A bit concerned, Baldrick sudden weight loss

Vierville · 05-16-2020, 05:59 PM

I've had Baldrick, my six-month old male Russian Dwarf Hybrid since he was three weeks old. Ever since a baby he has loved his food (very much!) and he rapidly gained weight to the point that he was extremely rotund.

He gets the same diet as my other dwarves which is Versele-Laga Mini Hamster Nature dry food and a small portion of fresh veggies (brocolli, cucumber, cauliflower, green beans, spinach), and seeds (hemp, sunflower, pumpkin and sesame) each night. He gets a fresh meal worm or two each day also.

I usually weight my hamsters every week or two and to give you an idea in January he weighed 57 grams, in February 66 grams and in March 70 grams. He remained at 70 grams in April and I have not weighed him again until this evening, though over the last week or two I had noticed he has been looking leaner.

So when I weighed him this evening he weighed 51 grams! That is 19 grams lighter than three weeks ago. I used the same scale, same time of day and nothing else was different.

He defiitely feels much thinner, though not skinny.

I just can't believe he could have lost that much weight so quickly? I'm concerned that there might be something causing this rapid and quite drastic weight loss?

He seems to be eating exactly as normal but the only thing I can say that he is now doing is that he has been doing more running on his wheel.

I checked his teeth this evening and they seem fine, and coupled with the fact that he is eating, I can't see any issue?

When I opened his mouth with a Q-tip to check his teeth, I did notice a slight ' bad breath' odour but it wasn't overpowering and when I checked his mouth to see if the odour was present 20 minutes later I could smell nothing at all.

He is behaving normally and doesn't seem in any way different to his usual self.

I'm a bit concerned about the rapid weight loss, and just wanted to know if this is normal? I know that 51 grams is not considered 'underweight' for an adult male Russian Dwsrf Hybrid but to fo from 70 to 51 grams in just over three weeks is drastic.

Thank you so much in advance for any advice or experiences on this.

sushi_78 · 05-16-2020, 07:07 PM

That is a lot of weight to lose, and doesn't sound normal at all. A vet visit would be best, but you could also test his urine for diabetes as that can cause weight loss. I hope you can get to the bottom of it as it sounds scary.

Ria P · 05-16-2020, 10:20 PM

That is a lot of weight to lose in a short time and i share your concern about Baldrick.
I agree with sushi and would test his urine to see if anything abnormal shows up.
You could also ask for a telephone consultation with a vet initially.
Keep us up to date and i very much hope that you can find out what is causing this weight loss. Hamsters are not likely to go on a diet like their human companions so there must be a reason.

cypher · 05-17-2020, 12:37 AM

That is a lot of weight to lose in such a short time, it may be worth testing urine but such a sudden weight loss without seeing any previous signs like drinking & peeing more makes diabetes seem fairly unlikely.
It's not really possible to guess what may be going on, I would discuss it with your vet & see if they can tell what's going on.
It must be a real worry & I hope Baldrick will be ok.

Vierville · 05-17-2020, 03:22 AM

Thank you everyone for your advice. I have managed to get some diastix and will test him as soon as he is up and about. He hasn't been eating or drinking any more than usual so it is a bit strange.

I will also check his breath odour again later, it was so strange last night that the first time I checked there was a bit of a bad odour and 20mins later upon rechecking it smelled absolutely fine.

The vets are closed today but I will speak to them tomorrow and probably take him for a checkup.

Vierville · 05-17-2020, 04:16 PM

I checked Baldrick this evening, he looks and is acting absolutely normal, just very very active, no breath odour and I weighed him and he is unchanged at between 51 and 52 grams.

I managed to test his urine with Diastix and the result was 'negative' for glucose in the urine (the colour indicator remained light blue).

I bought him a large sized 'flying saucer' today which he got visibly excited about and immediately set about sniffing and examining it before hopping on and going for a run.

Ria P · 05-17-2020, 11:40 PM

Glad Baldrick is fine in himself and tested negative for glucose which is something.

In humans weight loss and increased activity can point towards a thyroid problem.

Maker · 05-18-2020, 03:13 AM

How the dickins do you test urine on a hammy? And fingers crossed baldrick starts to put his weight back on x

Ria P · 05-18-2020, 03:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maker

How the dickins do you test urine on a hammy? And fingers crossed baldrick starts to put his weight back on x

Its surprisingly easy. Put the hamster in an empty plastic box of roughly the size of a sandwich box and wait till he pees then take him out and test the urine.
If he doesn't pee within 5/10minutes try again later. Hamsters don't like to sit in a small box and pee when they start to get stressed so it shouldn't take long.

Vierville · 05-18-2020, 05:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ria P

Its surprisingly easy. Put the hamster in an empty plastic box of roughly the size of a sandwich box and wait till he pees then take him out and test the urine.
If he doesn't pee within 5/10minutes try again later. Hamsters don't like to sit in a small box and pee when they start to get stressed so it shouldn't take long.

That's the procedure, absolutely. You dip a testing strip in the urine then wait exactly 30 sec before comparing the colour to a chart on the test kit.

In Baldrick's case, he sometimes pees in protest if he doesn't want to be picked up so you get your sample quicker than you expected.