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Old 02-25-2020, 04:12 PM   #11
MaryRobinson
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Default Re: Do hamsters go senile?

So Mimi has slowed down a lot in the past week and barely comes out of her nest. I have heard very short patters of her feet on her wheel at about midnight but in the last few nights she hasn't even come out to forage for the scattered treats and food she usually goes mad for, so I've made a bowl and put it really close to her door. I'm also giving her more soft stuff like porridge which seems to disappear ok.

She's also started peeing in her wooden Rodipet 2-chamber house, rather than making it over to her sand pit. She's still using her sand pit occasionally but (annoyingly for the smell!) she's now taken to marking the corner of her 'hallway' instead. I don't however know whether this is because she's so slow she can't make it to her sand pit next to her house, or whether it's a result of us having to bake her house in the oven last week whilst she dozed in our room as there were five mites on the wall of her house. (I am gutted and seriously perplexed about this because everything in there, without fail, has been either frozen or baked prior to her having it!! But as she is sleeping much more it is harder to get in there and remove poos every day so perhaps it just got a bit damp and warm and some long-dormant eggs hatched??)

Anyway, when she's up, she looks the same: glossy, perhaps a little thinner but bright-eyed... butat the moment she peers out of her front door to see what I'm whitening on about and then backs in to her bedroom.

What I don't know is how much to disturb her to check on her. I work in the room where her detolf is so if she comes out for a drink I dash up to take the lid off her nest and extract anything which needs extracting! However she's not out in the evenings at all and I don't want to stress her out but will need to get in there again. When I take the lid off she's usually sound asleep anyway so perhaps she wouldn't even notice - she's very tame - but I try not to remove the lid of her nest when she's in there asleep.

From a brutally frank point of view, does anyone have any experience with how long she might go on for at this rate? I know hams fail fast. There's no sign of swellings or anything which indicates an illness, or any pain or stiffness, just a complete winding down of her batteries. (I thought I saw blood in there the other evening and then hubby reminded me we'd given her a blueberry and as a medic he was sure it was not blood, but blueberry juice. Panic over!) I want to know how to make her as comfy as possible and at the same time keep her clean and hygienic in a way which won't stress her out....
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Old 02-26-2020, 05:53 AM   #12
cypher
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Default Re: Do hamsters go senile?

It is difficult when they are in the later stages of old age & don't leave the nest too often but as long as she's not sleeping in damp bedding then I would just spot clean pee when you get the chance, poo isn't really a problem & can be removed much less often.
She may well not even wake up if you lift the lid for a quick spot clean, when my little Tinwē was really old I would often lift him out of the nest & have him asleep in one hand while I spot cleaned with the other! You just have to try & figure out what works best for them as time goes on.
There's no knowing how long she will go on like this really, some do fade fast but others can live much longer than you might expect & as long as she remains comfortable & happy you just have to take it one day at a time really.
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Old 02-27-2020, 10:47 AM   #13
MaryRobinson
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Default Re: Do hamsters go senile?

Thanks Cypher. She sometimes wakes up if I lift the lid on her nest but occasionally doesn't notice. Thankfully she's still peeing outside of her nest from what I can see so it's not damp in there.

In the last few days she's eating much less and isn't even coming out overnight to collect treats right by her door - even her favourite ones. She is still drinking as I'm monitoring that but seems not to be eating much and her poos are quite little and dried up, and there seem not to be many at all, presumably as she's not exercising and there's not much going through her... I've bought her some baby food today and am trying to give her more porridge / couscous and easy veg (which she still loves). She literally just popped out for a drink and seemed very stiff, poor little girl.

Presumably hamster constipation isn't a sign of anything underlying - I don't know of anything? She has been used to daily veg which she is still eating so it's slightly odd - but then her dry food intake seems to be minimal.

It's all bit heartbreaking to watch, isn't it... I just pray that she slips away from old age, in the nest she loves curling up in, rather than getting something awful and traumatic... I'm a bit scarred after our last rescue, Dora, developed a rare cancer and died in my hands after a night of seizures... :'( My hubby warned me if I get all distraught about Mimi that we can't have another one but you can't help bond with them, can you... Sigh.

Time will tell.. x
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Old 02-27-2020, 09:55 PM   #14
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Default Re: Do hamsters go senile?

I'm sorry to hear that she declined even more, I doubt the lack of poo is anything to worry about really if she isn't eating much & not active then it most probably will be down to that.
It is heartbreaking & never gets any easier but I do hope that she does end her days peacefully & gently.
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Old 03-04-2020, 01:25 AM   #15
Celestial
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Default Re: Do hamsters go senile?

I'm sorry to hear that Mimi has been declining and eating less.
I hope that she isn't in pain and stays a while so you two get to enjoy one another's company for a little longer. And I hope when the sad end does come, after a life filled with love and care, that it is peaceful and painless.
Don't feel like you have to (or have to not) get another hamster instantly after she passes, but I hope you don't feel like you'll never be able to get another!

Spend time with her when she feels like it. Maybe do something special for her that she really likes.

And give her love. Lots of love.
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Old 03-04-2020, 02:39 AM   #16
MaryRobinson
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Default Re: Do hamsters go senile?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Celestial View Post
I'm sorry to hear that Mimi has been declining and eating less.
I hope that she isn't in pain and stays a while so you two get to enjoy one another's company for a little longer. And I hope when the sad end does come, after a life filled with love and care, that it is peaceful and painless.
Don't feel like you have to (or have to not) get another hamster instantly after she passes, but I hope you don't feel like you'll never be able to get another!

Spend time with her when she feels like it. Maybe do something special for her that she really likes.

And give her love. Lots of love.
Thank you xx She's enjoying a little bit of mushed up baby biscuit each day - she likes to lick it off my finger from the cosiness of bed! Bless her.

A weird thing has happened, though... Mimi has perked up a lot in the past few days. As in, hubby and I were completely astonished! One evening I crept in and there she was, a bit skinny and sleepy, but sitting under her waterbottle looking bright-eyed! She then scampered over, did her little 'pick me up!' routine and had a good run around the living room for about 15 minutes!!?

Since then, she's woken up a bit earlier and whilst she's definitely still slow - I"ve moved her bowl to the ground floor and she's not eating as much as before - she is eating her hard food again and adding more liquid foods like yoghurt and baby food to her diet seems to have sorted the constipation. Last night she was out and pattering away on her wheel!

Whilst I'm completely confused (no change in diet lately or anything unwashed; no symptoms; nothing wrong with her teeth which I check regularly; no cold germs have been in the house from us or guest... - I am of course delighted that she seems to have somehow pulled back from the brink! She is doing slightly gross stuff now when she used to be clean - she's taken to peeing in one corner of her wooden house (I've snuck a plastic potty under the substrate) and putting her food on top of it - yum!! - but then again she's also started throwing her poos out into the 'hall' when she used to just sit on them in her bed until I cleaned, so perhaps it's just changing one habit for another now she's an oldie!

Anyway... I"m not counting my chickens and am spending as much time as possible with my weird little old girl.. We love her to bits... even if we wouldn't condone her personal hygiene habits!!
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Old 03-04-2020, 10:59 AM   #17
cypher
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Default Re: Do hamsters go senile?

That's such good news! Well done Mimi
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Old 03-04-2020, 01:50 PM   #18
RJS
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Default Re: Do hamsters go senile?

Hi

I was reminded yesterday of your original question. Theodore has lived in the same enclosure I built for him almost two years ago and though there have been a few layout changes over that time period its mostly stayed the same. Recently, he seems to have forgotten that he as a nice walkway up to a shelf where his treat dish is and instead will struggle up to the shelf by wedging himself between a side wall and his hide. Its a lot of work and is by no means the fastest way to the treat dish! Its as if he completely forgets that he has a walkway ..... but not always - most of the time he still uses it. So maybe not senile - but I do think he's becoming forgetful .. as I as as I'm aging too!

And so it goes ...
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