Hamsters and Veterinary Care

This was posted by Vampyre on the Acme Pet Hamster Message Board, and I thought she made some very good points. Please read if you are questioning whether or not to take your small pet to the vet.

I've been reading through the board and I realized that many people posting with problems don't have a vet they feel free to pick up the phone and call for advice. I seriously suggest that everyone consider getting one. The excused I hear most often for avoiding vet care are:

1) I don't have the money./ My parents won't take me.
2) I don't know how much this is going to cost.
3) I would feel silly taking a ________(hamster, rat, parakeet, cockatiel, ferret) to the vet.
4) It's going to cost more than I paid for it.
5) They will just put it to sleep.

My reply to this is:

1) There is no such thing as a cheap pet. Vet care is part of the package, just like the cage, food, toys, and bedding costs. With hamsters the first visit can save you from mistakes. This is where the vet tells you that pine and cedar cause respiratory problems in hamsters. This is where he or she tells you that you have a m/f pair instead of the two females you wanted so you can go back and exchange for what you wanted instead of having a litter in a few weeks. If there are signs of illness this is a good time to return the animals and find a new breeder or petstore.

2) I suggest that you sit down with the phone book before you make the trip to the pet store and find out how much different vets charge for an office visit for a hamster. If the person who answers the phone is impatient, cross them off your list. You don't need that kind of behavior if you have an emergency later. Ask if rodents are a regular part of their practice and if they perform surgeries on rodents.

3) Doing step #2 and following up with a new pet visit takes that feeling away. You know the vet isn't going to look at you funny when a real problem arises.

4) See #1. Vet care needs to be a planned expense.

5) You get to make the decisions about your pet's care, not the vet. When you take them in, after the exam, the vet should tell you what he or she recommends be done, what other options there are, and how much these options are going to cost. Then you as the pet owner decide what you want done, and what you can afford.

Please don't think I'm being overly officious. I've made some of these mistakes. With our first two hamsters, I decided not to do the first exam. I kept them on pine bedding and when Sam got a respiratory infection, I wound up calling 4 different vets to find one who would take a hamster emergency. Oddly enough, I found out that my avian specialist also cares for small exotics. It was at that point that I found out that they could do something other than just end their suffering, as well as get the lecture about shreded paper bedding for hamsters. Poor Sam died, but I learned a valuable lesson.

When Imp got an abscess in his tummy scent gland, I knew who to call, how much the office call would be, and that I had options for his treatment. We wound up having hamster surgery to remove the gland and abscess. Cost? $35. And the tech clipped all his toe nails when she shaved his tummy, a chore I usually spend an hour or so trying to get accomplished.

One note to the parents who believe that rodents are pets who don't need vet care, and die some time in the future, quietly in their sleep. I'm sorry, but this is just not the way things are. The reason for getting pets for children is for them to form a nurturing bond, and learn to care for something other than themselves. It's an important part of growing up. Vet care may very well be a necessary part of the picture. When I took Sam to the vet, it was so my 14 year old son would not have to watch his pet die, like I did 25 years ago when the vet laughed at my mother for asking about care for a rodent. This is also an excellent opportunity to teach children that they have to put away some money for emergencies.