Paralyzed hamster biting herself at the butt area until bleeding

[Nichole]

Hi my Syrian hammy is almost 2 years old and she’s is paralyzed from the waist down 2 weeks earlier from an injury. We took her to a vet and got her xray done , no broken bones and suspected to have injured her spinal area. The vet gave her anti inflammatory and nerve supplements . Today I found that her butt area was stained with urine so we helped her wiped it up and notice the area near her butt was bleeding, suspected that she chewed it herself. Does anyone have any how to prevent her from biting herself ? And how the take care of a paralyzed hamster , we are currently working on a wheelchair for her but we don’t know if it helps or not.

[Vierville]

I'm so sorry to hear about your hammy. I must commend you on caring for her in such a dedicated way.

My concern would be that if she is paralysed, she would not feel if she is injuring herself by biting which could develop into a bigger problem.

In dogs, they often attach a cone shaped collar around the head to prevent biting or licking an injured area but in a hamster I really am not sure if it would stress her to the point of being detrimental as I know that hamsters take great comfort in the ritual of preening themselves which she would be unable to do with a cone.

My suggestion is to speak to the vet about it.

Best of luck to you and your little one.

[Pebbles82]

I would also suggest another vet visit. Do you have an exotic vet nearby. It sounds concerning as sometimes hamsters try to amputate an injured area (eg chewing off a foot if injured) and she does not sound in a good way. It's very difficult as 2 is a great age and if her quality of life is really impaired it may be kinder to help her on her way. ut only you know how she seems in herself. Spinal injuries can lead to all sorts of other complications - eg spinal fluid leaking and cause suffering.

I think I would see an exotic vet for another opinion, if you can. They don't cost any more usually - google and see if there is one near you. It may also be that the pain medication isn't strong enough.

[cypher]

I also think another visit to the vet would be a good idea, did the vet say anything about long term prognosis or going back for a check to see how she's doing?
It is possible she's biting herself if she can't feel where she's grooming but she may also be biting an area that is in pain.
A hamster with paralysis will have a fairly poor quality of life & it can be hard to judge if they are in pain or suffering sometimes & you may have to decide whether it's best to let her continue like this or if it may be time to help her on her way.
One of my hamsters lost the use of his back legs very suddenly at one time, neither I or the vet had any idea what was wrong, he was on metacam for a while & he did eventually recover so it is possible but there is a limit to how long you can wait, not knowing if your ham is in pain or what is actually wrong.