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Old 10-22-2020, 04:56 PM   #1
Minacchiii
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Join Date: Oct 2020
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Unhappy HELP! Can my hamster survive a stroke from a fall?

Hello Hamster Central,
I just registered today to make this thread because I need opinions and experiences from other hamster moms/dads I know this is a long read but pls hear me out T_T

So, I just bought a new hamster from a friend, Its a Syrian hamster turning 4 months old, he's still tiny. And although he doesn't like my hand much and won't take treat from my fingers, I still love him.

So around a few days after I got him, I was playing with him in my bed and long story short, he climbed on the curtains and I failed to catch him in time, he fell almost 5ft high, he paralyzed for a bit and laid down on his side unmoving, I waited a few minutes before picking him up in a soft towel and petting his head, but after several more minutes, he's up perfectly fine and normal and continued on.

Then a few days later (maybe 3 days) there's nothing wrong with him after that, he's completely normal and I took him out again during early evenings cause its kind of our routine for playtime. But this time, he was so hyper, running around my bed in full speed (I closed off all edges with my pillow) but I got distracted with a notification on my phone for 3 sec and I failed to notice he climbed at the edge of the pillow and slid down. It was much lower this time I think around 2" to 2'5" ft but my heart just dropped when I saw him paralyzed again and laying on his side, I knew this time was different because his hands were twitching, I think his shock took longer compared last time and when he finally came to, I noticed he was limping and I just cried. He was swaying, couldn't put force on his front legs and dragging his body around. I initially thought he broke a bone or fractured something but it was already nighttime and so the vets are closed. I put him back in the cage, changed his mixed seeds to fresh greens and fruits and helping him eat because he can't seem to hold the food. The next, next day, I noticed how he can use his front leg to dig on corners so I thought maybe it wasn't broken at all, but he was still swaying, couldn't walk or tumbling back/sidewards when he props himself up on the glass, so I googled the symptoms and found out that it could also be a stroke. But from what I've read so far, it happened to hamters from atleast as old as one year and it came out of nowhere. I couldn't find a similar situation with mine as my hamster is still young and the stroke was caused by the fall. I've read from owners that most of their hamsters die from stroke even after showing signs of recovery after a few weeks or months but It could've been with old age..
I want to reassure myself that his stroke will heal eventually by itself but now I'm not sure anymore T_T He could be recoving but still die anyway. Its still 3 days as of now (10-23-20) he's still swaying a lot but he still eats and drink and runs around like normal, the only progress I've seen is the digging.

And I'm gonna say it ahead, but I live in a small country, in a small city so there aren't much (probably none at all) vets that specializes in small animals, we only have the usual dogs, cats, birds vets and according to my friend, since she breeds hamsters. She already tried going to vets before but it didnt help much cause most of them don't know what they're doing so she resorted to home remedies and most of the time, her hamsters recovered.
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Old 10-23-2020, 03:00 AM   #2
cypher
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Default Re: HELP! Can my hamster survive a stroke from a fall?

It sounds as though this is more from injury & not a stroke, sometimes with an injury it’s only after a short time when inflammation sets in you will see more symptoms.
I understand it may be difficult to find a vet who can help but do try as your hamster may be in pain & a vet may prescribe metacam to help with pain & inflammation even if they aren’t very experienced with small animals.
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Old 10-23-2020, 03:15 AM   #3
LunaTheHamster1
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Default Re: HELP! Can my hamster survive a stroke from a fall?

This sounds more like a concussion/contusion type of accident. Your hamster may need some pain medication like Cypher has already said.

Depending on what type of cage you have, you maybe want to try and keep all his things on one level, so easy access to food and water, he may need his wheel taking out, if he is still wobbling about, it is best to reduce the chances of him falling off anything in his cage.

Maybe a good thing to try in future with him is to have a run set up, such as a large box, then he gets to have time out of his cage but less chance of him having an accident and it just makes keeping an eye on them easier.

I hope you can get him some help and he recovers soon. It took my hamster about 5 days for him to start coming around after a horrible accident but he did go the vets, twice and I think this saved his life.
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Old 10-23-2020, 12:26 PM   #4
Minacchiii
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Default Re: HELP! Can my hamster survive a stroke from a fall?

Ohh so its not a stroke. I thought the behaviour was very similar to a hamster with a stroke as I've seen on youtube. Does this mean the swaying isn't a permanent thing and it can be healed together with the injury? 😭 also, is this medicine expensive?? I'm really on a tight budget right now. 😭

Anyway, Its been 4 days now, I don't know if its too late to treat it but last night during evening, he was really super hyper like he's desperate to get out of the cage so I let him out and put him in a plastic basket a bit bigger than his cage with soft towels so he won't hurt himself falling, but he keeps trying to climb out very desperately, it was unusual. So I set him on the floor inside the room, its kinda bare so I can still keep an eye on him. He can sometimes run fast with a bit of swaying but not stumbling at all.
And I don't see him drinking any water too, he used to be drinking on the 1st-2nd day, now I'm not sure if he's drinking it or if the water keeps leaking out cause he knocks it pretty often trying to climb out the cage and the tissue bedding around it are wet.
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Old 10-24-2020, 02:01 AM   #5
Ria P
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Default Re: HELP! Can my hamster survive a stroke from a fall?

If your hamsters cage is smaller than a plastic basket then it may be a good idea to look into getting or making a bigger habitat for him. Hamsters can get frantic when their cage is too small or their wheel isn't working properly so i'd vheck that. You also need to secure the water bottle so he can't knock it over and make sure that it works ok. Hamsters need access to water at all times. A small piece of cucumber also gives them some moisture.
I hope he'll be ok.
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Old 10-24-2020, 09:08 AM   #6
Maker
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Default Re: HELP! Can my hamster survive a stroke from a fall?

This is so sad, is there anyone who can take him from you that would be able to afford the vet treatment he needs?
It doesn’t seem fair that he goes without help just because you don’t have the money.
Is there a charity that will pay?
Even a normal vet would be better than no vet. How much would it cost? Maybe I could help?
Can you tell us how big the cage is
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Old 10-24-2020, 07:26 PM   #7
Minacchiii
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Default Re: HELP! Can my hamster survive a stroke from a fall?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ria P View Post
If your hamsters cage is smaller than a plastic basket then it may be a good idea to look into getting or making a bigger habitat for him. Hamsters can get frantic when their cage is too small or their wheel isn't working properly so i'd vheck that. You also need to secure the water bottle so he can't knock it over and make sure that it works ok. Hamsters need access to water at all times. A small piece of cucumber also gives them some moisture.
I hope he'll be ok.

He's usually not as frantic as this before even in the same cage (16x9x9) tank aquarium. He would only try to climb out during early evenings and after I play with him outside a couple of minutes and put him back. He would still do that but after being left alone, he would give up and just ran around the tissue tubes I put inside... But these days it wouldnt stop... I changed the bedding last night, thinking it might be dirty since its been a week, I put fresh shredded toilet paper so he could burrow on something soft. I'll observe how he'll do later evening. (PS. I actually plan to move him to a bigger wired cage since I was making a huge popsicle stick house for him, but then the accident happened and I put everything on hold since it might not be good to change the environment he's used to when he's injured)

He doesnt have a wheel though, it just came yesterday (16cm wheel) from online shopping and I tried putting him there with my hand ready to catch him on the side in case he goes unbalance again. But he tries to get off of it. I'm not sure if he's just not interested at it at that moment or if he doesn't know how to use the wheel, I tried to put it in his cage a while later, on the spot where he usually tries to climb out, but he just ignored it, went behind the wheel and use the wheel to climb out. I thought it might be dangerous unattended so I removed it again.

Last edited by Minacchiii; 10-24-2020 at 08:02 PM.
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Old 10-24-2020, 07:38 PM   #8
Minacchiii
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Default Re: HELP! Can my hamster survive a stroke from a fall?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maker View Post
This is so sad, is there anyone who can take him from you that would be able to afford the vet treatment he needs?
It doesn’t seem fair that he goes without help just because you don’t have the money.
Is there a charity that will pay?
Even a normal vet would be better than no vet. How much would it cost? Maybe I could help?
Can you tell us how big the cage is

Yes I know thats why I've been feeling really really guilty and stressing out over this. I'm currently unemployed and with our city still on quarantine and only one person per household gets a quarantine pass but I don't have it. I don't think there's also a charity around here for pets, it might have in another city, but here, I haven't heard such TT
I think it would be fairly cheap in dollars? I've been scouring on vets clinic on fb and I've asked my friends. It would mostly cost around 500-900php (philippine peso) consultation + medicines etc. Yes, its a bit pricey for someone as me, I spent some of my last savings for his bedding, food and some toys) I don't want to impose but I'm really desperate, Its almost a week since the accident (it happened last tue, oct 20)
I've written about the cage on my reply above this.

Last edited by Minacchiii; 10-24-2020 at 08:10 PM.
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Old 10-25-2020, 02:30 AM   #9
Maker
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Default Re: HELP! Can my hamster survive a stroke from a fall?

Could someone with a quarantine pass take the hamster for you - do you have a paypal account - bank transfer fees are high
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Old 10-25-2020, 03:21 AM   #10
Minacchiii
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Default Re: HELP! Can my hamster survive a stroke from a fall?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Maker View Post
Could someone with a quarantine pass take the hamster for you - do you have a paypal account - bank transfer fees are high
If my friends are available... but seeing that they have work weekdays I doubt. I could go myself, It would be fine if I don't pass at any checkpoints, Its a risk but I've got no choice anyway TT I don't but my sister has, I always use hers. ([email protected])

And I would like to update you if you would like, here's my personally email ([email protected]) Thank you so much!
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