Hamster Central - View Single Post - Hamster not doing well

Kate1000 · 04-16-2021, 08:18 PM

Hi. My dwarf hamster Zoey who is only 3 months old started showing signs of being sick this last Monday. We went to the vet and she diagnosed her with a GI infection and gave us antibiotics and subcutaneous fluids. At first Zoey seemed to be responding - was taking good from us and had a lot of energy. We thought she was going to make it. The only weird thing that was happening was that her stomach was really bloated but if I massaged it the bloat would go away. In addition to the antibiotic we have been giving her critical care (what I can get her to take) and a hydration solution.

But then this morning I woke her up and she was barely moving. I warmed her up and she got a little better but then seemed to go downhill again. Her breathing also started to become irregular.

We went to the vet and she examined her and told us that Zoey was not responding to the treatment and she recommended euthanizing her. I felt like she didn’t ask me enough questions to be making that decision. We decided against euthanasia since she was doing so well yesterday and the doctor prescribed an additional antibiotic.

Does anyone have thoughts on anything else we can do for her. We have a heating pad under her cage now which is helping with the body temp and the vet did subcutaneous fluids again and when we came home she was running around. She is picking up food but she has a lot in her pouches so we don’t know if she is eating. Any thoughts would be appreciated. We are trying to give her the best chance to survive this that we can.

04-16-2021, 08:18 PM
Kate1000 Newborn Pup Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 2	Hamster not doing well - going downhill quickly Hi. My dwarf hamster Zoey who is only 3 months old started showing signs of being sick this last Monday. We went to the vet and she diagnosed her with a GI infection and gave us antibiotics and subcutaneous fluids. At first Zoey seemed to be responding - was taking good from us and had a lot of energy. We thought she was going to make it. The only weird thing that was happening was that her stomach was really bloated but if I massaged it the bloat would go away. In addition to the antibiotic we have been giving her critical care (what I can get her to take) and a hydration solution. But then this morning I woke her up and she was barely moving. I warmed her up and she got a little better but then seemed to go downhill again. Her breathing also started to become irregular. We went to the vet and she examined her and told us that Zoey was not responding to the treatment and she recommended euthanizing her. I felt like she didn’t ask me enough questions to be making that decision. We decided against euthanasia since she was doing so well yesterday and the doctor prescribed an additional antibiotic. Does anyone have thoughts on anything else we can do for her. We have a heating pad under her cage now which is helping with the body temp and the vet did subcutaneous fluids again and when we came home she was running around. She is picking up food but she has a lot in her pouches so we don’t know if she is eating. Any thoughts would be appreciated. We are trying to give her the best chance to survive this that we can.