307. Hamster loses weight after abscess treatment - email advices

E-MAIL TO DR SING DATED JAN 19, 2011

Good morning!

I have a worrying situation here.. :(

My 19 months Syrian had his abscesses drained out on Sunday ( 16 Jan ). The vet at Vet XXX discovered some dry blood on his upper chest. When they press it, there are pus. So they drained it out and put some gel on it so that bacteria will not go in the wound. The funny thing is that my hamster stay alone.I dont understand how he can get hurt coz when i checked the website, it was stated that "abscesses occur when a bite, scratch or wound become infected". Maybe he hurt himself while running around freely in my living room when I give him playtime?? I never know... :(

Anyway, the vet drained the pus off and I have been going to the vet since Mon daily to have his wound clean up. I also have been giving him benepac (probiotic ) and a drop of baytril daily.

The problem is his weight was 164g on 9 Jan 2011 and it dropped to 154g on 16 Jan 2011 ! yesterday, I weight him and he is 153g !! I am so worry about his weight lost...
Other then that, he is fine. He still play on this wheel, climbing the cage etc....

I noticed that he is not eating much. He is on soft diet ( such as mashed sweet potatoes, eggs, coconuts , organic baby cereal etc ) since June 2010 as he doesnt have his upper teeth ( which required me to bring him to the vet at least once 7-10 days for his teeth trimming too.. haiz...

What shall I do? Is he in pain and that's why he doesnt have any appetite?

Thank you.

Yours sincerely
Name of Owner

EMAIL REPLY FROM DR SING DATED JAN 19, 2011

Weight loss is serious if it continues. If the hamster is not having good appetite after abscess drainage, there may still be residual abscess and bacterial infections. As each vet has his or her own method of treatment of abscesses and I have NOT seen the hamster and therefore is speculating that the infection is still there. Depending on the size and extent, some large abscesses need more than one surgical drainage.

You may need to give his hamster pellets and seeds and electrolytes (mashed food) and syringe feed every 2 hours 6x/day in small amounts for the next few days. Review with your vet again your concern. Diagnosis and advice by e-mail is never good nor accurate.