*EMERGENCY* My dwarf hamster spurted blood from her nose!!!

[Pharaoness]

Hi everyone,

Okay so I'll need to give a bit of background. Photini (my dwarf hamster) is one I adopted and she's about a year old. When she was brought to me (late May), the volunteer who brought her said she may have caught a cold on the way, and got tablets with instructions from a vet on how to administer. I diluted it with the right amount of water and kept it in the fridge as instructed, giving it to her two times a day. She seemed to get better, in that she only breathed loud when nervous. Yesterday I noticed a bit of a whistle in her breathing but she ran on the wheel like crazy (as she always does), and ate and drank. (I mentioned earlier in a post that she doesn't like veggies, but I have her egg and she seemed to like it). Today I took her out and held her to put the syringe into her mouth, and then blood spurted out of her nose and I panicked, and didn't give her the meds. I called the emergency animal hospital (it's Sunday so only they are open) and their quotes for just seeing her are ridiculous!! But I also don't want her to die.

When I put her back in the cage, I placed a new piece of egg (some omelet with no salt or pepper, and washed of oil) in her cage where she'll find it when she wants it. I saw her eat a sunflower seed. She drank quite a bit of water too. She's very tiny. I'm very concerned :/ can I wait until tomorrow to see my vet, or do I Need to go to the emergency hospital?

I'll also note that I just moved into a new place again. She actually stayed with my friend for about a week, who gave her the medication too. I brought her back on June 8, then moved yesterday. Could the travel have made her worse? I didn't notice anything weird when I brought her back from my friend's place. Only when I moved here (it's right across the street from my old place, but she did go into the humid heat outside, followed by the cool indoors here where I use a heater on and off to warm it up).

Do any of you know what could be happening? Does she absolutely need to go to the vet? Please let me know, I'm really shaken up about this! Thanks so much

UPDATE: she just ran on her wheel, and I gave her some warm milk which she seemed to like She crawled into my hands and I let her walk around and scavenge my bed! Then she pooped, and the poop seems normal, not hard but maybe slightly soft (but not wet), maybe a bit on the lighter side in color. There's no blood from her nose now, she cleaned it off and it just happened that one time. It's still concerning, that's definitely not normal :/

[Cinnamon Bear]

She might die with out veterinary care soon. Hope she's pulls through ok, I'd take her to emergency vet if you have the money.

[Pharaoness]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear

She might die with out veterinary care soon. Hope she's pulls through ok, I'd take her to emergency vet if you have the money.

Oh no! My concern is that they said they don't get little ones often but they'll see her. It's $125 just to see her :/ my actual vet has dealt with my previous hamster and she's good with them. Should I wait to see how she behaves? Or do you think she definitely needs to go no matter what?

[Pebbles82]

Hi. I think maybe a vet check would be a good idea but if she is doing ok today then it would probably be fine to wait till tomorrow (Monday). Blood coming from anywhere isn't good. Hopefully it was nothing serious and related to the cold she has had, but it would need checking out in the morning.

Did they recommend a particular diet? Because I'd have thought it would be better just to give a hamster mix rather than lots of dairy things like milk and egg. A bit of scrambled egg now and then (like half a teaspoon) is ok as a treat and protein boos but I don't think giving milk is usual.

[Pharaoness]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Hi. I think maybe a vet check would be a good idea but if she is doing ok today then it would probably be fine to wait till tomorrow (Monday). Blood coming from anywhere isn't good. Hopefully it was nothing serious and related to the cold she has had, but it would need checking out in the morning.

Did they recommend a particular diet? Because I'd have thought it would be better just to give a hamster mix rather than lots of dairy things like milk and egg. A bit of scrambled egg now and then (like half a teaspoon) is ok as a treat and protein boos but I don't think giving milk is usual.

Hi Serendipity7000, thanks for the response. They didn't recommend that, but I started looking around and saw some foods for dwarf hamsters a a treat included a bit of warm milk (this is the second time I gave it to her since I got her; I guess I just wanted to make her comfortable). Maybe I'll not give that to her anymore, if it isn't good? She usually only ways her hamster mix, but when I give her egg, she only takes a very tiny piece (she's super small so it makes sense).

Right now she's sleeping in her upper "room" in her cage, burrowed under her bedding (it's aspen shavings with some tissue that I held against my skin do she got used to my scent). I'll keep you updated, but I'll be sure to take her to the vet in the morning. Thanks so much! If you have any thoughts on how to keep her comfortable until then, please let me know. Really appreciate it.

[Pebbles82]

Glad she's cosied up in bed. It might be best to just stick to hamster food for now

[Pharaoness]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Glad she's cosied up in bed. It might be best to just stick to hamster food for now

Okay, I'll remove the egg from her cage and let her eat her hamster food. She just took some out of her cheek pouch and ate! And now she's back in her room. She's grooming herself, which is good! Now she's curled up in a cute ball and getting some rest . I'll keep you posted on her condition!

[Pharaoness]

Just an update: Photini went on her wheel like she always does! She's behaving normally I'll call the vet in the morning and update you all tomorrow!

[Pebbles82]

Hope it all goes well Our hammy is off the vets again tomorrow too.

[climber008]

I hope everything goes well for you and Photini!