Is Oxalis diabetic? Or..?

[kumys]

Long, long story, but essentially a few months ago, our landlord came to flea bomb our home (we have two cats) and neither me or my mom were home. Everything was planned, but we didn't know he would be coming when we were gone. My dad put the cats in a carrier and took them out of the apartment onto the balcony, BUT LEFT THE HAMSTERS IN MY BEDROOM. Fast forward to a day or so later, Oxalis appeared half dead in his cage. Rumex was totally fine and to this day, is totally fine. I thought this was because of breathing in insecticide and I demanded for him to go to the vet, but my mom refused. So I had him in my hands for hours, waiting for him to die, feeding him treats, giving him apple juice and all the sugary goodies he wanted because I thought he was going to die.

He lived. He got better within two days and went back to normal.

A few months later, he's been "off". Looking distinctly unwell like he did after the insecticide, but still moving around and definitely not in that same half-dead state. I gave him milk mixed with peanut butter (NOT the all natural kind, lots of sugar) and again he's.. gone back to normal? I don't understand. My mom has agreed to take him to the vet on my birthday (the 13th of december), so we'll figure it out when the time comes, but.. I looked up some signs of diabetes in hamsters. He IS a hybrid.

Signs
- Drinking excessively
- Urinating more often and larger amounts (urine may smell like nail polish remover)
- Increased appetite
- Sudden weight loss or gain
- Sleeping more than usual or excessive exercise
- Irritability, or unusual biting
- ‘Squinty’ eyes when awake
- Hunched posture

He has displayed, now and in the past: Sleeping more than usual, squinty eyes when awake, hunched posture, increased appetite and his weight fluctuates. Could it be diabetes or have the chemicals messed up his insides? Again we'll find out at the vet, but just I'm posting here for now I guess. I've been telling my mom it's diabetes and that it can be managed just so I can get him to the vet because she's unwilling to pay money just for him to die.

[cypher]

There is only one way to know if your ham is diabetic or not & that is to test him, you need the same test strips that are used for humans (available from chemists or online) that test both sugar & ketones in the urine.
If he is diabetic then how you proceed from there depends on the reading you get from the test stick, testing has to be done frequently as the readings won't always be the same if your ham is diabetic using a clean urine sample, this is usually achieved by putting your ham in a clean plastic box until he pees, don't wait more than 20 minutes max though, if he hasn't peed in that time then take him out & try again, maybe the next day.
You cannot guess with diabetes, testing is essential to be sure.
The same symptoms could indicate a kidney problem, fairly common in older males, this can't really be treated but can be managed to some extent with diet changes once you've ruled out other conditions.
It's also possible he could have a UTI which would require antibiotics.
Please don't give your ham things like sugary peanut butter, if you feel he needs some extras then try things like veg based ham safe baby food or porridge made with just oats & water.
The aim with diabetes is to keep the diet as low as possible in sugar, relatively high in protein & high in fibre however if he did have kidney problems then he would need a lower protein diet so it is important to try to find out what exactly is wrong.

[kumys]

Thank you.

I realize the aim with diabetic hamsters is to keep the diet low in sugar, but the reason I gave him peanut butter was because I thought he was going to die and as my parents aren't too concerned with the health of the hamsters and won't take them to the vet when I want them to, I gave him the peanut butter as a treat to spoil him. Same deal with the apple juice .etc. when he literally seemed to be on death's doorstep that one time; I couldn't do anything except hold him and wait for him to die, so I gave him cucumber to nibble, then I gave him granola-y cereal, then apple juice and then he got better in two days. They don't usually get anything besides mealworms, greens and various vegetables .etc., but I do admit their staple isn't ideal - I don't know if you remember me, but I remember you and in some of my posts when I first joined, I mentioned getting some food from Mixerama. It didn't work out, nor did the Ikea Detolfs. The best I could do was put them in storage totes with no DIY (so no lid for circulation reasons) which they seem somewhat happier in. So they still eat Oxbow Essentials with daily fresh foods because that was the best I could do. (There are a lot of factors as to why nothing worked out, I'd explore that more, but I'd rather not talk about my personal life here).

The reason I suspected diabetes was because the second time he was given sugary food, he bounced back within a few hours and aside from the symptoms I listed, I read that hypoglycemia was a symptom of diabetes as well and that's the only explanation I've come up with for what happened. I could be totally wrong, though, and I suppose we'll find out. He's been doing alright and hasn't been acting too out of the ordinary lately, so I'm confident he'll be fine until his vet visit at least. I don't intend to feed him any more sugary food unless I have absolutely no choice. Sugars and his bouncing back could have nothing to do with each other, I don't know, but when I don't know how to drive, can't take him anywhere myself and don't have cooperative parents, there's not much I can do and if there's a chance that they are/were related and I can possibly bring him out of that state, then I'm gonna break the 'rules' so to speak unless you have any other suggestions? When I say he was half-dead the first time, I mean literally.

His body was stiff and rigid as a board and he barely responded to touch and didn't respond to noise (I make little clicking sounds with my tongue to get their attention sometimes) at all. That's how I discovered he wasn't well; I had green beans for them and it was early morning when they are usually awake and he wasn't. So I clicked my tongue and they usually wake up for that. He didn't. Something felt wrong, I had a gut feeling, so I touched his back and he did nothing. He has NEVER, and I mean NEVER, been a tolerant hamster. He's just bitey. I think that's his natural disposition. So that was a huge red flag. He didn't bite me. Didn't respond at all. So I picked him up and held him in my hands and he remained stiff even when he was lying on his side - like he was completely dead and rigor mortis had set in - but he was breathing. I called my mom into my bedroom and, long story short, she wouldn't take him to the vet.

I bunched up some of my blankets and rested him on top. He became less stiff, but didn't move from that spot at all for several hours. I kept stroking him, held cucumber up to his mouth and to my surprise he weakly nibbled. So I had my mom bring that granola type cereal because I thought he should enjoy some food before he passed at least. He gradually got better to the point that he hobbled around on the blankets, all squinty eyed, and when I cupped him in my hands, or tried to, he gave me a NASTY bite. I covered my hands thickly in blankets and carried him back to his cage. I still wasn't sure he was going to make it, so I decided to keep treating him. I gave him apple juice in his cage and after that, he became far more active and stopped with the hunched posture and his eyes widened back to a more (but not completely) normal shape. His little front paws would shake when he'd stand up, but that cleared up soon, too.

That happened over the course of two days.

Then more recently, he's seemed just "off". Sleeping more than usual, hunched posture, squinty eyes, his fur was messed up, though when touched he'd wake up and be very angry with me and then proceed to run on his wheel a bit, eat, then go back to sleep. Maybe I overreacted with the "oh my GOD, he's gonna DIE" and shouldn't have given him the peanut butter mixed with milk, but he seemed to go back to normal completely after consuming it within only a few hours.

He doesn't seem to drink or urinate excessively though. Am I completely off base here in thinking it's diabetes or anything to do with blood sugar? Hopefully it's not something worse. Hopefully he's not damaged in some way from the insecticide. He's my lil' buddy even if he doesn't think so!

[cypher]

It really doesn't sound to me as though he's diabetic but the only way to know is to do the test, the test strips are readily available in chemists/pharmacists they're the same ones used to test human urine, the vet won't be able to tell you if he's diabetic or not without a urine sample so it's best to try & get the test done at home before going to the vet.
Unless you do the test & find out if he's diabetic or if you are dealing with something else you really can't help him properly.
It's not possible to say if the insecticide will have made him sick or not but rather than just trying to guess & reacting when he shows such severe symptoms just take the first step, do the test then depending on the results take it from there.

[kumys]

Again, thank you so much.

Found some on Amazon.

[cypher]

That's good, let us know how you get on.