Need help and advice!

[SRP]

Update:

Pandy has finished his antibiotics a few days ago, and we're going to check his pee again soon.

He's still eating his normal food and is quite fond of the hamster soup, particularly the pearl barley, eats maybe about 5g a day of it.

His weight is currently about 130g -135g, seems to linger around there, he'll be 2yo in about 2 weeks, he still asks to come out at some point everyday, but doesn't run much, spends most time asleep

His pee has been normal looking past few weeks, I'm not sure if his breathing is anything though, https://www.dropbox.com/s/hpoux4xb89...52200.mp4?dl=0 video of him breathing, is this normal?

His sides are also kind of bald, not sure if it's fur loss from age, there doesn't seem to be any red marks apart from the bottom which was from a few weeks back.

[Maker]

Hi, it is normal in my experience for them to go a little bald and for their hair to get a little longer - I think this is due to hormones changing- like an old man would
His breathing looks normal.
Is he in his cage in the video? Or is that his cage behind him?
If he is out of his cage maybe you could time it so he goes back in his cage and can sleep in his house when he is tired, the plastic might be making him hot and this may make him uncomfortable
So glad he is feeling better

[SRP]

So far he is still behaving like normal, isn't super active, but does get up to run here and there.

Might have something to do with his age too, he is now 2 years old as of yesterday.

But he's now back to scratching his lowe back near his bottom, the wound that had mostly healed up from before is somewhat back again from his scratching, and you can tell it hurts for him since he makes a sound if it is pushed on or he scratches it too much.

Is there anything that can be done to ease itching? Don't think it is mites since the rest of his body seems somewhat okay, it might just be the itch of a healing wound, don't really trust the vet since the last time we took him, despite no signs of mites according to the vet he still sold us a spray that had etonfenprox and made him really sick.

[cypher]

Have you tried flax seeds (linseed) just a pinch a day & a drop of evening primrose oil daily on food? This can be really helpful for general skin & coat condition & may well help with the itching.

[SRP]

Yup tried those, he's not very fond of flexseed, at most eats maybe 5 a day, there's a pellet we give him that has Linseed, he sometimes eats it, recently however he hasn't had much interest in it either.

Evening primrose oil is safe for em? How much should be given if so?
We tried giving him cod liver oil before, about a 1/4 of a tablet every 3 days, he hates it though.

Since his UTI a month back we've stopped it because at that time we were unsure if it was a kidney issue.

For a time, he didn't scratch and his condition did improve alot, but for some reason he started again a few days ago, unsure why, one of the reasons we suspect, may be that he lies on his wet food, boiled pearl barley mainly, (with some couscous and veggies) which he seem to really like, as he'll get up around the same time we gave him yesterday and wait for it.

As of now we've cut it down to where he'll only have enough to eat for that moment, and just give him a bit here and there throughout the day, he doesn't seem to mind this way either.

He also seems to stop scratching if we physically intervene and remind him, he's not too happy with it, but he'll listen. He goes longest without scratching when sleeping in my hand as he'll sleep in one position for up to 3 hours, depending on the temperature, of if he needs to pee/poop.

He also seems to sleep more soundly when being pet.

[Pebbles82]

Good to hear the antibiotics worked- your vet prescribing probiotic sounds good too as that helps prevent the antibiotic wrecking their gut so his gut goes back to normal afterwards. He sounds like back to normal apart from the sore. You could try putting a bit of Manuka honey on the sore bit although the good stuff is a bit expensive. Safe to lick off and it can help with wound healing. Some people also use thyme tea - dabbed on with a cotton bud (when it’s cooled of course). That has antiseptic and antibiotic properties. I wouldn’t do both at the same time though. Thyme tea is just a teaspoonful of dried thyme in a mug of boiling water then cooled.

A lot sounds like old age but they can get all sorts of things when they get older. How are his nails? They can start getting long when they’re older and less active and can make them sore when they scratch. I currently have a hamster the same age whose nails started to get really long. Clipping them is tricky but patience is the key - I do one or two nails each time he is out of the cage by just giving him some tasty food on a spoon (eg porridge) and waiting till he’s sitting still and eating it. But you need good eyesight! And a tiny pair of nail scissors. Also look up on Google about hamster nails - you can only snip off the very end tip so as to avoid cutting the quick which is painful and they can bleed a lot - I have never had that issue as I’m careful just to get the very tip but cornflour nearby would work as a styptic. If they have got very long it is then a case of regularly taking off the very tip - maybe once a week or more - you can’t shorten them in one go but taking off the tip means it won’t cause wounds and they can walk better. Anyway maybe his nails are fine!

[cypher]

Don’t give cod liver oil as it’s not safe for them, it can lead to too much of the fat soluble vitamins in their system which is harmful, evening primrose oil is perfectly safe, about one drop a day should be fine.

[SRP]

Update:
https://imgur.com/a/qQF3Mwf

This is the condition of his skin so far, some scabs on both sides of his face and bottom left too, this is his bottom right, the worst of it, it has somewhat improved, less fluid now. But it seems to be annoying him more now that it's getting better, as he tries to scratch it more.

Stopping him physically seems to somewhat work, after some protest he'll give up, but that requires watching him around the clock.

Haven't got around to trying the evening primrose oil yet, found one by Blackmores, not sure if that one is okay.

He seems to sleep the longest without scratching when he is being pet, which is what I've been doing to stop him. Tried asking the vet just to see if by some chance he may have something, but he only wants us to bring him in to check, when asked what he wants to check for, he said to check the fur, for infection. So I prefer if we didn't have to since it stresses him out, the last time his skin/fur was checked (somewhere last year I think) there was no mites.

Would the oil help soothe his itching or can something else be used? Since the vet isn't very useful, and as of now, human contact seems to be the only thing that soothes him enough from scratching.

Also took a look at his nails, it's less than a millimetre from the pink part inside, don't think I dare try as it might hurt him.

[SRP]

Update:

We took him to the vet to get checked, his wound seems to be an ulcer from his scratching and tearing out the skin, so far it's getting better, been cleaning it for him and applying iodine.

His breathing also seems to have gotten faster and is possibly a respiratory infection, we've gotten some antibiotics for him for that too and another drop for in case if it was some sort of allergy it seems.

His fur was also checked and it seems he has a fungal infection, which we are now waiting on the medicine, vet applied a drop of medicine at the back of his neck for demodex mites, have to see if it helps his condition improve.

A few hours ago when Pandy was asleep, (was sleeping on his side) he got up needing to pee, but was dragging one of his hind legs for about 20 seconds, is that anything to worry about? Or could it be that he his leg was numb from the way he slept? He went back to normal after that, has never done that before.

[SRP]

Update:

We've gotten the fungal medicine, which is in the form of a pill, we've not given him yet as the we're waiting to see what the vet answer about his previous statement would be.

He told us to open the pill and take 8 of the little bead like things inside of it and mix it into his food and have him eat it, however, if his liver is not healthy and he reacts negatively, such as not eating, to bring him in immediately, he can't check the liver due to it needing blood to do so, and he didn't tell us what he intends to do if we have to bring him in if he reacts negatively to the medicine, also, as it currently is, Pandy is already on antibiotics for his suspected respiratory infection and another one for allergies.

As of now, Pandy is still eating his food and at times quite keen on his fresh food, he hasn't really been drinking his bottle water, but he gets a syringe of water mixed with the probiotic powder mentioned before (about 0.8ml of water) everyday, he willingly drinks it, and he eats about 2 teaspoons of boiled pearl barley a day which he is quite fond of, I think he may be getting water from those too since they absorb water.

He hasn't been too keen of running though, his weight has also dropped from 135g to around 125g-127g, seems to be staying around there now.