Lumps on hamster.

Dr. Marie replied:

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that Niusha is having these problems. Hamsters are definitely prone to cancer. And a hamster that is older than a year is definitely an older one. (On average they live about 18 months.)

There is a type of virus that can cause lumps on hamsters. However, the lumps that form are actually cancerous. You can read more about this type of situation here: Polyoma Virus.

There are some parasites that hamsters can get but they don't usually cause lumps. They can cause scabby areas and if the scabby areas get infected then I suppose you could see some small lumps. But I would say that cancerous tumors are by far the more likely diagnosis.

There is no harm in asking your vet to do a test called a skin scraping to look for parasites. But, if a parasite is causing this much disease then there is usually an underlying reason for this such as cushing's disease which is very serious.

If Niusha is hardly able to walk then she is probably very uncomfortable and euthanasia really is something that should be considered. Euthanasia is not painful. She will not be aware of what is happening. In cases like this we have to think of what is best for the animal and if she is not enjoying life and has very little hope of improvement then this may be the decision that has to be made. Your vet really should be able to advise you on whether euthanasia is the best decision.

I know this is hard. But it does sound like there is not much that can be done.

I'm so sorry for the bad news.

Dr. Marie.


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Check out our dog age calculator and cat age calculator.

Dr. Marie replied:

Sure! Send me photos at photos@askavetquestion.com.