1yr old Hamster Health Problem Need Help

[Patrick]

Hello everyone,

Last morning I found out my hamster strangled with some kind of string from his cotton bedding where he sleeps in. I have no clue how it went around his neck, and how come that long string was in his bedding which was bought new from the petstore. His head and eyes where big, I was able to remove the string from around his neck which was really tight. After a couple of hours, he came back to normal, started to eat, drink and climbing inside of his cage. When I found out a big thing out of his mouth which red/white and looks like his tongue. See pictures for reference. Will it go away? What can I do? Besides that everything is back to normal. Thanks in advance!

[Patrick]

See picture for reference

[Vectis Hamstery]

Welcome to the forum, Patrick. It sounds like your hamster's had an awful time. I would recommend taking your hamster to a vet to have their professional opinion as it's not possible or wise to diagnose over the internet and the hamster needs to be seen in person.

[souffle]

It looks like the strangling has caused a pouch to prolapse or possibly the tongue is damaged - you need to see a vet with him and they can hopefully replace the pouch or examine him anyway. Make sure you report this awful stuff to the pet shop, supplier and manufacturer with the pics. There are lots of examples of horrible injuries caused by it and the sooner it is off the shelves the better.

[Patrick]

Thanks everybody for your answers, I had him checked out, its is tongue, unfortunately there's not much to do, he mentionned that a side of his head is paralyzed, and his eye has gone all white which shows that he cant see from one eye. He's able to eat and drink. We'll see how it will go in the future days. :(

[Thin Lizzy]

Oh Patrick, that's awful, what an awful fright you must've got and for your ham also.
All you do is take each day as it comes, it's good that he's eating and drinking.
Have you a photo of the stuff that did this to him? You mentioned string from the cotton bedding.
Is it the wool type stuff?

[Patrick]

Oh Patrick, that's awful, what an awful fright you must've got and for your ham also.
All you do is take each day as it comes, it's good that he's eating and drinking.
Have you a photo of the stuff that did this to him? You mentioned string from the cotton bedding.
Is it the wool type stuff?

Hello Thin Lizzy, I just added a picture of the fluff bedding where he sleeps in, its from that brand, it looked like a really sturdy string that got around his neck somehow, I cleaned up his cage 3 days before so it really was into his fluff. He spent the night with it around his neck as I found out very early in the morning, I had alot of problems trying to get it off his neck since it was so much tight up. He's still full of energy now, but it will get worse in the following days and weeks, He cannot drink from his bottle anymore and I have to feed him by hand. Best hamster I ever had :( so please either stay away from that product or watch carefully inside the fluff for any type of strings! It cost my hamster's life:(

[Thin Lizzy]

That looks like another type of fluffy bedding,
Have you phoned/emailed the place where you got it from?
I would let them know and if you can leave a message on their website to warn off others then do it.
What happened to your little ham is terrible.
I use toilet paper for my ham's bedding. I have used that wool stuff in the past but was warned about it being a danger.
The worse thing is on the package it says it's safe when it clearly isn't.

[racinghamster]

This is terrible, I`m so sorry you have had to find your little friend like this and now has issues as a result. Can he use his tongue? I imagine he will have to have a shallow ceramic dish of water now if he can drink somehow. First thing I would do is get a report from the vet you saw and e mail this company and demand they remove it from the marketplace. Show them proof of what their product had done and don`t let them fob you off with talk of they havn`t had any other complaints. A hamster has factual injuries as a result of this product. If it was a child, the product would be removed from sale.

If you have an MP ( member of parliament) contact their office to also highlight this as they may be able to influence change. They may or may not be interested, but you can say you have contacted your MP regarding their product. Also contact the store selling it.

It had obviously cut off the blood supply and caused some paralysis. I hope he recovers somewhat. Use ripped up plain white toilet paper as nesting or Supreme Cosi n Dri, the same makers of Carefresh. Both are safe and cosy and won`t cause any problems. x

[Shannonmcn]

I looked up the makers of the fluff, it's 100% (http://www.riga.fr/NUTRI/Nutrition/Pages/Products/index.jsp?lng=3&mkt=13930&fam=13931&ani=14484&ran=18280&pro=18318) cotton fibres. I'm so so sorry this happened to your little ham Patrick, it's making me feel ill just thinking about it. Can't imagine how you must have felt seeing your little buddy in such distress. I hope the little guy has at least some quality of life. He's just the latest victim of a product that is known to be harmful and deadly but for some reason pet shops just won't stop selling it, it's disgusting.

I agree with the others, if you can bring yourself to take pictures and maybe a vet report back to the store you bought it or send an email to the company it might make a tiny difference in getting this awful awful stuff off the shelves.

[Bertiebobbins]

Sending best wishes for your poor poorly ham, I hope he will be ok. What a horrible thing for both of you to have to go through!

I agree with the other posters you should inform the company you bought it from what has happened. And persist if they fob you off! Good luck.

[Thin Lizzy]

How's your little ham doing?
You have photos, do what ever you need to do to get some kind of justice.
Don't let them fob you of.
I bet if it was a cat or dog it would be different, it's time people knew that hamsters should be treated the same.

[Patrick]

Thanks everyone for the wishes and recommendations, Im currently writing a letter to the manufacturer and to the petshop. As it is for my little ham, he still full of energy, he jumps everywhere and goes in his wheel, I saw him drinking water by himself. For his eye it did not get better, he really cant see from one side. I might go back to the vet, im not sure yet if it his tongue since I saw him drinking from the bottle.

[Artisans_uk]

Hi Patrick - so very sorry that you and your hamster have gone through this horrendous experience. I am glad that you are taking action and contacting the manufacturer.

There are people on here who have been campaigning for years to get this dangerous product off the shelves and out of the reach of our adorable fluffs.

Please let us know of any responses that you get back from the letters that you send.

A petition (https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/71777)has been sent to Parliament about the Rotastak fluffy product which has been archived but we need action to be taken on all products like this.

Hugs to your little fellow.

[racinghamster]

Hi Patrick. The pink tissue dangling outside his mouth could be a cheek pouch and not his tongue, so I would advise seeing the vet again (a good one) and getting an opinion on this as it should be placed back inside. Was the vet you seen previously not able to tell you what this was? Did the vet say it was his tongue or a cheek pouch? Either way, I wouldn`t leave it like this. I would also have his eye checked again. It`s good that he`s active, but he may be feeling stressed by what happened and because it has left him with obvious injuries, I would want a better vet to look at him and try and sort out the pouch if it is his pouch. x

[Jeir]

To be honest, it does look like his pouch to me, with how long it is, and how it hangs out the right-side of his mouth. That he can still drink without issues is also what I would consider a point towards it being his pouch and not his tongue.

If it's the right-side that's paralysed, he may not be able to feel it hanging out - hamsters are able to turn their pouches inside out if they need to, and are then able to, I think, stretch some muscles on that side of the face/neck/shoulder and pull it back in. At least, that's what I observed a few times before when watching my hammies de-pouch larger foods.

It really is such a shame you learned about the fluffy crap the hard way. =( I had used it for some years in the past, and it took a scare for me to finally stop; my robo at the time had ingested some and got a huge blockage. It managed to get to the end of his passage but he couldn't expel it, so I had to help. The yuck that came out of my tiny guy was easily half the size of his body; I had no idea how he'd managed. Thankfully he did make a full recovery.

Is there another vet you could take him to? I know the stores aren't really a favourite, but my local P@H has a vet centre (Companion Care) inside with amazing people, including a small animal specialist who I try to see every time I need go there. If you have a P@H near you with a vet centre, perhaps you could try going there.

[Thin Lizzy]

I too would get another opinion about the bit dangling from his mouth. Some vets don't have much knowledge about hamsters and instead of saying I don't know about that, they say instead that nothing can be done, it does sound like this can be seen to.

[souffle]

I thought it was the cheek pouch as well initially. I don't think he would be able to eat and be doing so well if it was his tongue to be honest. Looks like an everted cheek pouch and this can be replaced. If you google everted cheek pouch hamster there are images which look a bit like your hammy. They usually evert again unless they are stitched in place. Is there a more experienced vet who might take a look?

[Patrick]

Hi everyone, thanks again for all the support! Im very happy to be part of the forum, I think its starting to go downhill for my little hamster, his eye is shut from one side, and the outside looks very redish, maybe because of its infection, also his outside cheek is starting to turn darker and smaller, maybe tissues dieing or as been exposed to some urine and its starting to get infected, I had him checked out by someone else, he has a face paralysis, she also said that its too late for his eye and theres nothing much she can do, Im now cleaning his cage everyday to see if his clears out.

[Thin Lizzy]

Don't clean his cage everyday this will stress your ham. Do a daily spot check in his toilet area and remove any soiled substrate.
I think it might be the tissue dying, I'm not sure though.
You could bathe his eye with warm water and salt using cotton wool.

[DrKMcK]

This is a nightmare! You and your poor hammy are going through this all due to fluffy bedding! I just don't get why they won't stop selling it. My heart goes out to you Patrick. You've done incredibly well dealing with this. I am so angry this has happened to you and your little little fluff. :-(

[Patrick]

Hello guys! Thanks alot for all the help. I have very good news, my Hamster is going great now everything is back to normal! His eye cleared up and his pouch is replaced. Thanks alot!

[Nancy's Hamsters]

Well this is fantastic news for you and your Hamster. So have you had any response from the manufacturer and them reimbursing you all the money it has cost you because of their awful product? I'm so very thankful to the Lord above that you and your hamster will now enjoy a relationship without problems.

[ArthriticAssassin]

My heart sank when I saw the picture of your hamster. I'm so sorry that this happened to you and your hamster. I hope everything turns out okay for your little buddy. You have my condolences.

[yandere]

I'm so sorry that you had to go through this, all because of some "safe" bedding too. I hope you get the justice that you and your ham deserve.

[DrKMcK]

Hello Patrick. I am so glad your little furry is doing better. It's really amazing to me that he survived this. He's lucky you got to him in time. He looks so good in that last photo. :-)

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi Patrick, sorry for the late reply, but just to let you know I'm really happy to hear your little ham is well again. What a terrible time for both of you but superb that his pouch has been fixed and his eye is better.
Did you ever hear from the place that sold you that awful bedding?