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Old 09-18-2019, 01:02 PM   #11
AprilPearl
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

Quote:
Originally Posted by Coco61 View Post
That's good news about the crushed HH, AP. I have just bought some baby food this week because of different concerns with Maestro. From Sainsbury's I bought 2 pouches of Ella's kitchen. Pumpkin broccoli and sweet corn ( great success last night) and peas broccoli and potatoes still to be opened. I avoided fruit ones. Chicken and veg and cauliflower cheese can be useful if you need several flavours. I then use an ice cube tray to subdivide the remainder and freeze. You can transfer the cubes to a bag before using the tray for another flavour. Thereafter you can take one frozen portion of whichever one you want each evening and let it defrost over a couple of hours before use.
When Mocho needed medicine daily for a year I had a rotation of flavours in the freezer and porridge to ring the changes so he never got bored.
I’ll have a look in the large Sainsbury’s store nearby for some Ella’s kitchen baby foods. Unfortunately the local Tesco didn’t have any baby foods that were 100% vegetables so I didn’t manage to get him any today.
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Old 09-18-2019, 01:03 PM   #12
AprilPearl
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

I tried to look at Quigley’s teeth today but he wouldn’t open his mouth wide enough to get a good look and I didn’t want to scare/hurt him so I’ve decided to take him to the vets to get his teeth checked out.
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Old 09-20-2019, 04:56 AM   #13
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

Hi April. He is a grand age now! They can get toothache, arthritis of the jaw, all sorts of things that cause pain eating hard foods, so it's very common for them to need a softer diet.

I've been giving Newt a bit of soaked science selective each day and a bit of baby food, as well as his regular hamster mix, veg and treats etc.

3 or 4 pellets of the science selective - I put them in a little baby food lid and add a few drops of water - you then need to leave it for about 15 minutes to soften - so I was doing that before doing the rest of his food and water to give it time to soak.

The science selective contains everything they need so it doesn't matter if they don't eat much of anything else. They also enjoy a bit of porridge or scrambled egg

I only use the peas one by ella's kitchen - all the rest seem to have lemon juice in -so I'm cautious about that. The cow and gate "chicken sunday lunch" was the favourite one here, along with the Hipp organic "sweet squash and chicken" and the cow and gate "chicken and pumpkin".

I can see you're taking him to the vets today. Let us know how he gets on. They might give him some Metacam.
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Old 09-20-2019, 10:58 AM   #14
AprilPearl
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

Thank you Serendipity I actually just got some science selective for Quigley yesterday. Crushed it up a bit and softened it with water and he was very keen on it, so that’s good. Might try just soaking a few pellets like you suggested in future since I do want to encourage him still to eat hard foods too.

Quigley never liked egg as much as other hamsters I’ve had did. Maybe his opinion has changed though, so I will try it. Porridge too.

Thank you for the heads up about the lemon juice. I will try and get just the peas one, then. Quigley has been having the c&g chicken Sunday lunch babyfood but I thought maybe the protein content wasn’t so good for an older hamster on an ongoing basis.

Couldn’t get an appointment at the vets until the 25th unfortunately. He’s still very happy in himself and eating (albeit only soft foods!) so I don’t think he is in any immediate danger.

Yesterday I did notice that he has some dandruff (he has long fur so it wasn’t obvious until I ruffled up his fur and looked near the skin). I hope that isn’t a sign of anything. He isn’t balding at all despite his age, though.
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Old 09-20-2019, 06:24 PM   #15
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

He will get all kinds of age related things at this age. Newt lost his top teeth. They can break a tooth as well. I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as he is able to eat and getting soft food supplements. The only thing that might be an issue is if his bottom teeth have got too long to the point that he can't open his mouth properly. Next time he is out and you're holding him or he's on your knee, just pull back his pouches slightly so you can see his teeth. If it's easier to have him on your knee while doing it, get someone else to take a photo (you won't be able to see easily at that angle).

I think it's a difficult call at their age, whether to take them to the vet or not as that stresses them out when they just want a quiet life. If his teeth aren't overgrown then I would just let him potter along with supplements.
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Old 09-21-2019, 01:34 PM   #16
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

Great to see you back again.

Hope your truely lovely boy remains contented for the rest of his days. Sounds like he is having the best kind of food, lucky hamster.
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Old 09-21-2019, 11:29 PM   #17
AprilPearl
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

I think it is probably a teeth thing, Serendipity. I think I’ll just keep his appointment at the vets on Wednesday to check his teeth because I’ve been unable to get a good look them myself because I worry about hurting his mouth trying to see them. I tried pulling back his pouches last night but I think I was too gentle because they didn’t pull back. I just don’t want to injure him inadvertently.

I hope it won’t stress him out to take him to the vet. He’s been in the past and just slept in his carrier all the way there and back so I’m hoping it won’t upset him too much. I guess I just want to put my mind at rest.

Thank you flowerfairy! He is quite happy with his food at the moment haha. I think he’s delighted that he’s finally ‘persuaded’ me to start serving his mix how he likes it (crushed up with water) - who wants to bother chewing? At least he’s eating it now though.
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Old 09-21-2019, 11:34 PM   #18
AprilPearl
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

Also I don’t know if this is relevant but Quigley has had a bit of a sweet smell about him for a while now. I worried it might be diabetes so I tested him but he was completely clear. He’s also not drinking and peeing buckets which I think he would if he had diabetes. He shouldn’t have diabetes either since he doesn’t get store bought hamster treats and I don’t let him eat fruit except very rarely. I remember a lot of my other hamsters developed this smell when they got older so maybe it is just an age thing?
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Old 09-22-2019, 04:10 AM   #19
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

Probably best to get checked then When Charlie was that age I took him to get his bottom teeth trimmed as they had got really long. He was freaked afterwards for a few days and hid away but eventually came round again. Hopefully nothing will need doing and the vet can just see properly. Toothache in the back teeth can be an issue too and not much to do about that apart from soft food. Assume you’re still putting his regular mix out as well. They still like to pouch and hoard it even if they’re not eating much of it.
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Old 09-22-2019, 04:25 AM   #20
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

Oh I hope Quigley doesn’t get too upset if he needs to have his teeth trimmed. I wish you could explain what is happening to them and why.

He still has his mix too but he isn’t even taking that from his bowl any more. He hasn’t been for a while. I throw it out and put new stuff in every day (what a waste) in the hope of tempting him and mix in hemp or linseed but he ignores it. He also isn’t chewing on seed bars or dried corn cobs or whimzees anymore.
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