Multiple strokes and slight eye bulging, related?

[kellyG]

Hi all, I have a Syrian hamster (Luna) who is just coming up to 2 years old. One day over Xmas we noticed that she was falling over, not eating and couldn't open one eye. We took her straight to the vet, who took one look and determined that she had had a stroke. She got an injection to help the swelling on her brain and we brought her home. We have been feeding her baby food as suggested by the vet (which she loves!). Since then she has had 2 more 'episodes'.

I did think her time had come at one point as she was breathing so heavily and couldn't keep her eyes open. I layed her next to me on the blanket and just stroked her for about an hour. But she's very strong and still with us.

To my amazement, she has completely turned around! As of Saturday she seems completely normal, like after weeks of suffering she got better overnight. She can walk fine again and is her adventurous self. She's eating lots of solid food though I have yet to see her drink still.

The problem now is her eyes look odd. They are bulging (both an equal amount i'd say). They look bright and clear but just too far out of her head. I read that it could be glaucoma, but it seems too much of a coincidence right after her strokes. She seems completely unbothered by them. (unfortunately I cant get a good pic as she has long black fur and black eyes so it isn't showing up in pictures and i don't want to use the flash in her face)

I also got her out for play time earlier and she was squeaking as she was running around which she hasn't ever done before. (No balls or wheels, just walking around the sofa) And then she backed right up into the corner of the sofa and stared me straight in the face while she peed on my seat! She really is a character, but this is unusual behaviour for her. I did think maybe it's due to the strokes changing her behaviour?

Really I just wandered if anyone has any advice on what to do, about her eyes and whether it's stroke related and also is there anything else I should be doing? I shouldn't complain but it did take me aback a little that she seemed to recover overnight just with her eyes bulging suddenly. Any advice would be amazing, thank you!

[kellyG]

Bump, any ideas anyone?

[souffle]

Hi Kelly - strokes are odd things. If a hammy survives the first 24hrs then they normally will survive and can have various levels of recovery from back to normal to some with major disabilities. They are however prone to have recurrent mini strokes.
I'm wondering if the eyes look bulgy because she has lost weight and body mass during her recovery. You can imagine how an ill person looks and we describe it as gaunt well hammies can look a bit that way too. You sometimes see it in older hamsters as they lose condition and muscle tone. The mini strokes could have affected her facial muscles making the eyes appear wider. That said there can be other things that can cause this including a tumour pushing the eyes out or fluid within the eyes but hamsters are usually quite ill with these conditions and she sounds bright. Sometimes they do have a final time where they do appear to recover so enjoy this time with her while she is doing well. If she is having a lot of wet food and soft food she likely does not need to drink much so I would not worry about not seeing her taking water. It may be an idea to check the teeth and make sure they are not too long and pushing against the eye sockets from inside the mouth but if she is eating hard food it's not likely really.
You may like to weigh her every few days to check she is maintaining weight and not dropping a lot.
I hope she continues to do well but maybe if you are worried I'd take her back in for checking.