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Pebbles82 · 01-08-2022, 05:30 AM

So pleased the Metacam is showing effect. I’ve always found once a day works well. The only time I noticed it wearing off by 24 hours was post surgery. Otherwise I think, as with taking paracetamol, there is a level maintained in the body by taking it regularly, so there shouldn’t be any “wear off” as long as it’s given daily. But see how your hammy goes.

It sounds as if your vet made a mistake (worrying!) but that doesn’t mean they don’t care. I had something similar once. Although the vet prescribed 0.03 ml she showed me the incorrect marking on the small syringe (0.3 marking). I also thought it looked rather a lot and checked on here! Vectis photos really helped.

It can be difficult to find a good exotic vet. I ended up staying with the same one as there was no other alternative in my area and she was good generally. And just double check everything re dosage! She had worked the dosage out correctly but showed me the wrong mark on the syringe. In your case it sounds like either the dose has been worked out incorrectly or there is a lack of knowledge about the doses.

Vets tend to only do what you ask them to do. And some vets now would even say it would need an anaesthetic to check their teeth. You can check teeth yourself. It’s not always that easy- I don’t like scruffing them to look - especially with an older or unwell hamster - it can distress them and can cause eye damage if done incorrectly. One way to check is when they yawn and have a look then. Of course they then don’t yawn when you want them to so another way to tell if their front teeth are too long is give them something like a nut. If they can open their mouths enough to pick up a nut in their teeth then their teeth are probably ok.

Just watch generally if there are any difficulties eating or taking a treat from you eg.

Having said that they can get arthritis of the jaw which can make opening the mouth painful as well. Even if the front teeth aren’t overgrown, they can get toothache in the back teeth as they get older which means they avoid eating hard food (or can’t eat it). So introducing soft food is a good idea.

Giving a bit of baby food daily goes down well and they love it - but still out the usual hamster mix out as well - they still like to pouch and hoard it even if they don’t eat it. But the baby food isn’t enough so I usually do:

Usual hamster mix
Some baby food
2 or 3 pellets of science selective soaked so it’s soft (they all seem to like that too).

Science selective is an all in one hamster food - contains everything they need - so you know their getting balanced nutrition if they’re not eating well.

I use the baby food lids for the “extras” as separate little dishes. So one baby food lid with the baby food in. One lid with the science selective in and a third one with a pinch of hemp seeds and a pinch of linseeds (they lick these up). Linseeds are good for fur and skin condition and eyes. Hemp seeds are supposed to contain all vitamins.

To soak the science selective you just put a tiny bit (a few drops) of boiling water on top of the 2 or 3 pellets in the dish and leave it about 10 mins so it’s cooled and has gone soft. It has a weird smell a bit like gravy! Maybe why they like it.

So probably time to start supplementing with soft food and help keep the weight on. Hemp seeds are also high calorie so help with that too. Pecan nuts are very high calorie so giving a half of one of those once a week would be a nice treat as well (not more often or they can have too much). They come in half shelled nuts so half of a half is probably about right for a dwarf hamster. And a test to see if they can take it from you in the teeth!

It would still be good to be able to see if the front teeth are overgrown though. As if they are they might need treatment.

If your hammy continues to eat well and eat all these extras and still loses weight then it is likely something else is going on (eg an internal tumour). Then it’s just tlc and Metacam.

A lot of vets don’t like treating older hamsters generally because of avoiding stress for them and just go with tlc - hence Metacam.

But keeping them comfortable is important so yes you do need to know if the teeth are overgrown.

01-08-2022, 05:30 AM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: Metacam dosage?! So pleased the Metacam is showing effect. I’ve always found once a day works well. The only time I noticed it wearing off by 24 hours was post surgery. Otherwise I think, as with taking paracetamol, there is a level maintained in the body by taking it regularly, so there shouldn’t be any “wear off” as long as it’s given daily. But see how your hammy goes. It sounds as if your vet made a mistake (worrying!) but that doesn’t mean they don’t care. I had something similar once. Although the vet prescribed 0.03 ml she showed me the incorrect marking on the small syringe (0.3 marking). I also thought it looked rather a lot and checked on here! Vectis photos really helped. It can be difficult to find a good exotic vet. I ended up staying with the same one as there was no other alternative in my area and she was good generally. And just double check everything re dosage! She had worked the dosage out correctly but showed me the wrong mark on the syringe. In your case it sounds like either the dose has been worked out incorrectly or there is a lack of knowledge about the doses. Vets tend to only do what you ask them to do. And some vets now would even say it would need an anaesthetic to check their teeth. You can check teeth yourself. It’s not always that easy- I don’t like scruffing them to look - especially with an older or unwell hamster - it can distress them and can cause eye damage if done incorrectly. One way to check is when they yawn and have a look then. Of course they then don’t yawn when you want them to so another way to tell if their front teeth are too long is give them something like a nut. If they can open their mouths enough to pick up a nut in their teeth then their teeth are probably ok. Just watch generally if there are any difficulties eating or taking a treat from you eg. Having said that they can get arthritis of the jaw which can make opening the mouth painful as well. Even if the front teeth aren’t overgrown, they can get toothache in the back teeth as they get older which means they avoid eating hard food (or can’t eat it). So introducing soft food is a good idea. Giving a bit of baby food daily goes down well and they love it - but still out the usual hamster mix out as well - they still like to pouch and hoard it even if they don’t eat it. But the baby food isn’t enough so I usually do: Usual hamster mix Some baby food 2 or 3 pellets of science selective soaked so it’s soft (they all seem to like that too). Science selective is an all in one hamster food - contains everything they need - so you know their getting balanced nutrition if they’re not eating well. I use the baby food lids for the “extras” as separate little dishes. So one baby food lid with the baby food in. One lid with the science selective in and a third one with a pinch of hemp seeds and a pinch of linseeds (they lick these up). Linseeds are good for fur and skin condition and eyes. Hemp seeds are supposed to contain all vitamins. To soak the science selective you just put a tiny bit (a few drops) of boiling water on top of the 2 or 3 pellets in the dish and leave it about 10 mins so it’s cooled and has gone soft. It has a weird smell a bit like gravy! Maybe why they like it. So probably time to start supplementing with soft food and help keep the weight on. Hemp seeds are also high calorie so help with that too. Pecan nuts are very high calorie so giving a half of one of those once a week would be a nice treat as well (not more often or they can have too much). They come in half shelled nuts so half of a half is probably about right for a dwarf hamster. And a test to see if they can take it from you in the teeth! It would still be good to be able to see if the front teeth are overgrown though. As if they are they might need treatment. If your hammy continues to eat well and eat all these extras and still loses weight then it is likely something else is going on (eg an internal tumour). Then it’s just tlc and Metacam. A lot of vets don’t like treating older hamsters generally because of avoiding stress for them and just go with tlc - hence Metacam. But keeping them comfortable is important so yes you do need to know if the teeth are overgrown.