My hamster has a tumor but seems fine. Should I still worry?

I think as long as Snowball eats and drinks and appears happy and not in pain, you can just monitor her and make sure she stays happy. Make the holes bigger or remove the small holes, so she does not get stuck. Listen to your mouse. She will tell you when it is time to let her go. Also should the tumor start to ulcerate or bleed, she will be prone to infections, and that may also be time to let go. But until then you can spoil her with treats and pets and a good life.

Your hamster, by now, is a very old hamster and practically at the late stage of his life. You need to weigh up how his recovery from the first surgery was and how long it took. It may be more humane to not put him through surgery again and let him live his last months of life as well as possible, There is pain medicine that can be given for a while if you think he is in pain. Finally, once he stops eating and/or you feel he is suffering, you can give him the best gift by euthanasia to stop his suffering. Should you have the tumor removed, it very likely will come back again, and it is also not a given that he makes it through anesthesia. I am sorry about the situation, you are taking good care of your baby and diseases like this always are traumatic to the animal as well as the owner.

Poor Mac, sorry to hear he has got a tumour. Two and half years old is a very good age for an hamster, and he is lucky to have made it until then ! I totally understand your point of view, as I had an hamster myself. However we need to consider things in view of his age and the fact that he will probably not tolerate a big op, so I would personally continue to spoil him and love him without causing any suffering until he is having a good quality of life and he is pain free. Hope this helps, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello. Unfortunately, cancer in a 2 year old hamster is very common. If it smells , it means the tumor has probably outgrown its blood supply & the tissues are beginning to die. Unless you have the tumor removed, the kindest thing to do is euthanize Poppy. This will not get better on its own & will just continue to fester & smell worse. Poisons will get into her system making her sicker & sicker. I am so sorry, but this is a common thing to happen with hamsters. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I would need to see it to confirm but it is probably a tumor, in hamsters these tumors are usually malignant and not treatable, surgery is a possibility but it would personally not recommend it. other than that there is very little that can be done, if the lump ulcerates then antibiotic treatment can be attempted to treat the secondary infection.

Thanks for reaching out about Chip and including photos. If the tumor site is infected, antibiotics might help calm the area down, but is not a treatment of the tumor. Anti-neoplastic treatments are possible in hamsters but difficult. Surgical excision, radiation therapy, oral anti-cancer medications, have all been used in rodents, and are possible. Fur is likely to grow back after healthy tissue is present. Good luck.

These types of tumors are very common in old hamsters, they do tend to grow fast too. it's not possible to know how long he has left, but probably not very long. if the problem is affecting him locally only, there is a surgical option to have it removed, which is the only thing that can help at this point.