer 1

I have had a few rats and one hamster with tumors, I have ad two rats with inoperable tumors. My vet always told me that if the rats were not in pain and were eating, drinking, grooming, etc that there was no need to put them to sleep. The tumor does not cause pain.

As the tumors grew they leached off the animals bodies causing them to grow weak, loose weight and stop eating. My first rat had two tumors removes and the last was inoperable(because of the position). She lived a few weeks with the tumor. In the end it was 1/4 the size of her body, but she was still eating, grooming and had life quality. She only really started to go down hill the last two or three days. She was still eating and had weight, but I was cleaning her since she was having difficulty moving. She wasn't able to walk toward the end(last few days), but seemed happy to just stay in my lap. On the last day I had her I walked over to her cage and she was just lying there, she wouldn't eat and didn't even acknowledge I was there. I knew now it was the right time, her quality of life was gone, and I probably held on to her a few days longer than I should(probably should have brought her in on the first of the last two/tree days when she could no longer walk, but I wasn't ready to let her go yet)

I think as long as the hamster still has quality of life then there is no reason to rush putting him down. If he is eating, drinking and not lethargic than don't put him down yet. If the tumor does begin the cause weight loss that feed a high calories diet. At this point they can basically eat anything they want.

Answer 2

I'm sorry to hear about this. And I'm sorry some people are accusing you of being a bad pet owner. When it comes to rodents, tumors grow VERY fast and there really isn't a lot you can do if you don't have a lot of money. I think a lot of people don't realize is that it can cost as much to take a rodent to the vet as it dose a dog, and it usually doesn't help much, or improve their quality of life. Its very sad but true. If her tumor is growing that rapidly, and is bringing down her quality of life, the humane thing to do would be to put her down.

Answer 3

you could have called a vet and asked what they think, if it isn't a fatty tumor and it is something else you'll feel like an *** for not "waisting" your money on someones life... that is just plain selfish, it is never a waiste to try to help a creature with a proffessional... you didn't have the x rays did you? did the vet say it was a "fatty tumor" if not then don't be so full of yourself to think that you are right and you know what to do, if you know what it is and a VET told you that is what it is then the vet should answer any questions now... if you haven't gone you better go and talk to a vet now! What if this was your life? wouldn't you deserve to be taken care of by doctors?

Answer 4

dont make the same mistake agai nu did a mistake by not taking u hamster to vet my rabbbit had ear tumor for over a month first i didnt know what it can be i thought that it was an infection or soemthing else but it just kept getting bigger and bigger so i decided to take him to vet they told me that the surgery will cost about 300 $
i bring hi mto vet to remove the tumor but he didnt make it thru the sugrey he passed out

Answer 5

my hammy had a fatty tumor too, well i took it to the vet and they gave me some medicine to put in her water, so i did and it did and the tumor did not die down, i dont know if it eased the pain or not, well i let her carry on because the vet said that she probably would not survive if she got the surgery so i just kept her and played with her as much as i could and gave her treats and all that good stuff and eventually she just passed away, if u dont want her to be in bad pain u could put her down or just play with her and make her life as wonderful as it could be until she passes on, good luck!!!

Answer 6

I've read all your details and I'm really satisfied as a pet owner that there are really people out there who love their pets and are willing to even try to get advice when there's not much left to do. I really think that you should put her to sleep. I know that it might be hard for you to do, but she's really uncomfortable right now and needs to be relieved. Since it's going to get bigger by the day now, I don't think that she'll be very happy in her condition. I know I wouldn't. Just put you into her shoes and decide from there. Good Luck.

Answer 7

I have had Hamsters with fatty tumour before and the vet has removed them with no problems. If the hamster is other wise healthy they will do fine with the surgery. But this is your decision and you have to make the one that is right for you, if she is not in pain I see no reason to put her to sleep.

Answer 8

Honestly, if I were you, I would put Q.T. down. If that happened to me, and I were Q.T. I would want to be put down. It might not look like it causes pain, but, it could be, like you said, in the way. I remember when my guinea pig had a huge tumor kind of thing in his cheek. He under went surgery (which, let me tell ya, wasn't cheap!). They drained it out for him. They told us if we didn't do this, then the whole bump would explode, and would be uncomfortable. So, instead of putting him down, we did the surgery. A few days after the surgery, he sadely passed on. I think that it was better for him, since, you could tell that he was in pain.

It's really up to you. But, I am just saying, it's best to put him down. I hope that i helped! Thanks, and, good luck,

~ Future Vet

Answer 9

Please do the right thing and let her go in her sleep.
she cant be comfortable with that Tumour. But what worrying me is, there could be the possibilty there might be a more sinister tumour lurking in her. Let her go, even if you decide to operate, there is a Huge risk with a little thing like that to survive the G/A. Sounds like you gave her a lovely home. But me personally i let her go to sleep and know that she never ever suffered any pain.

Answer 10

You should do something...put her to sleep or get the tumor removed. It's always hard to loose a pet but think about what's best for her.