Weight loss

[richard01]

Hello!
So Richard my 1yr and 10month old Syrian hamster has lost some weight!

It's been very gradual though as I've been weighing him and I've noticed his weight has been going up and down but lately it has stayed down.

I can feel his ribs and his hip bones so I'm getting worried. My mum won't let me take him to the vet even though I said I'd pay for everything.

He's been eating and drinking fine, he's always active and running on his wheel. He loves to be picked up and get treats from me still. He always waits for me at the front of the cage every night to get a couple meal worms and the occasional choccy drop once a week. He's still very shiny, no discharge from his eyes or nose. His teeth are nice and trim. So nothing's changed, I know hamsters can hide illness and I know weight loss may be a sign of illness but if he's still active and let's me hold him and touch him then maybe old age may be kicking in early. Because Erin from erins animals said that old age can kick in at different times for small animals.

He's always been a slender hamster and even when I brought him home when he was small he was quite skinny. He's never been a chubby hamster which doesn't make much sense considering on how much he eats!

So maybe he just needs a protein booster or something to help him put weight on. I want to maybe give him chicken but the thing out whole family is vegetarian! We have dogs though, can hamsters have certain dog foods?

So do you have any foods or anything to help Richard put weight on?

Thanks in advance!!!!!

[cypher]

Your ham is getting on in age now & they do tend to lose weight as they get older so it may just be that.
You could try tempting him to eat a little more with things like porridge, most hams love that, cooked rice & pasta go down well too, older hams enjoy baby food usually but the water content is high so probably not so good for weight gain if he's eating other foods ok, I'm vegetarian too & find these a good way to feed some chicken & all my hams love them, I wouldn't give dog food, some dried dog food is ok but you need to check ingredients very carefully as they often contain garlic.
The mealworms are good for a protein boost, you could also just add in some extra nuts which are very nutritious generally & also high in fat so not too much but they should help with his weight.
What mix do you feed him?

[Pebbles82]

Hi there. It may be something wrong with him causing him to lose weight, but he's an old guy now and as long as he is eating and drinking and doing normal things, then maybe a vet visit isn't necessary. Yes you can give chicken - I often give Charlie bits of our dinner if we've had meat (no gravy though). He gets a tiny piece of veg every day plus another extra thing - either a small piece of cheese, half a brazil nut, or a healthy hamster treat, plus I give him the Rosewood dandelion chew sticks - they take a while to go down and have healthy herbs. A small piece is about the size of your thumbnail.

We've just started giving Charlie porridge and he goes crazy for it! If you don't eat porridge yourself it's a bit tricky. If you do, I just put a small bit on the end of a teaspoon (about half a teaspoon) and take the top off his house in the morning and hold the teaspoon out to him and he eats it off the spoon I guess you would do the same with scrambled egg.

[richard01]

Originally Posted by cypher

Your ham is getting on in age now & they do tend to lose weight as they get older so it may just be that.
You could try tempting him to eat a little more with things like porridge, most hams love that, cooked rice & pasta go down well too, older hams enjoy baby food usually but the water content is high so probably not so good for weight gain if he's eating other foods ok, I'm vegetarian too & find these a good way to feed some chicken & all my hams love them, I wouldn't give dog food, some dried dog food is ok but you need to check ingredients very carefully as they often contain garlic.
The mealworms are good for a protein boost, you could also just add in some extra nuts which are very nutritious generally & also high in fat so not too much but they should help with his weight.
What mix do you feed him?

Thanks for your help! Richard gets a little pinch of dry porridge oats every week, but I never thought of making it porridge! I feed him on the Harry hamster mix and he also get the supreme science hamster nugget things every week, I usually give him about 6 and dot them around the cage for him, just something else for him to do really. I also add in things like more meal worms, peanuts, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds without the shell on them and he goes mad for those! But again thanks

[richard01]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Hi there. It may be something wrong with him causing him to lose weight, but he's an old guy now and as long as he is eating and drinking and doing normal things, then maybe a vet visit isn't necessary. Yes you can give chicken - I often give Charlie bits of our dinner if we've had meat (no gravy though). He gets a tiny piece of veg every day plus another extra thing - either a small piece of cheese, half a brazil nut, or a healthy hamster treat, plus I give him the Rosewood dandelion chew sticks - they take a while to go down and have healthy herbs. A small piece is about the size of your thumbnail.

We've just started giving Charlie porridge and he goes crazy for it! If you don't eat porridge yourself it's a bit tricky. If you do, I just put a small bit on the end of a teaspoon (about half a teaspoon) and take the top off his house in the morning and hold the teaspoon out to him and he eats it off the spoon I guess you would do the same with scrambled egg.

Thanks for your help to Richard also get veg but I give veg about three times a week, I also gave him those dandelion sticks for a bit more fibre because he sometimes got a little constipated and these solved it. I also own guinea pigs and I buy them burgess excel forage and I sometimes give him leaves from it and he loves them! I also occasionally make him an omelette with a bit of cheese and veg in it and he loves it! How often can you give the porridge? Thanks for your help!!!

[cypher]

It certainly sounds as though you feed him well! As the weight loss has been gradual my guess is it's more old age & things not working quite so well as they once did along with some muscle loss again due to age, if it continues to go down you might have to try & persuade your mum to let a vet check him over but there probably isn't much that can be done unless he shows other symptoms of illness so just keep on as you are.
Hope he enjoys the porridge