The diabetic question - Page 2

ThePipsqueakery · 01-28-2015, 08:44 AM

It really is. We didn't know enough to save Toffee, but what we learned from him means that A.J. is absolutely thriving.

racinghamster · 01-28-2015, 08:50 AM

You have my admiration for what you did for Toffee and to educate others. It`s true many owners wouldn`t follow that advice due to either believing their hamster didn`t have diabetes or just had failing kidneys. Or the costs involved or even putting their hamster through what is essentially, a daily injection routine. I can imagine how stressful that would be both for the owner and moreso, the hamster! x

Thin Lizzy · 01-28-2015, 09:57 AM

Toffee had a great life and he did fight the diabetes but it got him. It's great to hear that A.J is doing brilliantly!
I did have a few tears in my eyes watching the video which was brilliantly done.

ThePipsqueakery · 01-28-2015, 03:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by racinghamster

You have my admiration for what you did for Toffee and to educate others. It`s true many owners wouldn`t follow that advice due to either believing their hamster didn`t have diabetes or just had failing kidneys. Or the costs involved or even putting their hamster through what is essentially, a daily injection routine. I can imagine how stressful that would be both for the owner and moreso, the hamster! x

The costs are moderately bad, and the stress is a bit much for the humans but I honestly think the hamsters don't find it that awful. I mean basically A.J. gets woken up once in the morning and once at night, hops in my hand (and yes she still voluntarily hops in my hand), gets a prick that lasts about 2 seconds with a needle that is so small it honestly feels no worse than a mosquito bite (without the itching), and then she gets a special treat that she gobbles up.

She doesn't seemed stressed by it and her attitude towards the humans has only gotten more affectionate with time. You would think that if it was seriously stressful she would come to be fearful of us and not so eager to hop in our hands.

Now as for the stress on the people, that's a different story. We can never leave town without taking her because no pet sitter could treat her. We have to be home at some point in the evening to give her the injection so no partying from dusk to dawn. Then we have to get up in the morning whether we want to or not to give her a shot. There have been many mornings where all I wanted to do was sleep in but I couldn't because she needed me. There have also been times where I was super sick, confined to bed, and had to move A.J. to the bedroom so I could set alarms and drag myself out of bed to give her a shot.

I mean all of that doesn't even include the daily weighing and recording her water intake, and weighing her. It also doesn't take into account her other needs initially due to her misaligned teeth and now due to her lack of teeth. All that to say it's a lot of work, but I would do it forever for any diabetic hamster.

Pebbles82 · 01-29-2015, 05:06 AM

That's an amazing story - I had no idea you could treat hamsters with insulin. Yes it does sound like it can be different in Hamsters to humans.

In humans it is type 1 (Insulin dependant) that is genetic - I'm not sure if type 2 (late onset) is genetic or not but that's the one they say could be triggered by a high sugar diet. Maybe there are different types in Hamsters too.

**DrKMcK** · 01-30-2015, 01:07 PM

I really try to stay on the safe side with Almond. Actually, with the Syrians too.

I don't buy hamster sweets at all. Both my hams get more than enough various nuts, vegetables, fruit, pasta, millet, mealworms and oatmeal, to cover just about any desire they could have. I myself adore nuts. So, I order 1 pound bags of slivered almonds, walnuts, pecans, macadamias and pistashios. I love fruit. So, I order bags of dried or freeze dried apples, strawberries, raspberries, bananas, peaches, nectarines, apricots, and prunes. I also have raisins around all the time too. For Nutmeg, I rehydrate a small bit of fruit as a treat; Almond gets no fruit except an occasional raisin. If I buy fresh fruit Nutmeg will have a piece. They both get fresh vegetables, string beans, broccoli, carrots, spinach leaves, cucumber, red and green bell peppers, zucchini, corn, and peas. If I make pasta, they will share with me. I give them a small amount of dry oatmeal flakes, or Muesli once a week. Almond gets the mealworms and millet. With all of this I see no need to buy treats made for hamsters. I know this is good for them and they seem happy enough.
I did buy strawberry yogurt covered raisins for myself recently, and Nutmeg got 2 of them. She liked them very much.

I just feel that the less added sugar, the better.

Pebbles82 · 01-30-2015, 01:50 PM

I keep the sugar to rare occasions too even if Charlie isn't likely to get diabetes! (As a Syrian). Your hammies sound to have a lovely variety Dr McK - I didn't know they could have different kinds of nuts. Charlie has only ever had the monkey nuts that come in Harry Hamster. So is it ok to give them all different kind of nuts (and any that aren't ok?) and how often?

**DrKMcK** · 01-30-2015, 02:07 PM

Oh! I forgot the peanuts too!

I will usually give Nutmeg 3-4 pumpkin seeds, 3-4 slivers of almond, 3-4 sunflower seeds, and 1/2 of a walnut at one go. Then she'll get nuts again a week later...a peanut, 1/2 of a pistashio and a little bit of a macadamia. The macadamia's are too big for her to get 1/2 of one. I mix and match. Sometimes it's a piece of fruit and a few pumpkin seeds. Or only a peanut in the shell. Maybe scrambled egg with a couple of sunflower seeds. I change it to keep things interesting. Their main diet is - Nutmeg: Hazel Hamster and Harlan Teclad Blocks and Almond: Ecotrition and Harlan Teclad Blocks. Mixed fruits and vegetables for balance and the rest is all treats...but healthy ones.