663. Follow up on hamster with itchy elbows and knees - Oct 7, 2011

"Is your hamster still licking her elbows and knees?" I phoned the young lady on Oct 7, 2011, around 3 days after I had given an anti-inflam injection and prescribed medication, advised change of diet.

"Much better. Slightly itchy though. Some hairs are growing."
"It will take some time to be free of itchiness," I said. "Did you feed sunflower seeds?"
"No," she believed that sunflower seeds cause obesity. The dwarf hamster weighed 91 g 4 weeks ago when she came in for the first consultation. 3 days ago, she weighed 86 g.
"What food do you feed?" I asked.
"Pumpkin seeds," she said. "I could not find melon seeds for sale." I did advise buying the dried melon seeds from some provision shops, shelling them and feeding to the hamster since she did not want to feed sunflower seeds which are the usual component of a hamster's ration in Singapore.

It would need another 4 weeks for the hamster to recover.