1yr old Hamster Health Problem Need Help - Page 2

Bertiebobbins · 09-19-2015, 07:16 AM

Sending best wishes for your poor poorly ham, I hope he will be ok. What a horrible thing for both of you to have to go through!

I agree with the other posters you should inform the company you bought it from what has happened. And persist if they fob you off! Good luck.

Thin Lizzy · 09-19-2015, 06:05 PM

How's your little ham doing?
You have photos, do what ever you need to do to get some kind of justice.
Don't let them fob you of.
I bet if it was a cat or dog it would be different, it's time people knew that hamsters should be treated the same.

Patrick · 09-20-2015, 06:47 AM

Thanks everyone for the wishes and recommendations, Im currently writing a letter to the manufacturer and to the petshop. As it is for my little ham, he still full of energy, he jumps everywhere and goes in his wheel, I saw him drinking water by himself. For his eye it did not get better, he really cant see from one side. I might go back to the vet, im not sure yet if it his tongue since I saw him drinking from the bottle.

Artisans_uk · 09-20-2015, 07:20 AM

Hi Patrick - so very sorry that you and your hamster have gone through this horrendous experience. I am glad that you are taking action and contacting the manufacturer.

There are people on here who have been campaigning for years to get this dangerous product off the shelves and out of the reach of our adorable fluffs.

Please let us know of any responses that you get back from the letters that you send.

A petition has been sent to Parliament about the Rotastak fluffy product which has been archived but we need action to be taken on all products like this.

Hugs to your little fellow.

racinghamster · 09-20-2015, 07:46 AM

Hi Patrick. The pink tissue dangling outside his mouth could be a cheek pouch and not his tongue, so I would advise seeing the vet again (a good one) and getting an opinion on this as it should be placed back inside. Was the vet you seen previously not able to tell you what this was? Did the vet say it was his tongue or a cheek pouch? Either way, I wouldn`t leave it like this. I would also have his eye checked again. It`s good that he`s active, but he may be feeling stressed by what happened and because it has left him with obvious injuries, I would want a better vet to look at him and try and sort out the pouch if it is his pouch. x

Jeir · 09-20-2015, 08:05 AM

To be honest, it does look like his pouch to me, with how long it is, and how it hangs out the right-side of his mouth. That he can still drink without issues is also what I would consider a point towards it being his pouch and not his tongue.

If it's the right-side that's paralysed, he may not be able to feel it hanging out - hamsters are able to turn their pouches inside out if they need to, and are then able to, I think, stretch some muscles on that side of the face/neck/shoulder and pull it back in. At least, that's what I observed a few times before when watching my hammies de-pouch larger foods.

It really is such a shame you learned about the fluffy crap the hard way. =( I had used it for some years in the past, and it took a scare for me to finally stop; my robo at the time had ingested some and got a huge blockage. It managed to get to the end of his passage but he couldn't expel it, so I had to help. The yuck that came out of my tiny guy was easily half the size of his body; I had no idea how he'd managed. Thankfully he did make a full recovery.

Is there another vet you could take him to? I know the stores aren't really a favourite, but my local P@H has a vet centre (Companion Care) inside with amazing people, including a small animal specialist who I try to see every time I need go there. If you have a P@H near you with a vet centre, perhaps you could try going there.

Thin Lizzy · 09-20-2015, 08:23 PM

I too would get another opinion about the bit dangling from his mouth. Some vets don't have much knowledge about hamsters and instead of saying I don't know about that, they say instead that nothing can be done, it does sound like this can be seen to.

souffle · 09-21-2015, 06:32 AM

I thought it was the cheek pouch as well initially. I don't think he would be able to eat and be doing so well if it was his tongue to be honest. Looks like an everted cheek pouch and this can be replaced. If you google everted cheek pouch hamster there are images which look a bit like your hammy. They usually evert again unless they are stitched in place. Is there a more experienced vet who might take a look?

Patrick · 09-21-2015, 08:20 PM

Hi everyone, thanks again for all the support! Im very happy to be part of the forum, I think its starting to go downhill for my little hamster, his eye is shut from one side, and the outside looks very redish, maybe because of its infection, also his outside cheek is starting to turn darker and smaller, maybe tissues dieing or as been exposed to some urine and its starting to get infected, I had him checked out by someone else, he has a face paralysis, she also said that its too late for his eye and theres nothing much she can do, Im now cleaning his cage everyday to see if his clears out.

Thin Lizzy · 09-21-2015, 08:32 PM

Don't clean his cage everyday this will stress your ham. Do a daily spot check in his toilet area and remove any soiled substrate.
I think it might be the tissue dying, I'm not sure though.
You could bathe his eye with warm water and salt using cotton wool.