Oreo might be dying?

[Fluffagrams]

I agree with everyone else here. It does unfortunately sound like Oreo has had a stroke.

My elderly Chinese, Meat had a stroke around this time last year and he actually improved two days after his stroke however he was still prone to falling over and couldn't turn himself back so we took him to the vet. She told us that hamsters can recover from strokes although they are more prone to future strokes. In Meat's case, it was deemed that his quality of life was poor (he was already over three and a half and had other ongoing health problems) so he was put to sleep but that won't necessarily be the case depending on how severe Oreo's stroke was. A vet will be able to give you their professional opinion.

Are there any other vet practices near you that might be able to see Oreo instead of your usual one? It might be worth searching for an exotics vet to see what comes up.

[Pebbles82]

I think Oreo isn't that old is she? The other thread seemed to suggest "wait and see" but obviously if she seems to be suffering a vet visit could be a good idea.

[Snowz]

Thank you for the advice all of you!

Serendipity7000 - What type of soft foods? and can I give her a little bit of cucumber now and then? Thank you for the thread link.
Fluffagrams
- Not only a stroke, three now but I will update on the one today.
Sorry to hear all that about Meat, its a big shame that this happens.

Well my mum tried to phone the vet but for a check it would be quite allot of money.

[Snowz]

Today...

I came home and my mum told me she woke up and ate etc, but now I have came home a she had a stroke again, this one is more earlier as she usually has them later on in the evening?

She was laying in the corner again, next to her strawberry hut. I decided to comfort her, I picked her up carefully and put her lovely-ly in a pink blanket.
I held her for a good half an hour, I then just put her back as I need to eat soon.

What are the causes for strokes?
Is it old age?
Could it have happened because she fell off one of her shelf things? It was quite of a thump? but that was a week ago.

3 strokes in only almost 3 days, discarding the fact she might be having them at night too when i'm sleeping? who knows.

[Pebbles82]

Has she had another one then today? Try a different vet Also is there a PDSA hospital in your area? Soft foods - you could soak the hamster mix with a bit of boiling water (but let it cool obviously) so it goes soft. Cucumber should be fine. It was just what was suggested on the other thread.

[cypher]

If she hit her head when she fell that may have done some damage that's causing this rather than it being strokes due to old age, strokes are caused by blood clots in the brain, not uncommon in old age but something similar could possibly happen after a fall.
Either way I don't think speculating is really going to help, if you can try & find a vet that has some ham experience.

[Snowz]

Serendipity7000 - Yes, above you I commented about today.
I will ask my mum about that, and is the soft food (water idea) better for her at the moment or won't it make a difference? She loves her cucumber!!

cypher - Yes, I agree, It's hard to know at the moment though.
I will try and ask my mum.

Thanks for the help.

[Snowz]

UPDATE -
Oreo seems so much better! A couple days ago she climbed to one of the first platforms of her cage, which she could never do before as she was so weak. ( she climbed up the bars because I took out the ladders but I put them back in straight away after she climbed as I didn't want her jumping off!)

We haven't seen her having any strokes this week which is such a huge improvement!

[Pebbles82]

That's good news Sounds like she is recovering nicely. It might be an idea to adjust her set up a bit in case she does have a turn and falls. Charlie isn't that good at climbing any more. I've left his shelves in because they aren't that high off the substrate, but I put one very shallow ramp at one side and a couple of little ledges to make shallow steps at the other side - and had the substrate deeper where the ramp is so basically it's not that far up to the shelves from the substrate.

The main thing is make sure there is nothing hard she can fall on, that could cause an injury - even a bendy stick bridge - it might be a good idea to move toys under the shelves and pile the substrate up in a big heap in the middle (you can go deeper in the middle as it can't fall out of the bars there). She'll probably enjoy that anyway .