Nibbles is in hospital

[Coco1]

I'm so upset right now. I've not had a sick hammy in the years I've had hamsters (Guess I've been lucky) but Nibbles seems to have some upper respiratory infection. He's been rubbing his nose and sneezing as though he has fluff up his nose, keep rubbing it. He'd go into his sand bath and because his feet were wet from his nose they got stained a dark gray from the sand and matted up, he'd then rub his nose again so his nose was dirty looking. I removed the sand.

He stopped eating his main food, does nibble on some moist food / fruit I give him thankfully cause he has been drinking either. I added some vitamins to his water just in case he did and also put some of that onto his apple and corn which he ate last night and seemed to enjoy so maybe he got some nutrients.



It began Tues night / wednesday when he just seemed to be sleepy and a little sneezy? (that s the best way I can describe it!) . I had also just cleaned his tank on the tuesday night before and put new carefresh in there and I know that stuff is dusty so thought it was just the dust getting up his nose but he's always had it so nothing new there? I always rinse his tank which I clean with a little white vinegar. Wednesday he slept; all day, and wednesday night I took him out of his nest cause he wasn't waking up at his normal time. I sat him in my hand and he seemed to wake up pretty quick so I checked him over - his eyes were bright and he moved around as normal, a little blocked nose sounding, but not so much as the tuesday night after his cage cleaning when he seemed really irritated. I Put him in his ball and he wizzed around in that all over the place, loved it! No problems. Put him back in his cage and roots around - started sneezing as though trying to get the fluff out of his nose or something. He ate a sunflower and a nut so I know his mouth wasn't sore, his pouches seemed fine, his teeth were fine. He went to bed but no sign of him playing on his wheel later that night (I set it in a certain position so I could tell if he'd used it). His breathing seemed much better from the night before though.

Thursday night - took him out - eyes good, walked around as normal. Took some corn immediately and some apple, and either ate the rest that night or put it in to his house. But by this morning his nose was making funny noises again and he was rubbing it and it didn't look like he touched his hard food / water so I said thats it - hes going to the vet. My hubby is out of town, I don't drive, my vet is on vaction in, of all places, LONDON (urrgh! But he's OK the vets office said). So by this point I was getting really upset. They told me to take him to this other vet that specializes in exotic animals such as hammies, ferrets, chinchillas, herps etc... I called my neighbour and she took me up there this morning. They said to call around 3pm but they may keep him in overnight for a longer look at him. I just feel so helpless. I think he either has an upper respiratory infection caused by bacteria or parasitic they said maybe? or maybe allergic to something? I don't know what it could be? Hopefully they'll be able to find the problem and prescribe something for him to make him better again. Its so horrible, I hate seeing him not quite himself. This week has just been way to stressfull with one thing or another - I just want some good news.

I'll let you guys know what happens.

[SnuggleHam]

The title of your post worried me, I thought for sure I was going to hear the nibble has a case of wet tail! That’s usually the worst stories you hear and they seems to almost always end in death.



I’m sad that nibbles is at the vets and not feeling well, but I feel relieved knowing that it sounds far from anything critically serious like wet tail at this point. But I’m sure nibbles is best off at the vet where they can treat and supervise the poor little ham.



Let us know how it goes and what they diagnose. It sounds like an allergy thing or irritancy to me, but I’m not a vet either and it seems funny that nibbles is suddenly having troubles with the bedding when its been the same stuff this whole time.

[Coco1]

Yea I'm glad its not wet-tail either (Unless they find otherwise!) He doesn't have any of those symptoms, his little poops are the opposite if anything, if you know what I mean! Due to lack of water probably.

I don't know if care fresh varies from bag to bag - I wondered if maybe they had changed something but I was already half way through the bag so I don't think thats the problem. Same goes for the sand, nothing new there.

There are so many little bugs they can catch that I know I'm unaware off....

I'll keep you posted.

[SnuggleHam]

He may just have a little hamster cold, if its been cool, damp or rainy it can contribute. The good thing is it sound like you cought whatever is wrong early enough that I feel pretty good about the vets curing whatever it may be.

[Coco1]

We had rain yesterday for the first time in 6 weeks! Its been sooo dry. But then I'm sure they can catch a cold even if its warm and dry too?

Its funny cause I told the vet that I had removed his sand from the bath and she said "well, he's not a chinchilla" as if to say "why are you giving him sand in the first place?" ! I explained that they do love sand baths for their coats. ?????????? I would have thought she'd have KNOWN that ! ????? That bothered me a bit but I'm sure (hope) she'll be able to diagnose him correctly.

[SnuggleHam]

Ya, most of animal care is more placed on dogs and cats, ferrets and larger rodents like guinea pigs and rabbits. And well im sure most vets dont go so far as to read up about the best items to give a critter for enrichment, its all the basics, and most everyone already know whats cats and dogs like to play with ect. with birds you need to usually find an avian vet that only specializes in birds.



I guess that is why its best to call around and make sure you have a vet lined up that knows a fair about the animal you own and has experiance in treating them.

[Coco1]

Right, and this place was the best one around. I've heard of it before for small pets and pocket pets. I guess I don't care so much if she's not heard of sand for hamsters, as long as she DOES know about how to treat him, which I'm sure she does otherwise she wouldn't be there! I guess all I can do its put my trust in her. I can't wait till my usual vet returns. I'm not sure how much experience hes had with hamsters but he's just the nicest and best vet i've ever had! If he DIDN"T know enough he'd be the first person to tell me the name of someone who DID.

I'll call the vet in about 10 mins.

[babyboos]

oh what awful news. I am so sorry I wasn't around sooner to offer my well wishes. I will be praying for little cutie Coco tonight and your husband away too you are in my thoughts - I hope they get to the bottom of this soon and your normal vet is okay with all that is going down in London right now. Please let us know whatever they say. Hugs to you.

[Coco1]

Thanks babyboos.

Well, I have him back home now. The vet seems to think it is an upper respiratory infection and has given me an antibiotic solution (Baytril?) to give to him, 0.05cc twice a day by mouth. (THAT should be interesting!) Any hints welcome!

She aid the outcome is "guarded". She could not say how he will do with it or what his oucome will be as it is so hard with little animals. She said he is young so maybe he'll pull through it. I asked her how on earth did he get this and again she said sometimes we just can't answer the questions. Like us they come down with infections.

She also said that he may not be able to smell the food much right now which is why he is not eating much and I noticed that last night when I gave him something, he just turned his nose away as though it just wasn't there. She suggested damping down his food so it maybe more palatable. Also the corn and two little pieces (diced) of apply I gave him last night he obviously ate as she couldn't find it in his nest. She said obvously its the food he needs to eat, not the sweeter stuff (although the only reason I gave him any fresh food was because he wasn't eating the other stuff and because I wanted to give him something moist as he wasn't drinking! I explained this too her.) Hey, at least he ate SOMEthing. So I'm just going to have to try the treatments and see how it goes. She wants to see him again in 2 weeks for a check up and they'll be able to tell more at that point. Unfortunately I'm leaving on vaction to go home to England in 3 weeks FOR 3 weeks... this couldn't have come at a worse time. I had planned on leaving Nibbles with a friend of mine who, although has not kept hamsters before, is a responsible pet owner and I trust her. Howeveer, if Nibbles is still not right I could keep him at this vets place because I asked her if they boarded animals and she said yes, so at least I have that option.

Its funny, I'm not sure whether to feel relieved yet or not as he just might not take to any of this treatment. ANY hints, especially from you Babyboos or Emma (maybe you've gone through this before?) would be appreciated. Of course any hints from ANYone will be appreciated and thank you Candace for your kind words also. This is a good place to get some relief from my stress

[Coco1]

Well, I'm just updateing on things so far. Nibbles has just been out of it all night. I gently woke him up as I had to give him his first dose of antibiotic suspension. Didn't go to bad, got everything ready, dose measured out and then just put him in a gentle nape hold and turned upright. He opened his mouth some and when I put the syringe to his mouth he actually grabbed it to eat it! I squeezed and got 3/4 of it in I think, put him down while he sneezed and spat LOL. Then tried one more time to make sure I got the rest in. I think I did. If any dripped on his fur he'll lick it up. Not bad for the first time. I've never had to do this before. I just felt so bad - here he is, taken out of his bed from a good sleep, to think "oh, its just mum, she'll give me a cuddle", only to have yukky stuff put in his mouth! Poooooor thing. Oh its heartbreaking! But he did do good and I'm sure his next dose in the morning will be even better / quicker. I gently stroked him afterwards and spoke to him softly. Then put a small piece of lab block infront of him which to my amazement he grabbed a hold of and nibbled at for a minute. Then he pouched the rest of it. (I've only just started feeding a little lab block, so one tiny piece, maybe a 1/4 of a full one, mixed with his food is all he gets right now till he's used to it, plus as he's not eating all that much right now I don't want him to eat JUST the block.) Then I put him back in his cage and picked out a flat piece of yellow corn (You know, those flat pieces in the mix?) He munched on that too! He may not eat anything else all night but at least he is eating some of what I put in front of him. I also added some water to his food just enough to moisten it. I'll be just giving him his mix food / lab blocks for a few days, get him back to normal food as much as possible. I also removed any sunflower seeds from his mix - he needs to eat the "balanced" food!

Part of me just wants to take him out and have him sit in my hand but I just put him back because right now I know its probably best for him to just sleep. I miss hugging my little friend. Two more weeks...