our hamster is really sick

Question
We have a teddy bear hamster named alvin. He is our pet "dog" so to say. He plays in the grass with my kids, is litter box trained, loves bubble baths, and lets you love on him for hours at a time without running off. He is the best. For almost a week now he has had diarrhea, thought that it was wet tail, but now he has blood in his urine. Took him to the vet today, no one really specializes in hamsters around here, but vet pointed out long black line on his stomach. He said that it looks like a tumor and that there was nothing more that we could do except give him some medicine to try to shrink it. This has broke my heart. My kids love him so much... I love him so much. Is there not something else that we can do?  

Answer
Hi Jennifer

I'm sorry to hear about Alvin.  You haven't said how old he is.  Sadly tumors are very common in elderly hamsters and often there is little that can be done other than to make sure they are not in any pain.

If he is suffering from diarrhoea you can give him oral rehydration - if you buy a packet of the ones designed for humans and mix a sachet with water as per the instructions.  this can be put in his water bottle or given via a dropper.  You can also give a probiotic - Avipro is a brand you can get from the vet, or you can give acidophillus - this is sold in the health shops.  If you get either in powder form or the type that is in capsules then empty one in his water bottle.  This helps replace friendly bacteria that is needed in the gut. You can also give him this through a dropper.   Also, don't give any fancy food - just give a hamster dry mix, bread, raw porridge oats etc.  Avoid giving fresh vegetables for a few days and definitely don't give lettuce. Once his bowel settles you can reintroduce foods.

Regarding the 'tumor'.  It is hard to say how fast it will grow - sometimes it is very fast, other times incredibly slow.  The key thing is making sure he isn't in any pain.  If you are concerned that he is, there is a drug that you get from the vet called Metacam.  This is an anti-inflammatory.  Whilst it probably won't help the tumor I have found that hamsters seem to respond well to it and at least then you know they aren't in any pain.

If he still has diarrhoea I think it is worth trying the oral rehydration and probiotic and see what response you get over the next few days or so.  If there is no improvement or if he deteriorates then it would be good to get him back to the vet.

It is hard to know how well he will deal with this - some hamsters have a phenomenal will to live and don't give up easily.  However, if this is a tumor then the time may come when you have to make that difficult decision.

I do hope you get on OK.

Regards