After my last post a few weeks ago, Adele seemed to get a lot better. A few days of baby food and soggy cheerios and she was back to her old self, although she squeaked at me for about two weeks, having never made a sound before! I treated her for the suspected mites myself, she continued to be ok, and I thought whatever had caused her to be so poorly had passed.
Two weeks ago, my daughter was away with her grandparents. Adele became a lot quieter, barely came out of her house, and we thought maybe she was pining as she lives in my daughter's room and there's always music / singing / reading or general pre-teen noise going on! Although we went in every day, it wasn't the same as 3-4 hours of general hub-bub morning and evening.
However, she really hasn't perked up since the weekend when Amy came home. She's sleeping a lot more, seems to be dragging her rear left foot and I've just watched her very carefully and her foot doesn't seem to go flat, as if it's paralysed. She's eating and drinking, happy to be held, can still climb around her cage, but just isn't as lively as before. She'll get the odd burst of energy, but then toddle off back to her house. Her fur has gone very patchy again (it had started to grow back after the mite treatment) and she seems thinner/smaller although I haven't weighed her.
I'm unsure about taking her to the vets after the last time, when she was seriously stressed by the experience, in case it finishes her off altogether. She's 22 months old now, and I'm wondering if we just keep her comfortable as she doesn't seem to be in pain? But I know hamsters are very good at covering up illness, so could she be in pain and just not show it? I just don't know what to do for the best
