Infected eye

Snail · 07-12-2020, 08:00 AM

My dwarf hamster Snail has been struggling with a lot of pain recently causing him to bite and I found he has a big mup on his back so I took him into the vets who gave him painkillers (metacam). I thought it was going okay until 10 minutes ago when I noticed his left eye (same side as the lump) was almost completely shut and was gunky and looks almost like it could have another growth on it (although Im not sure as he wont stay still enough for me to look at it properly. Im wondering if this could be related to his lump and whether I should take him to an emergency vet or not.

The nearest small animal specialist vets is 50 miles away and I dont know if he would be okay with the journey

Pebbles82 · 07-12-2020, 08:45 AM

Is there an exotic vet in your region? They are much better at diagnosing hamsters and treating them. You could try gently bathing the sticky eye with saline (teaspoon of salt dissolved in a pint of boiled water and let it go cold) - use a cotton bud or the corner of a soft cloth. Maybe try and pick a time of day when he is less active. They can get sticky eyes for all sorts of reasons. I would suggest waiting till tomorrow and going to an exotic vet if you find the eye has a lump and isn't just sticky. If no lump on the eye then maybe see how he goes over the next few days on the Metacam. One thing though is when our Robo had tumours which were thought to be cancer, the Metacam wasn't strong enough for pain after a while. Does it seem to be helping with pain at the moment? Providing he doesn't seem to be in pain they can live with these things for some time, but if there is actually a lump on the eye as well then a diagnosis from an exotic vet will help decide the way forwards.

Snail · 07-12-2020, 09:18 AM

Ive been looking online for exotic vets but Im not having much luck.. My local vets we go to treats hamsters but they dont seem to know much about them which is quite worrying so I was thinking about getting a second opinion on the lump aswell. The metacam doesnt seem to be helping much and he seems to be in a great deal of pain. Poor thing has never bit me before but now he actively seeks out my hand to bite and he just latches on and doesnt let go. I dont know if he suddenly hates me or if he’s just looking for a way to relieve his pain but it just doesnt seem like him at all. We are going to try an emergency vets tomorrow but its just a question of where we can actually take him. The only time he didnt bite in the past few days was earlier when I picked him up to check his eye he just seemed too tired to bite.

Im really worried this will be the end of the road for him which I know will come soon but I dont like to see him in this much pain. Hoping it goes okay at the vets tomorrow but Ill try the saline solution for now if I can get him to stay still enough for it

Pebbles82 · 07-12-2020, 09:25 AM

If you think he is in severe pain now then maybe an emergency vet is the way to go now. The biting is probably to tell you he's in pain (and possibly as a reaction to it/to relieve it). They wouldn't be able to give stronger pain relief so it probably would be a case of helping him on his way. How old is he? I can't remember. If he is not that old than a good vet may be able to do surgery - but if he has that much pain it does suggest a tumour that has spread.

Snail · 07-12-2020, 09:29 AM

He’s 1.5-2years (we dont know exactly). Im going to try and see if any emergency vets are open today and will take a hamster. He never got the lump checked so maybe theyd be able to properly examine it and work out if its something bad or not. Im really hoping that they are unrelated symptoms

Pebbles82 · 07-12-2020, 09:30 AM

Posted at the same time - below - and just seen your post above. He is quite elderly then and sadly they do tend to get some kind of illness or disease and if he's in pain it is likely to be a tumour but could be an injury as well. The eye could be unrelated but pain is a big sign they are suffering as they normally hide suffering very well (being prey animals).

I noticed on your other thread you said he is in the Kerry Terrarium. I know some hamsters are freaked by top access (ie a hand coming from above). Although presumably he is used to this cage. But he might be more sensitive when in pain. Just wondering if you have another cage with front opening, that could be a sort of hospital cage for now, so it's easier to interact and less threatening to him possibly. How does he move around? Is he still active or not active at all really?

But really it does sound like he needs to see another vet.

Snail · 07-12-2020, 11:25 AM

Unfortunately dont have another cage accessible at the moment. He seems okay with his cage but I could try putting in some cardboard to lower the height which may make him feel more comfortable. Hes not very active at the moment despite him coming out a lot he will only run on his wheel for a minute tops when he usually runs for hours each night.

He seems to be okay with having a top access cage although of course hamsters are very good at hiding when something is wrong. He never seems startled or upset usually but it very well could be stressing him out and I’ve just not noticed it.

Pebbles82 · 07-14-2020, 01:44 AM

If he has been ok with things before then probably best to leave things as they are. It’s a balance between not stressing him with changes and making him
Comfortable- I am sure it is already comfortable.

Snail · 07-14-2020, 03:16 AM

We were going to take him to the vet yesterday but his eye seemed completely better which is strange but good I guess? Im not sure whether we should take him in anyways but Im going to keep a close eye on him anyways and any changes and he will go straight in