Bingley's been to the vet!

[souffle]

We noticed for the last couple of days that Bingley's eyes semed bit sort of half shut and slightly sticky so we made an appointment to take him in. He was very well behaved. This vet had never seen a dwarf WW before and gave him a good going over as did the vet student. Anyway he thinks he may have had something in his eyes and it has irritated them and maybe caused an infection so has some eye drops, gel type. It is some job getting them in and he looks rather greasy now :? Any hints? He is still lively enough and we have taken out his sand bath for now to stop it sticking to his fur. He is not pleased about that as he likes his sand bath! Strange as we have not changed his bedding or anything. The eyes are not really red just sticky. he also has a little baytril just to be sure. Hope he gets well soon as he looks a bit sad :(
A tube of cream plus examination only cost £10 which I though was very reasonable.

[nooboo]

when trying to do things to winter whites from nail cutting to giving meds i hold them and position them so their body is held on my fingers with the legs dangling over the edge (works well with smaller hands than big ..or at least its better on my hands than daves) then they dont seem to wiggle as much or block with their paws, not dried it with eye drops though

still sounds like a typical ww thing, they get things in their eyes a lot! usually a couple of days wiping they eyes with a wet cotton bud is all thats needed, especially if not red, but still better safe than sorry, but they do love to dig about in bedding and sand and it seems as a species they love to get it right in their eye!

[Hammihog]

Poor Bingley :( I hope he gets better very soon. He was an extremely good boy at the vets, wasn't he :D Nice to know that you have such a reasonably charging vet, £10 is a great fee :D

[sarahh]

Awww bless poor bingley I hope he feels better soon. You were right taking him to the vets.

I had eye drops for a few of mine over the years as they were getting older had eye infections. I held my hamster then sort of pushed the eye lids apart and then put the cream stuff in. Some hams are easier than others. If not get someome elseto hold bingley and do the cream that way.

Good luck

Sarah x

[Holly]

Hope he's feeling better soon souffle, bless him.

[Spuds Mum]

aww poor Bingers! :( hope he feels better soon. Of course Chip was a syrian (but a baby) when we had to bathe her eyes, but we found that one person firmly but gently holding the hamster in a hand with the thumb and forefinger around the neck to keep the head still allows the other person to open the eye and massage in the gel.

Hope you find a way that suits you and Bingley! :D

[souffle]

Well we have just done Bingley again. Poor wee man looks like a panda now. We swaddled him in a large handky which he had a good bite at while I did the drops. Well better than Pophammys fingers I guess! Not sure how much went in but enough I think. In contrast to Kippers he likes the Baytril and holds the syringe in his paws to lick it down. Funny how some like it and others hate it :?

[suga]

Hope that Bingley gets well soon.

[Mollz]

Sorry, I missed this not being on but can sympathise with Bingley as I am having awful problems with both my eyes!!
Hope he is feeling better now though :D

[Basia]

I keep missing posts - the new posts are not always showing up. :evil:
I hope he is on the mend now - don't envy you trying to put eyedrops in a WW!

[Jane]

Aw, bless him, hope he's feeling better soon!

Both Tic and Tac had eye drops multiple times throughout their lives, but I'm afraid I can't really offer any advice about how to hold them..it was always a struggle.

[souffle]

He is looking a lot better now. We have mastered the technique where Pophammy swaddles him in a hanky up to the neck, Bingley savagly bites said hanky while Souffle drops in eye cream and rubs it on. Bingley then washes it off and runs about looking like a panda :lol: He seems to be on the mend anyway so some must have gone in!

[Spuds Mum]

Glad Bingley is feeling a bit better, and drops should be almost finished now??

Well done on the hanky trick, we used to have to do this to give medicine to one of our cats.....I have to say I still have the scars! :shock: PH is obviously better at it than I! :wink:

[souffle]

Bingley's eye problem has flared up again and one eye is half shut again :roll: We have bathed it and applied the cream but are not really sure on this one as it does not look red, just half shut. Anyone seen this before? I wonder if the eye cream is not right for him. Do you think it might be him scratching it as his front claws are too long really but we just cannot cut them. We have done the back ones but he just will not stay still. Have never had this problem with the others but this wee man is a real troublesome wiggler. Tried nooboos tip but still no joy. Oh I despair. May need to pop him back to the vets for a different eye drop. Anyone know anything tha might help?

[Spuds Mum]

I dont poppet, but I do hope he recovers soon :(
re the claws, I wonder whether it would be an idea to put one of those calcium blocks as something he can climb up to (say to his water bottle) in the hope that he will 'file' them down himself a little? :?:

[Basia]

Poor Bingley. :(
Terrecotta pots are also supposed to help wear down nails.
Hope he is on the mend soon souffle.

[Mollz]

Poor bingley. Both Spud's mum and Basia's suggestions are good - I also heard someone (I think it was BVMark?) at a show telling someone to put a bit of sandpaper over the bottom of a carboard box and letting them run around in it regularly.

Keep us updated on how Bingley is doing, I've got my fingers crossed for the little man!

[souffle]

He has a large beach pebble but I never see him climb on it. The sandpaper idea sounds good though. Think we'll give that a try. If not we will have to get Auntie Jean (Tye) to scruff him and snip at a show :roll:

[souffle]

Just got back from the vets with Bingley. I am surprised how knowlegeable my vet is about hamsters. He said that sometimes after an eye infection the tear glands are affected and the tears produced are a much stickier consistancy than the normal tears. This leads to the eye becoming irritated and hence the half shut look and stickiness after sleeping. Apparantly also as a hammy ages the tear glands again become less efficient and also produce less tears which is why it is very common for older syrians to get the sticky eyes which need bathed open. So he has given Bingley some Maxitrol eyes drops which will help lubricate his eye and also reduce the irritation. After these he has Isopto hydromelose eye drops which are like artificial tears and will hopefull keep him happy. He said you can by these in the chemist and they are fine to use on older syrians with sticky eyes too as well as humans! I hope this info will help others who are having sticky eye problems and I found it useful to get the whole explantion. :lol:

[Spuds Mum]

Oh thats good news for Bingley Souff - and I will get some false tears for our Peanut!
I think it must be comfier for him that having a continually gluey eye. I suffer from dry eyes and they absolutely drive me crazy, so I hate to think how he feels!

Thanks for that my dear - I owe you a big one!
:D

[SnuggleHam]

I hope your little hams starts to feel better soon :( I was surprised to hear the vet had never seen a WW. Thanks to HC Im under the impression that hamsters are a very popular place over there in the UK! :shock: