Change in behaviour (urgent!)

[Bambi]

Alright, I found you guys, but introduction later!

Bambi, my approximately 18 month old golden teddy bear hamster, has shown a HUGE behaviour change. For the past two days she's been sleeping in the same corner (she never usually sleeps there). The only time she gets up to move is to go over to her peeing corner where she pees. While she's walking, she's kinda wobbly. And the worst part, she never opens her eyes. It's almost like they're swollen shut or something.

She shows no obvious signs of wet tail (diarrhea, wet bottom, foul odor, etc.)

Well, we have to bring down her water bottle and hold it up to her like a bottle so she can drink from it, or else she won't get her water (she can't climb the tubes anymore). I've given her a few seeds, which she's taken.

Unfortunately, my mom said, in her words exact, "no one go near Bambi, she just bit me hard!" It's true, recently when I tried to pet her (I thought she was dead!), she took a quick snap at me. She broke my mom's skin. I think Bambi's just terrified like crazy! I mean, she can't see or expect anything.

Any ideas? We went to the vet, they gave us some medicine to give to her, but no luck so far. It's supposed to treat wet tail, which is what they think it is. But I'm worried. My little spunk-muffin has turned into a lazy bum (ah ok, that's not the word, she probably feels sick, but I couldn't think of anything)

Please help me!!

-Bambi

[Mollz]

Hi Bambi
This really doesn't sound good, and as there is no diarrhea or any other signs, I'd say it's not wet tail. I'd take her to a different vet (is there a specialist in the area?) to see what they can come up with if the other will only give you treatment for wet tail.
This sounds an awful lot like when two of my hamsters died of what we now think could have been Tyzers Disease from the loose food we were using. Have you used any unbagged food?
I hope your hamster gets better soon!

[Spuds Mum]

Oh the poor little poppet, she sounds as though she is not feeling good at all. Lots of older hamsters get sticky eyes, and if she weren't so cross I would suggest bathing them with some cool previously boiled water with a little bit of cotton wool. But you might not feel like doing this if she is getting angry when you go near her.

It sounds as though she is in pain, and the wobblyness and not having much energy to eat or to drink really are not good signs to be honest. Hamsters are such wee creatures, and can soon go down hill if they get dehydrated. You are doing the right thing by helping her reach her bottle.

I think another visit to the vet may be called for, and, if he really can't do anything to help Bambi, you and your Mum may have to talk about helping stop her pain and distress by allowing her a peaceful ending. Sorry, I know thats hard, but its something you may need to think about and plan for.

Hopefully the vet will have a better idea of what the problem is, but if it is wet tail, then it is a very severe illness and one that hamsters find difficult to recover from.

My thoughts and best wishes for you and Bambi. Ill keep my fingers crossed. x

[souffle]

I am so sorry about little Bambi. Use a towel and get her into a box and take her down to the vet. She does not mean to bite and it is only because she is not well. She could have a number of problems but if her tummy is swollen it may well be a pyometra which is common in famales. Sadly there is no cure Bambi and her time may be near. Keep us posted and I am thinking of you both.

[Bambi]

Thank for such kind messages! My mom and I are going to take Bambi to the vet tonight, I hope she'll be fine. Though, she seems to be doing a bit better. He started walking around all by himself. My mom looked up some more stuff on the Internet, and thinks that Bambi may have a respiratory illness, so she made him some thyme drink, which he seems to like. One of his eyes has started opening up a little (like, we can see the black), but not completely!

If worse comes to worse, I'll prepared to lay him down to sleep, it'll be hard, but I wouldn't want her to live any longer in such a horrible condition. But, we're trying our hardest. I set my alarm off every hour in the night to bring down the water bottle for him to drink out of and pass him over some food. He takes it and shoves it in his cheeks, no problem. He still continues to chew on the cage a bit, which he always did.

As for the food, we only use those pellets from bags, and seeds from various places. Also the occasional yogurt drop or fruit.

I'm pretty much scared here, Bambi's like a best friend to me! No one seems to understand, it's great to be around people such as yourselves who actually understand how attached you can get to the furry little critter! I'll try to get some pictures of Bambi's current conditions (though you might not be able to tell much, he's got quite a lot of hair!)

Thanks again :)
-Bambi

[Mollz]

It does sound as if Bambi is improving, and with someone so caring to look after him I'm not surprised. You obviously love him very much and are willing to do whatever you can for him, hopefully he will pull through but it's good that you understand that you may have to make what is, in my opinion, the hardest decision in the world.

Best of luck!

[Spuds Mum]

oh I do hope she continues to improve, and that the vet can help her - do let us know how she does.

I'm sure we are all thinking of her, and wishing her a speedy recovery, you obviously love her very much indeed and it is so hard to see someone you love in pain and not well.

Best wishes to you and Bambi x

[Bambi]

You guys are too kind! It'll be hard, but I went to the vet with some so-so news.

Well, apparently she might have a respiratory illness. He gave us some medicine (which Bambi really doesn't like!!) But luckily, he said it will probably go away in a week. As for his eyes, they were glued shut with yucky gunk. He cleaned them out so now we can see Bambi's pretty eyes (though with wet "tears" underneath, I'm pretty sure he felt a bit embarrassed!).

Though, the horrifying news is that Bambi has a tumour! I'm really scared now, though I've heard that hamster's are prone to tumours. It's small now, but he said it might grow larger. Now about a thousand questions are going through in my head, so could someone please answer them? I'm scared again!

-Will a tumour permanently change Bambi's behaviour?
-Is it possible that the tumour WON'T grow bigger?
-Is there a good chance that it won't grow?

Ahhhh, I'm so nervous!! He's my first little guy, and I love him. I used to stay up all night just to play with him, even if I had an early morning band practice the next day!

Thanks again!
-Bambi

[Bambi]

He's gone.

As soon as we brought her home from the vet, he went to a quick sleep. We thought it was great and chose not to disturb her, she needed her rest. But my mom recently called me upstairs in a panicked voice. As I was running up, I asked, "is Bambi alright?" And she just said, "she's gone".

I'm crying so hard right now! He was my very first hamster, and my very first pet who wasn't a fish. I feel like I'm gonna puke, I can hardly breathe. I didn't realize I'd get this sad over his death, but he's gone!

:( I'm gonna go post this in the rainbow bridge forum.

-Bambi

[souffle]

I am so so sorry Bambi :cry: