Chloe won't eat!

verymissberry · 09-01-2010, 11:47 AM

I'm very worried, my little Chloe won't eat. To cut a long story short she had a very big op, survived and has been on antibiotics since. The only way we have managed to get her taking these is to add porridge to the syringe.

A few days ago she stopped accepting her fav treats, meal worms and sunflower seeds. She is still active and when you put your hand in to give her a treat, she tries to get on it or in it and even licks it! She is hungry, as she'll eat brocolli and porridge. What do I do, I want her to eat normal hamster food again. We haven't given her any porridge today, as we thought see might eat something else, but no.

She is take food to store, peanuts and a few seeds, but there are very few poo's and they look really dry.

She had lost weight during the op, but in the last 3 days has lost a further gram a day and now only weights 34g and looks tiny. I'm so worried, she seems to have got all fussy. She is a winter white.

fluffymunchkins · 09-01-2010, 12:14 PM

you may want to try breaking her food up to make it easier to eat?
If she looses any more weight you really need to syringe feed her regularly!

souffle · 09-01-2010, 12:33 PM

That is a worry miss berry. They do sometimes get a bit relient on the soft foods. Another problem with hamsters on antibiotics is that the meds destroy all the bowel bacteria which hamsters really need to help the digestion process in the bowel so they so not digest the food they do eat into absorbable nutrients. Is she on any probiotics like Avipro? She also needs fibre to feed the bowel bacteria and keep things moving. Soft processed food it not ideal for this.
Check her teeth are OK as well with her not eating much hard stuff lately. Older dwarfies do lose weight though so it may be a co-incidence as well as her not feeling well.
It is really hard to get them going again. There is a product called I think Oxbow critical care which can help so it may be worth asking the vet about it
Oxbow Critical Care for Herbivores-Hyperdrug
She has been through a lot poor little hammy and I hope she rallies round soon.

verymissberry · 09-01-2010, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by souffle

That is a worry miss berry. They do sometimes get a bit relient on the soft foods. Another problem with hamsters on antibiotics is that the meds destroy all the bowel bacteria which hamsters really need to help the digestion process in the bowel so they so not digest the food they do eat into absorbable nutrients. Is she on any probiotics like Avipro? She also needs fibre to feed the bowel bacteria and keep things moving. Soft processed food it not ideal for this.
Check her teeth are OK as well with her not eating much hard stuff lately. Older dwarfies do lose weight though so it may be a co-incidence as well as her not feeling well.
It is really hard to get them going again. There is a product called I think Oxbow critical care which can help so it may be worth asking the vet about it
Oxbow Critical Care for Herbivores-Hyperdrug
She has been through a lot poor little hammy and I hope she rallies round soon.

Cheers will check all the above out. I read about the antibiotics destroying digestion and luckily she comes off them on saturday. I tried to get her to eat a bit of natural probiotic yogurt, but with no luck.

Thanks, she really is having a rough time. She does seem chipper though and really wants contact.

souffle · 09-01-2010, 01:08 PM

You can get powder called ProC from P@H which is good to put in water and sprinkle on food and that will help repopulate the bowel.

froggy901 · 09-01-2010, 01:35 PM

that critical care stuff sounds a lot like something called 'Recovery' which I have used for rabbits and guineas with lots of success. It's great because you can water it down lots for syringe feeding, or make it in to a crumbly paste for animals who are able top feed themselves.

Have you tried any egg food? Nigel is underweight and doesn't show much interest in food, but loves his egg food and oats mix (soaked in water to make it stick together). I use this which smells lush! I have also used a strawberry shortcake version for a previous hamster who became very poorly in his old age, and he was happy picking out the little grains I mixed in with his normal food (also from PAH but couldn't find it on the site.

verymissberry · 09-01-2010, 01:45 PM

Where do you get this from?

Quote:

Originally Posted by froggy901

that critical care stuff sounds a lot like something called 'Recovery' which I have used for rabbits and guineas with lots of success. It's great because you can water it down lots for syringe feeding, or make it in to a crumbly paste for animals who are able top feed themselves.

Have you tried any egg food? Nigel is underweight and doesn't show much interest in food, but loves his egg food and oats mix (soaked in water to make it stick together). I use this which smells lush! I have also used a strawberry shortcake version for a previous hamster who became very poorly in his old age, and he was happy picking out the little grains I mixed in with his normal food (also from PAH but couldn't find it on the site.

froggy901 · 09-01-2010, 02:02 PM

Pets at Home. Not sure if you're in the UK but if you're not I'm sure you can get eggfood (sometimes called rearing food) from any decent pet shop, although I can't guarantee it will smell so nice!

froggy901 · 09-01-2010, 02:09 PM

Just realised you might be refering to the Recovery. I get mine from my local vet. It's not a prescription product so you should be able to just go in and ask for it without having to see a vet. Just found it online here but you would prob be best getting it from vets as the box is 10 sachets which would take AGES to get through with just one hamster and costs lots -the vets can sell you individual sachets. I've also seen it listed under other brand names, so might be worth going in with a description of the product and the vet nurses should be able to work out what you need!

verymissberry · 09-04-2010, 04:46 AM

They didn't have the stuff at pets at home, so bought some critical care on line. Its so hard to mix a dwarf hamster sized amount, but we are about to give it a try. Her weight hasn't dropped anymore, but she still isn't eating to much.
This stuff smells horrible, like dried grass Yuck! FIngers crossed!