Urgent: back legs suddenly very weak

Brood_Daddy · 12-22-2018, 03:56 PM

Sammy, female campbells/WW (probable hybrid), age 18 months.

This morning she was fine - this evening she has very weak back legs. She can get around, but with effort, and either drags her legs or weakly steps with them (so not totally paralyzed).

She's in very good spirits, eating worms and exploring as usual - just with vastly reduced function in her back legs.

If it continues tomorrow she's 100% off to the vets firth thing - but wondered if anyone else has experienced this and has any advice, what to expect etc.

Thanks.

Pebbles82 · 12-22-2018, 04:06 PM

I haven’t come across this happening suddenly. It can happen after any injury (could she have fallen?) Or possibly neurological disease or a stroke. I would take her to the vets for s diagnosis.

Brood_Daddy · 12-22-2018, 04:10 PM

I can't see any way she could have fallen - at least, not in a way that could seriously hurt her.

She also doesn't seem to be in pain - she's not avoiding movement or anything.

I'm worried about it being a neurological issue... I didn't feel like 18 months was old enough for a stroke, but not really sure that else it might be.

Thanks for the help!

Pebbles82 · 12-22-2018, 04:14 PM

18 months is the beginning of old age for a hamster. Some live 2 or 2.5 years but rarely longer than that so they can develop things after a year old or at 18 months. Sometimes an older hamster will have a mini stroke - this can also be a genetic predisposition.

Brood_Daddy · 12-22-2018, 04:45 PM

I don't think they were bred with much care to be honest - my current brood are pet shop specials, so I wouldn't be surprised if they end up with genetic issues... Such a shame, she's always been a scared little thing but was starting to come out of her shell the past few months.

cypher · 12-22-2018, 10:23 PM

I had something very similar happen with Tinwë, can't remember exactly how old he was at the time without checking but also too young for a stroke to be likely & I couldn't think of any way he could have had an accident but he suddenly lost the use of his back legs completely, I can't help with cause as it's still a mystery but the vet did give him some metacam for a few days, nothing much happened at all for ten days & then almost as suddenly he was able to use them again.
I would definitely take her to your vet & see what they say, fingers crossed she recovers & will be ok.

Brood_Daddy · 12-24-2018, 10:12 AM

Okay so an update - the next day Sammy was much, much improved - she could walk on her legs, and was a little wobbly, but fine. Today, she'd even better, standing on her hind legs as usual like nothing is wrong.

I'm going to keep an eye on this, but for now... seems to be okay?

Thank you so much for all your help!

cypher · 12-24-2018, 10:26 PM

Good to hear she's improving, it sounds as though she may have hurt herself, possibly bruised her back or something if she's recovering quickly, fingers crossed she'll be a fine soon.