I've mentioned that we've been pretty busy, well, here is one of many reasons why! This is #Raptor, who was from our #DinoPups litter. I picked her up a few weeks ago as she was going to be heading to join Bibi's family. Unfortunately when we went to get her we found her cheek pouch had prolapsed. The entire pouch was out of her mouth, and there was a small mass inside it. Obviously in her attempts to get the mass out, she prolapsed the pouch. As I was on the phone booking her in for emergency surgery, the cheeky madame popped the same pouch back in. Thus, we were able to delay her surgery and get her in a few days later (I am now an expert pouch replacer, I'll have you know 😂) She had her pouch amputated last Tuesday. Since there are stitches and an incision inside her mouth, Raptor is not allowed to pouch anything until she heals. This means no blocks, no seeds, no bedding... Basically nothing. It's really hard to deny a hamster their instinctual practices, but sadly it's required for her to heal. As such, I have to provide her with a completely liquid diet (emeraid omnivore solution, however I've mixed it with other things as she began to turn it down!). She needs feeding at least 3x a day... So miss Raptor has been joining me at work. We got the results from the histopathology on the mass today. Sadly, poor Raptor has sarcoma, which is a kind of cancer. Her mitosis count is 1, which is low thankfully. We don't have many options - we know there were cancer cells up to the incision meaning that they did not get clean margins. To do so would mean another surgery, and removing part of her cheek. While I am a huge advocate for vet care, there are times when we need to say no. Sadly, this is one of those. Raptor will not have additional surgery (she has been through so much already) but we will monitor and treat the symptoms. If you could think a good thought for Raptor, we would appreciate it. She has a lot of people who love her. 💗 https://www.instagram.com/p/B1XTiN-AJth/?igshid=3v9zrhmzfpa2











