Now, most people that know me are well aware of the fact that I am a notorious hypochondriac. I'm the sort of person that catches a glimpse of an article on a web page as I'm scrolling past and then spend the rest of the week insisting that I need to be checked for a MRSA. One of my bookmarks on my Chrome browser is WebMD, and I have the app installed on my phone. However, the other day as I was perusing the internet, a long chain of clicking led me to researching different species of hamsters. And, unfortunately, that led me to a site called PetMD. I had no idea how many horrible, horrible medical problems hamsters could have! Walter and Nigel both belong to the genus Phodopus, but Walter is definitely a P. roborovskii, whereas Nigel is a hybrid, most likely of P. sungorus and another species of Phodopus. According to my research, however, Phodopus or dwarf hamsters are prone to hamster diabetes. How do you treat diabetes in hamsters?! Tiny insulin injections?
After a lot more research, I realized that at the moment, Nigel was displaying no signs of diabetes, so he should be fine for now. However, my inquiry into hamster ailments led to quite a list of injuries and conditions common in hamsters. Some of them I was already aware of, like the fact that if hamsters aren't given the proper food and things to chew on, their teeth will grow super long and cause all sorts of issues.
Hamsters are also prone to injuries from falls, since they don't have the greatest depth perception ever, and they tend to walk over the edge of tables, stairs, or cliffs. Like poor Walter in his hamster ball, they often have accidents around the house when they are allowed to roam unsupervised. Depending on how they fall, they can even break their tiny backs, for which there is no cure.
Another really common problem with hamsters is tiny cardiac arrest. Hamsters are a lot like possums, in that when they are faced with a stressful situation, they die. Except for that hamsters don't really come back once the threat is gone. My father once told me of a couple of hamsters he had as a child that both died because the cat looked at them the wrong way one too many times.
Now, hamsters don't really live terrifically long anyways. Depending on the breed, they can live anywhere from two to five years. I never expected Nigel to be a permanent fixture in my life, but I most certainly would not want him to die at the youthful hamster-age of 7 months. So I took it upon myself to check the boys for signs of injury or ailment. I checked Walter's teeth first, and surprisingly he was the MORE cooperative one. If you hold him by his teeny little scruff, he doesn't move. Nigel, however, HATES being turned upside down, and he struggles and throws a fit. As I was trying to get a look at his teeth, I caught a glimpse or something much. MUCH. Worse.
Nigel has a tumor. Right on his little belly.
Tumors are actually fairly common in hybrid breeds of hamsters. Now, about 96% of hamster tumors are not cancerous, but they are certainly an issue. His tumor made it hard for him to run, which in turn made him more at risk for developing diabetes due to lack of exercise. And then there was always the added risk that the tumor could start to grow or spread. For now, I just need to keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn't grow or change. If anything changes, I will need to take him to the vet ASAP.
Some more information about his condition:
What Nigel has is basically a form of hamster melanoma. It is on the outside of his body, growing right on his little scent gland, which looks like a little belly button. He would need surgery to have the tumor removed before it spread to any of his other organs or grew large enough to put him in mortal danger.
The only problem is, hamsters, as mentioned before, do not handle stress well, and surgery is incredibly stressful. Hamsters are known to die on the operating table before the first incision is even made. Nigel is tough though, he isn't often scared of anything. Still, I'm always a little worried that one of these days I am going to come home to find Nigel's tiny little corpse lying in his cage, never to enjoy another sunflower seed again.
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