Henry and Gordon - Page 23

cypher · 09-29-2020, 08:35 AM

I wouldn’t think he’s been on metacam for it to have a negative effect although that is possible, I’ve only had one ham on it & that was quite a short course so I haven’t experienced any side effects.
Drinking more is common with a UTI & they do tend to drink more when they get older but there’s really no way of knowing the exact reason, could be a combination of things.

Ria P · 09-30-2020, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cypher

It’s entirely possible that he could only have felt confident enough after a year but sometimes it’s just really hard to know why their behaviour changes, great that you’re getting to interact with him now whatever the reason.

Wee Gordon is still out and about during the day or comes to the surface when he hears us.
He looks up when we talk to him and follows my fingers around sniffing but won't come onto my hand now. He nibbles my fingers instead!! It's lovely to be able to stroke him which is not something i ever expected to happen.

I just sieved some debris from his sandpit and he immediately appeared from one of his tunnels to investigate.

cypher · 10-01-2020, 10:50 PM

Lovely that Gordon is being so social now, he looks very sweet coming out to investigate what you’re up to!

Ria P · 10-05-2020, 05:03 AM

It can be difficult to know what to do for the best.
Henry is still eating, drinking and hamstering about but he's very thin and fragile now. The Metacam does help though.

I've noticed for a while that he's either dribbling or incontinent of urine because his underside is damp and pee stained. Today i've noticed that he's also losing his fur on his underside. The skin looks intact and there's no redness.

I'm just wondering if i should clean him with a damp cotton pad to possibly prevent soreness of his skin or just let nature take its course.
Cleaning him would stress him but at the same time i don't want to omitt doing something that could make him more comfortable in whatever time he has left.

LunaTheHamster1 · 10-05-2020, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ria P

It can be difficult to know what to do for the best.
Henry is still eating, drinking and hamstering about but he's very thin and fragile now. The Metacam does help though.

I've noticed for a while that he's either dribbling or incontinent of urine because his underside is damp and pee stained. Today i've noticed that he's also losing his fur on his underside. The skin looks intact and there's no redness.

I'm just wondering if i should clean him with a damp cotton pad to possibly prevent soreness of his skin or just let nature take its course.
Cleaning him would stress him but at the same time i don't want to omitt doing something that could make him more comfortable in whatever time he has left.

Star went the same way, I did ask the vet at that point to have a look at her but they said she had another month or two left in her yet, (they were right) I wasn't totally convinced as I hated thinking I was being cruel, i used some damp cotton buds occasionally. I'm sure i did something else as well but decided I was making it worse.

Have you checked his bedding, Stars was wet every single day towards the end and I had to clean it out everyday. This made a huge difference to her.

Ria P · 10-05-2020, 06:14 AM

Thank you Luna, that's very helpful.
I've checked his nest a few days ago and it was dry but that can change so quickly. I'll check his nest properly tonight when he's in his coconut.
I'm also starting to question his quality of life because he's deteriorating so fast physically and looked like a heap of bones when i saw him just now...but he was still busy eating his scrambled egg.

LunaTheHamster1 · 10-05-2020, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ria P

Thank you Luna, that's very helpful.
I've checked his nest a few days ago and it was dry but that can change so quickly. I'll check his nest properly tonight when he's in his coconut.
I'm also starting to question his quality of life because he's deteriorating so fast physically and looked like a heap of bones when i saw him just now...but he was still busy eating his scrambled egg.

Ria, you may want to lay off the eggs (omg i couldn't pick a better phrase- no pun intended when I wrote this!), it's harder for the older hamsters to process. I thought I was doing the right thing to Luna and Star giving it to them when they were older, but I think it made them worse, as some of their symptoms seemed to lessen when I stopped giving them the egg (even though they loved it) It's the protein.

You could experiment and see if he is any better with or without the egg.

Ria P · 10-05-2020, 08:25 AM

Yes, i'm aware of the protein and have considered that but he's on his way out so i'm giving him what he likes. I don't think that he would suddenly put on a lot of weight if i'd lay off the eggs (got to have a laugh even at sad times).

I took a photo of him today eating and he's skin and bones. Not sure it would be right to share this sad and upsetting photo because he's a shadow of the former 230g Henry.

cypher · 10-05-2020, 09:42 AM

So to hear this about Henry Ria.
There’s two approaches really, one you can try to think of dietary measures that might improve things or two if you really think they’re in the end stages of their lives just spoil them & let them eat whatever they want really.
I agree about checking the bedding, more than cleaning them that will help to prevent any urine burn so just have a look around for damp substrate every day.

Ria P · 10-11-2020, 06:15 AM

I am really struggling trying to make the right decisions for Henry.
I've washed his belly with a cotton pad dipped in warm water and he was fine about it. He takes his Metacam without any issues, grabs the end of the syringe and gobbles it up. I've also been checking his nest and coconut daily and replaced any damp bedding.

Until a day or so ago poor Henry reeked like a public toilet because he was piddling himself but still goes to his corner toilet too.

Now here's the worrying bit: since Friday i haven't seen any pee clumps in his toilet only slight traces on the rim and the bedding. His bedding doesn't feel damp either and he's not so smelly but still visits his toilet quite regularly so has the urge to pee and his belly is damp.

He's likely to have bladder stones or a tumor and now of course i am very worried that this obstracts the urethra preventing him from peeing which could cause a rapture.
I had this worry before and then he started peeing again.

He sleeps a lot but still has some daily energetic bouts where he runs around his cage, even climbs on the shelves and walks along the ladder. He seems to be eating a bit better and has become somewhat affectionate with us which is quite out of character. We see more of him and he climbs out of his cage to come onto our laps.

Unfortunately, i'm at work until tomorrow but my OH is at home.
If Henry hasn't had a proper pee by tomorrow i'll phone the vet. Trouble is that there's nothing the vet can do for him medically apart from putting him to sleep.

Its a first for me and knowing when to let go is so very hard.
I don't think Henry is ready to go because he's still busy and able to do a lot of his hamster stuff but at the same time i have to make sure that he is not going to suffer.

This really is the hardest part of keeping hamsters, makes taming seem like a doodle.