3438. ****Eyelid abscesses in a dwarf hamster in 2008. Case study 1.

8 Nov 2020. Video creation.

HOOK Eyelid Abscesses in dwarf hamsters, like Ear Abscesses in red-eared sliders in Singapore are surgical conditions presented at Toa Payoh Vets. Abscesses in late stages may recur. The vet must give the owner in writing that there is a possibility of recurrence to prevent misunderstanding.  BE KIND TO PETS IMAGE TITLE The owner is unhappy when her hamster's eyelid abscess recur. DEFINE ABSCESS An abscess is a pocket of pus. It can be present anywhere in the body. When an area of your body becomes infected, white blood cells fight the bacteria within the damaged tissue. The area becomes inflamed and in some cases, pus forms in an area. This is known as an abscess. TREATMENT OF RECURRENT ABSCESS: 1. SURGERY. INCISION AND DRAINAGE. Incision and drainage under general anaesthesia. The vet uses a scalpel to cut the abscess so that the pus will drain out. Normal saline is used to wash or irrigate the wound. I recommend a LONGER CUT (more than 5 mm, if possible) to permit residual pus to be drained out post-operation. A video is shown:  https://youtu.be/2MToYprOA0Y  2. REMOVAL OF THE CAPSULE OF THE ENCAPSULATED ABSCESS. This procedure applies to abscesses enveloped by a thick shell. Hence it is called an encapsulated abscess. Incision and drainage will not be effective. Such encapsulated abscesses are not found in dwarf hamsters but can be found in guinea pigs and rabbits. POST OPERATION NURSING CARE FOR THE FIRST 3 DAYS 3 days of inpatient care to prevent recurrence of the abscess in the dwarf hamster and red-eared slider (ear abscess). We use cotton bud tips to express any residual pus from above and below the incision daily. Then we drip antibiotic eye drops onto the eyes and wound. TIPS AND ADVICES TO VETS COMPLAINT OF RECURRENT ABSCESSES Some owners insist on bringing the hamster home on the same day but do NOT know how to provide the prescribed nursing care for at least 3 DAYS. It costs money to treat a recurring abscess. Some owners dispute that they had been advised on the post-operation care as they just applied eye drops onto the wound. The residual pus inside the fast-healing wound regroups to form a recurrent abscess. WRITTEN POST-OP CARE INSTRUCTION TO PREVENT RECURRENT ABSCESSES To prevent misunderstanding, the vet should get the owner to sign a written instruction to the owner on the post-op care and record this in the medical record. MORE INFORMATION AT: --------------------------------- TOA PAYOH VETS PTE LTD toapayohvets.com   Blk 1002, Toa Payoh Lor 8, 01-1477, Singapore 319074.  Tel: +65 6254-3326, 9668-6468, judy@toapayohvets.com, 99pups@gmail.com Focus: Small animals -dogs, cats, guinea pigs, hamsters, pet rats and mice, birds and turtles       November 06, 2020

EYELID ABSCESSES IN DWARF HAMSTERS

Two Case: Subconjunctival Abscesses in Dwarf Hamsters    Case 1 - First written: Sep 15, 2008 Case 2 - First written: Apr 28, 2015 Updated: Nov 6, 2020 Case 1. 2008 1.5-year-old dwarf hamster. 3rd recurrence of eyelid abscess. Why? Eyelid abscess is lanced  Eyelid abscess was lanced and drained 4 days ago. Goes home. Proper nursing and hygiene in cage and feeding environment Eyelid abscesses lanced and drained 2 days ago.  The Hamster has swollen eyelids again. "Doc, I will go bankrupt if I continue consulting you," the young lady was worried. "This is the 3rd time in 2 months I have to bring my hamster to be treated." I was amazed. The eyelids of the hamster puffed up again. Full of solid creamy pus that was drained during the past 2 visits. It is an uncommon condition. Why was this hamster having such a problem? Was it his poor immune system due to his age or something in the environment? Why did the bacteria go for the eyelids? Abscesses in hamsters usually are cheesy in character. Usually the hamster's eyes become closed due to the stickiness nature of the pus acting as glue. But in this case, the hamster's eyes did not have pus. The pus was inside his eyelids!      BE KIND TO OLDER HAMSTERS Spend time to clean his water bottle, water bowl and cage regularly. A lack of hygiene in his sleeping and eating area caused this hamster to have eyelid infections. The owner saw me 3 times for the same problem. In her case, she wanted the hamster to drink from the water bowl as the water bottle was leaking. The hamster had to dig into a high feed bowl which is commonly used by Singapore hamster owners too. I presumed the food debris from the hamster's mouth contaminated the water bowl. The water had bacteria and since the hamster drank from the high water bowl, the bacteria got into his eyes and the eyelids. After switching to the water bottle and personally nursing the hamster using the eye drops, the lady owner did not go bankrupt as the hamster recovered. I can imagine that the hamster had to rub his eyes after drinking water from the bowl. Some water could have splashed inside the eyes, together with the food dust, causing eye itchiness. Hence, more rubbing of the eyelids, causing infections to get inside the eyelids---forming eyelid abscesses.

Case 2.  2015 How to prevent a hamster's subconjunctival abscess from recurring The owner wanted the hamster home on the same day as the treatment of the abscess some 5 weeks ago. She disputed that I had advised her how to do post-discharge care. I had told her verbally to use a cotton bud tip to rub above and below the skin wound to express out the pus, daily. In this way, any residual pus would be let out and the abscess would not recur. She only put eye drops.      This article teaches owners how to handle this problem and to prevent the abscess from recurring.  A small skin incision heals too fast if the owner does not express the pus on the second day. There will be pockets of pus still inside the skin. So the abscess recurs. This video shows how an abscess is treated by me at Toa Payoh Vets. Isoflurane + oxygen gas anaesthesia is used here. The whole process of lancing, curetting, irrigating and draining the abscess takes around 5 minutes. The hamster is OK and will be an in-patient for 2 days. On Day 2, I reviewed this gentle chubby hamster. I expressed more yellow pus from the incision wound. By inching out the residual pus, the wound can heal without another abscess popping out in the next week. The owner phoned and her male friend came to check the hamster. She asked whether the hamster could go home. I said no. Hamsters are family members and so the lady owner did not want her as an in-patient but would not want to pay for a recurrent abscess.    POST DISCHARGE NURSING ADVICE IN WRITING. The vet must let the owners wanting to bring the hamster home on the same day, they will have to bear the responsibility of post-discharge nursing and to pay in full should the hamster recur. This should be in writing to prevent any misunderstanding of the responsibilities of post-discharge care and much unhappiness in having to pay again for treatment.  This hamster stayed 2 nights in-patient and was cleared of pus on Day 3. She went home and should not have any recurring abscess within the next 2 weeks.      398. Blog: How to prevent a subconjunctival abscess from recurring Pt 3   397. Video: A dwarf hamster after abscess surgery Pt 2   396. Video: Instructions on the post-discharge care of hamster eyelid subconjunctival abscess Pt 1   Recurrent abscess lanced, curetted, irrigated and drained at Toa Payoh Vets

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