Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Another Trip To The Vet

I for one never like to go to the vet. It means that something happened to my hamsters. :( And now the next victim is Skippy. We had a long history of having hamsters with warts/abscesses/tumors and whats not. We knew what is coming up when we found Skippy with a growing abscess on her ear.


I called up the vet for a surgery appointment which was rejected. The vet told us to bring Skippy down for a look. Skippy, of all the hamsters, has never been traumatised before. She has never been onto a hand of a stranger and never left home. So horror to her when she was put into the carrier and whisked off to the vet. At the clinic, a panicked Skippy behaved badly that her own owner couldn't even control her. To add to my woes, the vet dare not touch her for the fear Skippy would bite her. So I had to play 'catch' with a 'skippery' hamster in the constraint space. At the end of the consultation, the vet gave me the answer that I already anticipated: "Cut off her whole ear".


So in the mean time, the doctor gave medication for Skippy. As expected, Baytril is the medication. My internal monologue while standing there watching the vet typing away on her pc. "Great, how do I feed this panicky hamster with baytril everyday. What's worse is, her ear will still be a goner." This coming Sunday will be Skippy's last day for her ear if Baytril and thyme tea couldn't help remove the bulge. =(

7 comments:

kitmun said...

Huhh.. So sad :'(

kisetsu said...

Hope the medication and thyme will cure.

Paula RB. said...

hat unpleasant that happens to Skippy.

I had a hamster that appeared in old age dry-warts on the body . According to the Vets, wart is a sign of inbreeding.

I'm cheering for her healing.

Paula - Rio/Brasil

MoB said...

Just like my PipSqueak :( The vet suggested cutting off her foot! :0 But actually the abscess don't seem to bother them very much. Was thinking...just let it be if they are ok. I find the idea of a surgery so traumatic.

kisetsu said...

Hi Paula - Thanks for the kind words. There are two possibilities - inbreeding or bacteria strains which are present in the hamster body. Either way, hamsters these days appear to have such symptoms.

MoB - Surgery usually will be successful, but it is the aftercare that cause the damage. Hamsters are very resilient animals, they strive to live and can get over their handicaps. But surgery will not prevent future growth & is a hard hit to the owner's pocket. =.=

wiffy said...

the vet quite lousy leh... he/she should have worn gloves if scared of being bitten :P how is Skippy now? poor girl :(

kisetsu said...

Haha. Yah, I also astonished when she asked me to catch Skippy out myself. Lol. But Skippy was too panicky and I thot it would be better for me to catch her. =O

Skippy is now one ear less.... And also botak. =(