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Pebbles82 · 07-03-2022, 09:28 AM

Have you checked her teeth? How old is she? Older hamsters do start losing weight naturally but that is a big weight loss in a short time (assuming it's a syrian?). First thing to check is their teeth - if she can't eat, she will lose weight quickly. If the bottom teeth get overgrown they can't open their mouths properly to eat - or a tooth could be broken. Also with older hamsters they can toothache in the back teeth and can't chew food.

If her teeth are ok then yes a vet check is needed. In the meantime, supplement her diet with soft food. I found one of our older syrians started putting the weight back on again then. You can give baby food as a supplement (not many calories in that but they like it). And softened hamster mix. Science selective softened is ideal as it contains everything they need so they're still getting the nutrients. If you haven't got any then just soften a bit of normal hamster mix. Just put a bit on a separate dish with a bit of boiled water from the kettle on and wait 10 mins or so for it to cool down and it should be mushy by then. I use baby food lids for these extra bits of soft food, but any jar lid would do.

Still keep giving the regular hamster mix though as even if she's not managing to eat it, they still like pouching it and hoarding it (ie carry on with normal behaviours).

High calorie supplements are pecan nuts and hemp seeds. You'd need to grind the pecan nuts with a spoon so she can lick them up. Not every day for those. Hemp seeds they can have every day (they lick those up too).

If it's not her teeth and she is older, then as you say she may be in her twilight time and there won't be much a vet can do except prescribe metacam for pain relief and then see how she goes.

Falling asleep on the ledge could be the heat. If she's acting normally otherwise then that's good. Check her teeth first - but if she's older she could probably do with some metacam anyway (toothache isn't nice). One vet told me they can even get arthritis of the jaw and another reason to not eat properly. Metacam would help with arthritis.

07-03-2022, 09:28 AM
Pebbles82 Hamster Antics Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 23,533	Re: Hamster losing weight Have you checked her teeth? How old is she? Older hamsters do start losing weight naturally but that is a big weight loss in a short time (assuming it's a syrian?). First thing to check is their teeth - if she can't eat, she will lose weight quickly. If the bottom teeth get overgrown they can't open their mouths properly to eat - or a tooth could be broken. Also with older hamsters they can toothache in the back teeth and can't chew food. If her teeth are ok then yes a vet check is needed. In the meantime, supplement her diet with soft food. I found one of our older syrians started putting the weight back on again then. You can give baby food as a supplement (not many calories in that but they like it). And softened hamster mix. Science selective softened is ideal as it contains everything they need so they're still getting the nutrients. If you haven't got any then just soften a bit of normal hamster mix. Just put a bit on a separate dish with a bit of boiled water from the kettle on and wait 10 mins or so for it to cool down and it should be mushy by then. I use baby food lids for these extra bits of soft food, but any jar lid would do. Still keep giving the regular hamster mix though as even if she's not managing to eat it, they still like pouching it and hoarding it (ie carry on with normal behaviours). High calorie supplements are pecan nuts and hemp seeds. You'd need to grind the pecan nuts with a spoon so she can lick them up. Not every day for those. Hemp seeds they can have every day (they lick those up too). If it's not her teeth and she is older, then as you say she may be in her twilight time and there won't be much a vet can do except prescribe metacam for pain relief and then see how she goes. Falling asleep on the ledge could be the heat. If she's acting normally otherwise then that's good. Check her teeth first - but if she's older she could probably do with some metacam anyway (toothache isn't nice). One vet told me they can even get arthritis of the jaw and another reason to not eat properly. Metacam would help with arthritis.