Bursted eye! They only gave me 2 options :(

M310 · 02-11-2020, 01:07 PM

Can someone help me to decide what to do? (sorry if my english is wrong)

I have a syrian hamster, her name is Bongson and she has been with me for 1 year and 10 months and I completely adore her.

But around 1 month ago I noticed some redness in her right eye and bleeding in her tail so I took her to the vet. At first we tought it was because of a trauma, she likes to climb in her cage and we thought that she fall in the wrong way. So the vet gave her baytril and metacam.

After a few days, the tail was almost healed but the redness of the eye was still there. While the vet was checking up Bongson she noticed that her teeth were very long so she decided that we had to grind her teeth (that would mean to give her anesthetics which is not very good for hamster as I have been told).

Then after 1 week of grinding her teeth, they were long again even if I bought her new chew toys and she was biting them it was still not enough and her teeth grew a lot during the period of one week. So the vet decided to wait another week because it was inhuman to give her anesthetics again when she just did the procedure just one week ago.

The following week she had the procedure done and we had to wait more or less 2 weeks to see if there is any improvement.

Nowadays, Bongson´s eye has bursted and we have been in the vet today. They gave me 2 options:
1. To operate Bongson to remove her eye (due to her age is not sure if she will be able to survive) and if she survives we would have to grind her teeth on a weekly basis (which means give her anesthetics every week)
2.Put her to sleep

I am right now overwhelmed and I really don´t know what to do. I would like to know if you had similar experiences and what did you do?

Littlephodopusmom · 02-12-2020, 01:50 AM

Oh I am so sorry to hear about your baby. I really don't know what I would do but am sure someone will be by with more experience and thoughts. I am sending you our best wishes though.

Ithuviel · 02-12-2020, 03:22 AM

I really can't put myself in your position. I'm sorry about Bongson

. whatever you decide, i am confident that you made the right decision.

LunaTheHamster1 · 02-12-2020, 04:37 AM

I would be concerned about why her teeth aren't naturally getting ground down. Has she lost weight? is she eating?
I am asking these questions because if her teeth are not getting naturally ground down there is obviously something causing this. Is it the infection(?) or whatever caused the eye to burst that caused this.
I honestly do not think it is plausible to be getting her teeth ground down on a weekly basis, I don't think my vets would allow me to do that.
Is there anything else wrong with your hamster causing the teeth to grow, for example my hamster Sunny's teeth grew very quickly and she lost 10 grams of weight, the vets took her off sort her teeth out, but found an unoperable tumour in her abdomen that had caused her to stop eating and that had caused her teeth to grow. The humane decision was to have to put her to sleep.
So whilst It is not exactly the same as what you are going through, i think there are similarities.
I am sorry you are having to go through this.

Petite · 02-12-2020, 05:21 AM

My dwarf winter white's eye ruptured last month. She was clearly in distress and not herself. The vet was willing to try to operate to remove the eye, but with perhaps only a 25-30% chance of her surviving the operation. He advised us that it would be kindest to put her to sleep, so we did.

In situations like these, there are often only two options, and it's very, very hard to decide between them. But we do have to put their quality of life first. I'm wondering if Bongson is happy in herself, or if her teeth are growing because she is in distress and therefore isn't eating normally / chewing toys, etc, that would naturally wear her teeth down.

I'm afraid that I agree with Luna that it's not in her best interests to give her an anaesthetic on a weekly basis. Apart from that, you might find it hard to watch her go through that. The vet advised us that a ruptured eye is terribly painful, and although a hamster can live quite happily with only one eye, the chances of a successful operation in order to make this possible are often stacked against them. It's very hard to watch our pets suffer like this, but only you really know what your hamster's quality of life is like, and I'm sure you will make the best decision for her.

souffle · 02-12-2020, 06:53 AM

It is very painful for her to have a ruptured eye and something needs done about this very quickly.
It sounds as though the teeth and malloccluded so they don't meet properly and that is why they are not grinding down. It is possible they are growing in to the roof of the mouth and could have damaged the eye.
All things considered and her age, if she was ours we would give her rest.
It is the last great gift you can give. I hope you can settle the decision in your heart and make it soon.

Jo 17 · 02-12-2020, 10:31 AM

Maybe you could ask for opinion another vet as I agree with Luna, there maybe is a reason for all is happening to your hamster. But if the other vet would confirmed this same thing, then as heart braking it would be for you, but you should perhaps think do you want to stress your hamster with all procedures or it would be kinder for her to let her pass with no pain...