Hamster with a cold

[farmerfrank]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to the forum and first off I'd just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who contributes and the friendly advice offered - it has been a hugely helpful resource while I researched what to buy for our new hamster!

Unfortunately my first post is to ask for more advice. We bought a Syrian hamster from the SSPCA two weeks ago on Saturday just past (we wanted to rehome one). A first everything was great but just over a week later he started making little hiccuping noises and one of his eyes was closed over. While at the SSPCA he had conjunctivitis which cleared up but he didn't come with any other history.

We went to the vet and they basically said it's a cold and it's nasal rather than in his chest which was a relief but now 7 days later, having been on Baytril, the noises have improved but his breathing is still rather ragged, his eye is still closed over, and he doesn't have any energy so isn't using his wheel or anything (he was loving it for the first week but the heat in the UK just now might not be helping!)

I'm now wondering if it could be an allergy instead? I've went with the exact same setup described by AprilPearl (big thank you to AprilPearl!) and used the shelves mentioned (as well as some bridges form that eBay seller). I've also went with fitch for bedding and plain, unscented toilet paper for nesting as well as Harry Hamster food and rotastak honey nibbler. As far as I can tell this should all be safe to use but has anyone experienced any problems with any of these things before?

This is the first hamster we've had in years and were trying to do things right but I wanted to check in case anything in his environment could be causing the problems! Given he's a rescue it might just be that he's prone to these things but I had hoped to see more improvement after 7 days, although the treatment is for up to 10 days.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[souffle]

welcome to HC. With the setup you describe it does not sound as if that is the cause of the problem. Having no background either does not help with finding out the issues and also not being sure of his age. If the Baytril has not worked it could still be an infection that is resistant. We have had some success with Septrin however once these chest problems take hold they are hard to treat.
My hunch is that there is another root cause which could well be from fluid gathering in the chest due to either the heart or the kidneys. As they get older these become weaker and as they don't do their job as well fluid can gather. Sadly you cannot treat these in hamsters. The sticky eyes are often a symptom of another problem rather that the root of the problem themselves.
I would try and up his vitamins and probiotics to help his tummy recover from meds. Pro C powder from P&H can help. Also fresh veg and a tiny bit of dandelion can help shift fluid (wash it and use a no spay plant) Even when fixed an infection can still leave some damage so he may continue to snuffle
I hope he rallies soon though but return to vets if you are very worried x

[Pebbles82]

Hamsters can actually catch colds from humans. Although I doubt anyone would have a cold at this time of year. Souffle has mentioned most of the possibilites. It does sound a bit like an allergy, but could be infection or another immune deficiency. With the set up you have I can't think he could be allergic to anything except - what did you clean the cage with (if you've cleaned it yet)? Usually it's recommended not to clean the cage out for the first two weeks, while they're settling in, as this can stress them. Stress can lower the immune system and they just get under par.

If the cage has had a full clean out this may have caused him to get stressed, but also the scent of cleaning products can really affect them - or cause an allergy - they have a very strong sense of smell, so what smells nice to us is overpowering to them.

Sorry if you know all that already! It might just take longer on the antibiotics if it's an infection, but meanwhile avoid any cage cleans - if you use a litter tray with Chinchilla bathing sand in, they tend to use it (but only if you put it where they've chosen their pee corner) and just empty that about every five days - otherwise you can spot clean (take the odd handful of substrate out and add a new handful) but they are quite clean little things really (apart from the pee which the sand soaks up). Poops aren't dirty or smelly so don't worry about those unless they really start to take over. Theyre like little hard seeds and sometimes they eat them for extra vitamins (which is normal - they have two stomachs and can redigest nutrients from them) - they may hoard poops for emergency food supplies.

Also cleaning out the nest and hoard stresses them - best to leave those as much as you can (unless pee'd in).

I only do a cage clean about every 3 months if you have enough substrate in - and then it's best not to clean everything at the same time so somethings always smell familiar. They scent mark everything in the cage to find their way around -so changing things and moving them around stresses them too! When doing a substrate clean, warm water is fine unless there's been illness or disease. Then you can get pet safe disinfectants (Beaphar do one for small animals). And rinse it well afterwards to remove the scent.

Assuming it's none of the above it may just be age, or something else going on as Souffle says. Do you know how old he is? It does sound a bit like a stress thing that has lowered immunity and allowed an infection to take hold.

Hopefully another course of antibiotics will help get rid of it. Meanwhile you could supplement the Harry Hamster. I give a little fresh extra or two each day - that might perk him up a bit - they love anything fresh. A very small bit of fresh veg like broccoli or carrot or cucumber - just about 1cm cubed size. At first maybe every 3 days or it can give them diarrhoea if too much at first. Then after a week every other day, and then every day. I give another little extra each day also - either half a brazil nut or walnut (out of the shells), a bit of apple (not seeds), a few pumpkin seeds (they go crazy for pumpkin seeds), a raisin, a small piece of cheese. You can get little snack packs of the various nuts and seeds at the supermarket. I would definitely give half a brazil nut once a week. Brazil nuts have some very good immune boosting thing in them.

Sticky eyes - I've only ever had that with an older hamster. Sounds like just part of being run down as well.

Is he handtame at all? It's difficult when you haven't had him long to handle him and mess him about as they do need that two weeks settling in time, but if he's quite easy to hold you could bath his eye a little bit to unstick it - you can just use tepid water and a cotton bud (but not too wet or he'll get soaked). Might be best just to leave it a bit longer though if he's not well and you haven't had him long.

Final thought - is there anything in the room he could be allergic too? Scented air fresheners can be culprits - especially the plug in ones that constantly put out the scent.

If it is a cold, it's a virus which may be why the antibiotics aren't helping much, so immune boosting would be the way to go then. But viral infections can turn into bacterial chesty things so if he doesn't improve I would get more baytril from the vets and keep him on it a bit longer.