Nov 29, 2017 admitted for clipping bald and treatment. Very itchy red inflamed lower body.
Young lady owner had consulted 3 vets but the problem was not resolved. She consulted me earlier about the other hamster who had his scrotal area bitten by this hamster. He has recovered after separation and treatment.
A large skin tumour around 3 cm across. A margin of 1 cm is cut off in case there is cancer cells spread into the margins. The owner did not want histopathology.
.
The wound becomes larger and needs stitching using Z-plasty. This was done some 30 days ago. Skin has closed well as shown.
Video is somewhere.
Tumour excised. A Z-plasty closes the circular skin wound.
The dog was out for a walk and his right hind leg stepped into the road side grate. The maid pulled the leg out. The dog could not put down the right hind leg anymore, holding it at right angles above the floor. See video.
Palpation indicated intense pain in tarsal and metatarsal area with big swelling in the metatarsal area. The toe was painful too at D3.
"X-rays are needed to check for fractures," I advised and the owner consented to the X-ray.
Fracture of the tarsal-metatarsal area. Bandage and keep dog in a crate for 4-6 weeks with minimal exercise.
The leg is splinted. Swelling in toes the next day. The splint is removed and the dog is confined to small space to let healing take place. Painkillers given. As at 5 days later, the dog is not in pain.
The young lady owner consulted Vet 1 5 days ago, as her hamster had a small skin wound behind the right ear. Vet 1 applied anti-mite Revolution on the skin and prescribed solutions of anti-fungal, antibiotic and a cream. The skin wound grew redder and bigger and bled daily despite her treatment.
She surfed the internet and consulted Toa Payoh Vets for a solution.
"The 5-mm skin wound looked very much like a granulation lump," I said. The large ear wart behind the right ear and ear wax inside the ear canal would be irritating to he hamster. So she rubbed the skin behind the right ear. This has become hairless."
I examined the hamster's head are in more detail. Two ears had ear warts. The left ear has wart of 3 mm in the front area. The right ear had wart of 5 mm in the back of the ear.
"The cream you applied might have caused more scratching with the right hind paw," I said.
Treatment was to excise the lump and stitch up the wound (see video). The two ear warts were also electro-excised and the skin stitched. Ears were irrigated to flush out the solid yellow wax. The hamster should feel better after this operation.
.
Images
8 days post operation, stitches removed. No more itchiness.
The patient lives in Toa Payoh Lorong 3 which is a short 5-minute drive from Toa Payoh Vets. The vet can wait for the owner to be free or provide a free transport service to pick up the dog at 10 am today. I did the latter. "Business cannot wait for the service provider, the service provider waits for business."
I went to the surgery and forgot the appointment at 10 am to pick up the Corgi, as promised yesterday when the dog came in for vaccination. After all, there are the inpatients and other matters to distract the vet.
I had this reminder in a note taped to the front door so that I cannot miss reading it. The dog is now in the surgery after my assistant helped me to get him from the apartment in Lorong 3. A fine sunny morning.
Korean lady bought this Syrian hamster. Very gentle at home, but made a lot of hissing sounds when i handled him.
Big right inguinal swelling. It was an inguinal hernia which grew larger every day. See previous video.
On Nov 16, 2017, the owner phoned about stitch breakdown. I asked him to bring in quickly as guts may fall out if the hamster continued bitting off the inside muscle stitches.
Only the skin stitches were bitten off. A foul smelly pus inside. The muscle stitches were OK. I drained the pus, used 6% hydrogen peroxide and give oral antibiotics. Warded the patient.
