Poppy's sick :(

[PoppyCorn]

Poppy was showing signs of not feeling well: lethargy, dry nose, sneezing, and scratching. I took her too an exotic animal vet today. He was very gentle with her and she seemed to like him too, if I can venture to say that I understand hamster body language. She stayed in one place while he moved his stethoscope all across her body. He held her up to check her bottom and she didn't move at all. She allowed him to rub her fur and to look closely at her eyes. The diagnosis: upper respiratory infection and mites (yes, mites!). The technician gave her a shot and they sent me home with oral Baytril to administer every 12 hours for 14 days. It will take care of the mites and the URI. The vet wants to see her back in two weeks. He kept remarking how cute a hamster she is. He told me he even wrote that down in her chart...LOL!

I gave her the first dose of oral Baytril earlier today. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was much easier than administering oral Baytril to my cockatiel! I hope tomorrow morning goes as easily. Fingers crossed...

[souffle]

Poor little Poppy. When her immune system is low it lets those pesky mites get a grip and makes the little ones even more uncomfortable. Did you get some probiotic from the vet to add to the water to help replace her good bacteria? It is a good idea or you could give her some plain live yogurt which is also good. I hope she gets well soon. Keep an eye on her rear for signs of diarrhoea or discharge and go staight back to the vets if she gets this. Baytril does not taste too good I believe so you could try adding a tiny bit of apple or cranberry juice to it.

[Holly]

Sorry to hear Poppy is unwell, good luck getting the medicine into her and I hope she's feeling better soon. It sounds like you have found an absolute treasure of a vet though. 8)

[PoppyCorn]

Poor little Poppy. When her immune system is low it lets those pesky mites get a grip and makes the little ones even more uncomfortable.
I didn't think about that but it makes sense.
Did you get some probiotic from the vet to add to the water to help replace her good bacteria? It is a good idea or you could give her some plain live yogurt which is also good.
Thanks for mentioning that because I didn't know about it. I'll give her some plain live yogurt during the course of treatment. I mistakenly gave her .04 cc instead of .03 cc of Baytril last night. :shock: Poppystarr corrected me this morning before I administered the second dose. It's always good to have a ten-year-old around! :lol: This morning, I called the vet to find out if what I gave her last night was okay. They said it should be okay but to make sure I give her .03 cc from now on.
I hope she gets well soon. Keep an eye on her rear for signs of diarrhoea or discharge and go staight back to the vets if she gets this. Baytril does not taste too good I believe so you could try adding a tiny bit of apple or cranberry juice to it.
The Baytril they gave me is fruit flavored and she took it just fine last night. This morning was a different story though. :wink:

Sorry to hear Poppy is unwell, good luck getting the medicine into her and I hope she's feeling better soon. It sounds like you have found an absolute treasure of a vet though.
Thanks, Holly. This was the first time I'd gone to that vet but I liked him. He was a referral from a lady who rescues rats.

[suga]

I hope the little one gets well soon. I guess when they are feeling so poorly they will take what ever meds you want to give them, here's looking forward to you telling us that you are getting a bit of a fight with the meds soon on the road to recovery.

[PoppyCorn]

I hope the little one gets well soon. I guess when they are feeling so poorly they will take what ever meds you want to give them, here's looking forward to you telling us that you are getting a bit of a fight with the meds soon on the road to recovery.
Oh, gosh...she gave me a bit of a struggle this morning. Must be feeling better already! Thanks for your well wishes, suga. :D

[Intense125]

Sorry to hear of Poppy's illness but sounds like you are doing everything possible to facilitate a speedy recovery!! Keep us posted, and BTW, she is definite CUTE :) :!:

[flogging_molly]

i hope poppy gets better soon

[babyboos]

what a lovely vet
good luck and hugs
hope poppy feels better soon and gets those pesky mites back under control

[PoppyCorn]

Sorry to hear of Poppy's illness but sounds like you are doing everything possible to facilitate a speedy recovery!! Keep us posted, and BTW, she is definite CUTE :) :!:
I'll definitely keep you posted. Oh, and Poppy thanks you for the compliment! :D
i hope poppy gets better soon
Thank you for your well wishes! :D
what a lovely vet
good luck and hugs
hope poppy feels better soon and gets those pesky mites back under control
Thanks! Poppy is more active tonight, a very good sign. She'll go back to the vet in about two weeks so he can recheck her. I'm glad I found that vet. I figured a rat rescue lady would have a good referral.

[poppystarr]

Thanks for all the kind posts. I think Poppy feels better already when all of you are caring for her. :D Poppy definitely seems a little more active and has been fighting back with the medicine. She has been though having a thing I call "flashbacks". She stops out of nowhere in the middle of eating, climbing, or even running. She just stops and stares. This started last month. I hope this isn't anything to worry about. Does anybody know what it is? :? Anyway, we'll keep you posted and I'll take more pictures of her. :)

[souffle]

All of ours do that stop and stare thing in various positions. In the Meercat, down on all fours eating.....I think it is a natural instinct myself from deep inside that when they catch something out of the corner of their eye they will freeze and wait in that position until they are sure they are safe. In the wild the freezing would stop them being seen by birds of prey and predators. Sonni does it a lot. When she does it we always say ' Sonni has spotted an eagle'. :lol: If you want them to sit nice for a photo if you catch them in the freeze you often get a good pic.

[babyboos]

might be she is in season? thinks she senses a potential mate somewhere around, or maybe wishful thinking :wink: :oops:

[Intense125]

My Danny Boo does the "stop and stare" thing all the time, especially when someone approaches his cage. It's almost like he's playing possum (trying to keep real still thinking we can't see him), and sometimes we have to pick him up to get him to snap out of it! I have to admit I did worry a little bit when I first noticed him doing it, but it's just his way :wink: !!

[suga]

Is there any improvement in health? Fingers crossed

[Emms]

I was playing with Twinkle last night and she just suddenly stop and froze, she was like that for about a minute :lol:
Hope Poppy continues to improve :D

[PoppyCorn]

Is there any improvement in health? Fingers crossed
There is definitely improvement in her energy. We first became worried when she starting laying down a lot when she was out of her igloo. She's not doing that anymore. She hasn't been sneezing either. I think the Baytril is working!

Thank you all for your concern. We'll keep you posted.

[poppystarr]

Thank goodness the stopping and freezing is normal! :D In this picture she was stopping and freezing.

[suga]

That's good to read :-) thanks for sharing...

[PoppyCorn]

That's good to read :-) thanks for sharing...
Poppy took her last dose of Baytril this morning! Yeah! She goes back to the vet Saturday for a recheck. She hasn't been sneezing or scratching lately so hopefully all is well.

[suga]

Thats great news! Yayyy I hope the lovely vet gives you confirmation that all is better. :D With coughs and sneezes with mine I go back the minute they start up again to ensure they get the best opportunity for getting better. Hope you don't get have any problems in the future.....

[PoppyCorn]

Thanks, suga! :D
It's better to be safe than sorry when it comes to those coughs and sneezes. You must have a good vet too!

[souffle]

There is a sticky in the top of the Hamster Chat section called memorials Poppycorn where you can find all the lovely tributes our members have posted.

[suga]

My vet practice is fantastic! They seem to know what they are doing and take good care of both hamsters and human when we visit. Good vets are hard to find and I'd recommend mine anyday of the week. :D

[PoppyCorn]

There is a sticky in the top of the Hamster Chat section called memorials Poppycorn where you can find all the lovely tributes our members have posted.
Thanks, souffle. I found it.
My vet practice is fantastic! They seem to know what they are doing and take good care of both hamsters and human when we visit. Good vets are hard to find and I'd recommend mine anyday of the week. :D
It's important for a vet to take good care of humans too! :D Glad you've got a good one!

[PoppyCorn]

UPDATE: Poppy went back to the vet last Saturday for a recheck. She's doing great! The vet gave her another shot to clear up any mites that may have hatched from the adult mites' eggs. We brought her there in her new bin cage. The vet raved about how nice it was. I'll have to post pictures once I take them. Besides putting them on my profile page, how else can I post photos?

[souffle]

if you upload your pics to a host such as photobucket which is free & easy then you can copy the url into the post then put at%20the%20front%20and after then the pic will show

[PoppyCorn]

Thanks, souffle. :D
I've set up an account with photobucket. Now I'll just have to take some pictures!

[suga]

Glad all is well - looking forward to seeing pictures. :D

[babyboos]

Great news - hope to see some pictures soon

[PoppyCorn]

Thanks, suga and babyboos.
If all goes well, I'll be posting photos within the next few minutes under the housing category. This is the first time I've done this so wish me luck! :wink: