Did you find a suitable vet easily?

[lady jocardi]

Speaking to other hamster owners here and elsewhere it's clear there are thousands of wonderful vets out there experienced with and willing to look after our furry pals. It's also clear some vets don't have much of a clue with small amimals or even refuse to treat.
When we first took Jocci to the vet it was very clear she was happy with hams and admitted a particular fondness to them. She was sympathetic and understanding during Jocci's last week's and talked on the phone when needed.
Recently, a friend of mine got in touch with me asking who Jocci's vet was. She lives about 5 miles from me....Two vets in her home town. One said ' we don't do Hamsters' and the other looked at the hamster, said there was a problem with its teeth and said she would have to put it under anesthetic to trim them because she didnt want to risk getting biten! My pal wasn't happy....and asked if I would recommended out vet...which I was happy to dox
My friend called the next day over the moon. She said the vet was lovely, the hamster was happy to be handled by her and she examined the ham and turned out he had a tear in his pouch and she gave him antibiotics and he has since made a full recovery.
Are there lots of vets out there that won't treat hams I wonder???

[WinnieTheHam]

I think a lot of vets aren't very experienced with hamsters, because a lot of people don't think, or want to pay a lot of money for vet treatment. I find exotic vets know better and much more about Hamsters. I took Winston to a general Vet practice and they misdiagnosed him with Cushings disease. If he had that disease he most likely wouldn't be here with me right now.

[CMB]

I have an exotic vets in my town. It's quite new, but I prefer it to the other one as they are more small pet friendly.

[Pebbles82]

That's a good point - I should check our vet out. Charlie has not needed to go to the vet's yet. We have a good one in our small market town and the next nearest one would be a long way to go - but they are used to dealing with horses and sheep mainly, so I'd better check if they are familiar with treating small animals as well - if not there'll be one about 15 miles away in a larger town.

[Cinnamon Bear]

There are a few exotic vets near me, all expensive though. The vet who gives me quantity breaks lol, is a small animal vet (cats & dags) unfortunately.

[Bertiebobbins]

I checked out a couple of vets when I first got hams and while all the ones round me treat hams, none of them are really expert. I gather from my research of local vets that most people don't take their hamsters to the vet.

I have a friend who is a vet and she's amazed at the lengths I've gone to over my hamsters' happiness. She says they hardly see them.

Glowy almost needed a vet this week - mysterious limping - fortunately it resolved in a couple of days and he's back to his usual insanity, as I wasn't sure where to take him, especially over a bank hol weekend.

[xbuttons94]

The vet I went to for my hamsters is the vet my cat has always been registered with. When I called for Lexi's nail trim they said they would happily have her in and again for her surgery. I took the boys there as we were worried we adopted them with respiratory problems. I think I found my vets by luck. I couldn't be happier with the way they handle all my animals. When Lexi bit one of the vets, the nurse didn't startle her even though she was hurt but she just quickly cleaned up and handled everything really well.

[Skeekers]

I only have one exotic vet in town and I'm not impressed. They're my only choice though.

My first appointment with the "hamster expert" was not very good. I had a few things about my ham at the time and some things he told me were; Hams can't have water dishes (my ham was chewing her bottle at the time) because they would never/don't know how to drink from a dish and would never do that in the wild (with a puddle or whatever). He told me never give them seeds because they would never eat a seed they come across in the wild. He told me they don't need anything to chew to keep their teeth down because they would never chew on stuff in the wild. They don't need wheels because they would never walk anywhere they don't have to.

[WinnieTheHam]

Originally Posted by Skeekers

I only have one exotic vet in town and I'm not impressed. They're my only choice though.

My first appointment with the "hamster expert" was not very good. I had a few things about my ham at the time and some things he told me were; Hams can't have water dishes (my ham was chewing her bottle at the time) because they would never/don't know how to drink from a dish and would never do that in the wild (with a puddle or whatever). He told me never give them seeds because they would never eat a seed they come across in the wild. He told me they don't need anything to chew to keep their teeth down because they would never chew on stuff in the wild. They don't need wheels because they would never walk anywhere they don't have to.

That's the worst thing I've ever heard about a vet. That is terrible. He is the opposite of an expert, he doesn't know anything! how did he even get the job?!

[cypher]

What Winnie said! I have heard a lot of stories about vets who don't have much of a clue about hams but that really is awful.