Hamster terrified by dog and becomes very slow

[chipstea]

Hi everyone, I have a 5 months old female syrian hamster and she is absolutely adorable and energetic. She is used to me but has never meet any other animals. The last weekend I was looking after my cousin’s dog which is used to children and cats but has never seen a hamster. While my cousin were explaining to me how to take care of the dog, the dog run around the house and sniffing everything and found my hamster cage. It was on a high table so he can’t reach it but I think he can smell my hamster there, and at the same time my hamster was outside of her hut (she usually wakes up once or twice during the day to pee) so she saw him too. The dog wasn’t barking or making any aggressive noises at all (we would noticed it earlier if he was barking, he is a very well behaved dog) but both of them look really surprised and just sit there frozen and look at each other. We took the dog outside and locked the room so he can’t get there anymore. My hamster has to be terrified by that, she still eat and drink and her poo looks normal but she is very slow now, slow walking, slow at taking treats, isn’t interested in free range, I am not sure if she’s still scared and being ultra cautious or is she ill? could she have a heart attack? it’ about a day already when the dog is gone

[Shannonmcn]

It's only been a day or two, I'd just give her time. I had the same thing happen to me with a previous ham and just the smell of the dog who came in while she was asleep, she wasn't right for a few days. Your wee one can almost definitely still smell the dog now tbh.

If she's still eating and drinking and not showing any other signs of illness I would just keep her nice and quiet. Maybe give the room a good hoover and an air out to get rid of any lingering dog smells and see how she gets on.

Accidents happen! It's not something you want to happen again but no need to panic until you have a reason, she should forget about it once the puppy pong is our of her nose

[chipstea]

Originally Posted by Shannonmcn

It's only been a day or two, I'd just give her time. I had the same thing happen to me with a previous ham and just the smell of the dog who came in while she was asleep, she wasn't right for a few days. Your wee one can almost definitely still smell the dog now tbh.

If she's still eating and drinking and not showing any other signs of illness I would just keep her nice and quiet. Maybe give the room a good hoover and an air out to get rid of any lingering dog smells and see how she gets on.

Accidents happen! It's not something you want to happen again but no need to panic until you have a reason, she should forget about it once the puppy pong is our of her nose

Thanks! She’s back to normal now