Fur and weight loss

[Kikya]

Okay, I went through his photos and put some together. I wish the lighting was all the same for comparison.

The dates are really correct. Note that August 30th was ~2 weeks after starting twice daily antibiotics and one antiparasitic treatment. He actually kept losing fur for 2 weeks after the initial vet visit, which scared me. Most of his fur seemed to grow back a week later. But from different angles, I can tell that his fur is still thin there. That doesn't show through as easily in the photos. Because he re-grew fur so fast, I just feel he could lose it just as fast.

EDIT. Here is a photo that sort of shows off the thin pattern on his face.

On his back, the area above his bottom lost fur. You can't tell that as easily from the photo. There was a bare sort of triangle area.
back-patches.jpg

I had a Cushing's ham and he lived a long happy life on a small amount of medication a day. If your vet can provide you with a prescription for Trilostane (brand name Vetoryl) you could try it and see how he does with it. I had to get mine from a specialty compounding pharmacy. Cushing's is a progressive disease but the sooner you get a diagnosis and treatment the better the hamster has of living a normal life. You can read about it here:
viewtopic.php?t=116&sid=166097865718329 ... dba1e86f13

I recommend measuring his water intake before and after medication to give you an idea if it's working, if you go that route.

There is also a possibility that it could be cutaneous lymphoma, which is can be similar to Cushing's in presentation but shows decline more rapidly.
https://www.vettimes.co.uk/app/uploads/ ... mphoma.pdf
Unfortunately, I haven't seen much in way of treatment for hamsters for cancer. If this is the diagnosis, then treatment is more about quality of life.

[hamsworth]

We don't know if it's Cushing's disease or not. The vets here also don't do things like ultrasound or blood work or surgery for hamsters.I'll keep watching him and weighing him. He was a few more days on the anti-fungal. I'm hoping he'll run more after he finishes that medication. Hasn't run much lately.

I haven't seen increased thirst or urination yet. He seemed more active on the antibiotics than now. I'll see how he is in a few weeks. I could ask for another vet visit. Sorry. Just tired. Putting stuff together to tweak his tank. Make him happier, especially if he only has a few months.

[shirmarsh]

We don't know if it's Cushing's disease or not. The vets here also don't do things like ultrasound or blood work or surgery for hamsters.I'll keep watching him and weighing him. He was a few more days on the anti-fungal. I'm hoping he'll run more after he finishes that medication. Hasn't run much lately.

I haven't seen increased thirst or urination yet. He seemed more active on the antibiotics than now. I'll see how he is in a few weeks. I could ask for another vet visit. Sorry. Just tired. Putting stuff together to tweak his tank. Make him happier, especially if he only has a few months.

I'm sorry to hear about your hamster. It sounds like you're doing everything you can to take care of him. It's good that you're keeping a close eye on his symptoms and considering another vet visit. Hopefully, he'll feel better soon. Take care of yourself, too.the nature meds

[hamsworth]

Thank you. <3

I've got some NHV drop supplements I'm giving him: multivitamin and milk thistle.

The fur on his nose has been thinning then re-growing then thinning again. His weight is ok (around 150 grams). He seems healthy otherwise. Not running as much, but he is over a year and a half now. I'm thinking to make another check-up appointment for him in November.

I will say that his appetite does seem a bit higher than normal. If it's Cushing's disease, I wouldn't be surprised. I wonder what the vet will say now. I'm so glad his weight rebounded.

[hamsworth]

My little one passed away. He didn't pass away from this fur loss and he regained most of his weight (being 150 grams on his last day compared to 160-170 grams in his healthier days). I just noticed him running less over the last two-three months and then eating less over the last few weeks. He would start to not finish his broccoli and then he would just take his broccoli, barely touch it, but stash it. His body moved more as he breathed. Then he started eating less dry food, although I still put out plenty for him. I had made an appointment with a specialist for him, but one night his breathing became strained. He had rested his head at the entrance of his den, after a few days of staying almost entirely in his den, and his breathing was even worse. This was also the point where he would only nibble a piece of chickpea or the tastiest treat before letting it fall next to him. I didn't hear him make any noise as he breathed, but his whole body moved a lot with each breath. I also had noticed that for the last 2 weeks, he was swelling up from his back end to about his mid section. I'm guessing there was a tumour growing that caused the swelling. Probably cancer?

In the end, the fur on his nose was thinning but the fur had re-grown and there weren't patches of no fur anymore and he had also regained a lot of his weight. My guess is he died from the unrelated swelling (cancer?) which caused either pressure on his organs from the swelling, pressure on his lungs from the swelling, organ failure, or heart failure.

One thing I learned is that when I was faced with his weight loss, I think that putting out a lot more dry food than usual gave him 2 more months. I've never been one to give a hamster only as much as they need... some people say to only give a dwarf 1 teaspoon and a Syrian 1 tablespoon? I happily give them more food each day even though they stash a lot. But instead of giving him a small bowl of dry food a day, I started giving him about 1 to 2 measuring cups of food each day. I would lay it out on his roof (his "food roof"!). He started to eat more immediately and gain weight. He wouldn't eat all the food and he became pickier and pickier over time... but I still had that food there for him. I would give him more dry food each day and throw it out every 2-3 days (because he had picked through it and the roof was covered). As he became weaker, I would spread apart the food for him so that he could pick through it with less difficulty. This used up more food, but another bag of food doesn't cost that much.

[ForgetfulBreeze]

Spoiler

My little one passed away. He didn't pass away from this fur loss and he regained most of his weight (being 150 grams on his last day compared to 160-170 grams in his healthier days). I just noticed him running less over the last two-three months and then eating less over the last few weeks. He would start to not finish his broccoli and then he would just take his broccoli, barely touch it, but stash it. His body moved more as he breathed. Then he started eating less dry food, although I still put out plenty for him. I had made an appointment with a specialist for him, but one night his breathing became strained. He had rested his head at the entrance of his den, after a few days of staying almost entirely in his den, and his breathing was even worse. This was also the point where he would only nibble a piece of chickpea or the tastiest treat before letting it fall next to him. I didn't hear him make any noise as he breathed, but his whole body moved a lot with each breath. I also had noticed that for the last 2 weeks, he was swelling up from his back end to about his mid section. I'm guessing there was a tumour growing that caused the swelling. Probably cancer?

In the end, the fur on his nose was thinning but the fur had re-grown and there weren't patches of no fur anymore and he had also regained a lot of his weight. My guess is he died from the unrelated swelling (cancer?) which caused either pressure on his organs from the swelling, pressure on his lungs from the swelling, organ failure, or heart failure.

One thing I learned is that when I was faced with his weight loss, I think that putting out a lot more dry food than usual gave him 2 more months. I've never been one to give a hamster only as much as they need... some people say to only give a dwarf 1 teaspoon and a Syrian 1 tablespoon? I happily give them more food each day even though they stash a lot. But instead of giving him a small bowl of dry food a day, I started giving him about 1 to 2 measuring cups of food each day. I would lay it out on his roof (his "food roof"!). He started to eat more immediately and gain weight. He wouldn't eat all the food and he became pickier and pickier over time... but I still had that food there for him. I would give him more dry food each day and throw it out every 2-3 days (because he had picked through it and the roof was covered). As he became weaker, I would spread apart the food for him so that he could pick through it with less difficulty. This used up more food, but another bag of food doesn't cost that much.

I'm sorry for your loss. He lived a wonderful life with you and you did everything you could. 🩷