Is This Hammy Cancer?

Question

My friend has had two Syrian hamsters and both of them have had a big lump on them and both died soon after.... Is this cancer?? I myself have 3 Male Russian Dwarfs. I would like to know if it is cancer or not and how to prevent my hammys from getting it.

Answer 1

I think it's a tumour, my hamster had a lump on her neck and that turned out to be a tumour. Sadly, tumour's are quite common in hamsters. But don't worry, they are not contagious!

Hope I helped! X

Answer 2

Cancer isn't contagious.

We need to know what the lumps are.  Where are they? Are they soft or hard? It could be an abscess from fighting with another hamster and the infection went systemic and killed him.  It could be coincidental: he died of something unrelated and just had a cyst or bump.

Answer 3

check this page http://www.hamster-club.com/health.asp cancer section - it shows a detailed description and picture of a hamster with cancer

Answer 4

It sounds like a tumor, they are very common in hamsters.  I use the word tumor because I don't know that all hamster tumors are malignant.  There is, unfortunately, very little you can do to prevent a hamster from getting tumors. It has been my experience that once a hamster shows signs of a tumor, it will grow very quickly if not seen by a vet.  Sometimes, the vet can help, sometimes they can not.

Answer 5

my hamster had a lump on him also, and it was cancer, we brought him to the vet :/

Answer 6

As with humans there isn't really anything that can be done to prevent it.  It is not a contagious disease and is something that may, or may not happen. My little hamster had a lump removed, that was possibly cancerous, and is now happy and healthy.  The main point is, that early detection does mean the difference between life and death. If you see a lump, then get it checked out quickly.  Don't worry too much though, as most hamsters go through life without problems, and simply just die of old age.

Answer 7

Go to this site and scroll down to Cancer and also lumps and bumps.

http://www.ask-the-vet.com/hamster-disea...

Answer 8

Hamsters are prone to getting cancers and tumours in their lifetime. The syrian hamsters should have probably had cancer / tumor since you say that they had big lumps on them. My guess is that both were from the same litter and were genetically inclined to cancer.

It is not necesscary that your russian dwarfs should have cancer. Hard though it sounds, even if they have cancer, there is nothing we can do to prevent it since it is genetically inherited from their parents.

Answer 9

Tumors are often hereditory..  doubt cancer would lump like that.

If it is a tumor then yeah.. unlucky.