my hamster is dying

Question
Louie is a Syrian hamster.he's nearly 3 and he's had a good and healthy, happy life. unfortunately he's on his way out bless him! i'm expecting him to pop off any day and am keeping an eye on him to make sure he's not suffering in the meantime. i've had hamsters before and if necessary have had them put to sleep if they were suffering. Louie has developed a huge lump by his left ear that is oozing a clear liquid every so often.i thought it might be an ear infection so i had him to the vets the other day.she said its a growth and not an ear infection and antibiotics won't do anything so its just a case of bathing it for him and frequently changing his bedding to keep it as clean as possible (which i'd been doing anyway).since then tghough his head has started tilting and he's losing his balance and falling over a lot.i'm reluctant to put him to sleep yet as he's still eating and showing a bit of interest.he just looks a bit odd thats all.is there an indication that would let me know if he is in pain..like a squeak or something? he's so loved, i want to do the right thing for him.

Answer
Hello. Well you are certainly an excellent parent. When we had sick hamsters at work we could tell if they were suffering. There were always key signs. One would be that if they were in true pain they would stop moving and stay in one spot. This was the case when they rectum collapsed or they had wettail. That's painful regardless. Hamsters that are in pain do scream and sometimes will defend themselves if you touch a sore spot. Since your hamster is still eating and drinking he doesn't seem to be in pain to me, with the growth it just seems that he is just a little out of balance. I believe he still has some spunk in him, he just may be a little uncomfortable with the growth but not truly uncomfortable. If you can handle him maybe try antibacteria ointment or spray that way any bacteria that may be making the growth worse will be killed. At work we use antibacterial spray that's for dogs. We just follow the directions and read them carefully. As long as you are using aspen bedding and not ceder or pine, that will really help with any irritants as well. We did have a mouse with a growth on his back and we treated him with antibacterial spray and he got better actually. We kept his cage clean and he was eating and drinking just fine. He is doing fine now and the growth is slowly shrinking though. Since it is oozing white puss I reccomend the antibacterial spray for it. Good Luck on your hamster :-). I think he has some spunk left and is grateful to have you as a parent. Good Luck on everything!