Saturday, April 20, 2019

3302. A dwarf hamster has a bald back half of the body

Apr 20, 2019

The hamster had been chewing wooden toys and stone daily till his front teeth are very short. "I provide the wooden toys so that he would not chew himself," the owner said. "His hairs had grown back but is now hairless again in his back area."

He passed larger than normal hamster stools. He is thin, weighing 32g although the average weight for a dwarf hamster is 40g - 45g.

It is difficult to know the exact cause of this hamster developing a balding half of the body.

His ear canals were checked and were free of dirt. Infected ears can lead to itchy back flank areas in the dog. Anal sacculitis can lead to tail biting and hair loss in the backside. Hormonal imbalance can cause similar alopecias. Flea allergic dermatitis cause hair loss on the back half of the cat.  But little is known about the causes of back alopecia in the pet dwarf hamster in Singapore. One cause seen in Toa Payoh Vets is the back biting wound infections by another hamster when they live together.
An anti-fungal wash and medication and anti-inflammatory medicine are prescribed for 10 days. All wooden toys which may irritate his skin or cause allergy from ingestion or contact should be removed.

It is not practical to make him wear Elizabeth collars as he will try to pull it off, but I have success with some dwarf hamsters.



















 

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