New here - but v worried about hamster

[Lucyjane100]

Hi,

It's my first post here but hoping someone can help. We got our first hamster, Snoopy in Feb and he's now 6 months old. About 2-3 weeks ago he started sleeping a lot more, not going on his wheel and eating a fraction of what he used to. He's lost lots of weight and I can feel his bones now, plus his ears no longer ever stick up. No sign of wet tail, just a v few hard, normal poos in his cage.

I took him to the vets on Mon and they prescribed Baytril antibiotics, but they don't seem to be doing anything.

Any suggestions re next steps, I don't know what to try?

Many thanks x

[souffle]

It does sound as if there is something going on inside him and the weight loss is very worrying.
There have been a lot of cases of pet shop hamsters developing tumours lately and these can take them young. Could the vet feel anything internally? It usually is not possible to operate on things like bowel tumours as the bowel is very tiny in a hamster.
How are his teeth? Worth checking these are not overgrown and that they meet properly so he can eat well.
I would try offering some invalid foods to tempt him for now like babyfood, puried veggies, porridge, scrambled eggs etc and see if he will take these and build up a bit again.
You could have the vet scan him for anything inside but it is a lot to have him put under if he isn't so well.
It;s a difficult situation when there is nothing obvious the work on. Other things could be heart failure (hamsters are prone to faults in the heart) kidney failure or liver problems.
I hope he rallies round soon x

[Lucyjane100]

Yeah I was thinking about his teeth earlier. Might take him back to the vet tomorrow. Thanks so much for your reply.

[Pebbles82]

Souffle's advice is good. You could have a look at his teeth when he yawns possibly. I would suggest finding a different vet. What area are you in?

[Lucyjane100]

I'm in Northampton but have managed to find an exotic animal specialist, so shall take him there on Tuesday.

[Drago]

Hello and welcome aboard, sorry it's not under such good circumstances


You've been given excellent advice already so I won't repeat anything. Hope Snoopy makes a speedy recovery

[Thin Lizzy]

Hi Lucy and welcome to the forum.
Sorry to hear Snoopy's unwell, fingers crossed it isn't serious.

[dreamtree1234]

Hi and welcome the HC, Lucyjane! I am so sorry to hear that Snoopy isn't feeling well, but hopefully the exotic animal specialist will be able to help. Good luck on Tuesday! I will keeping you both in my thoughts and prayers. Hopefully, Snoopy will be running around, eating, drinking, and playing as usual in no time at all - fingers crossed. I love the name Snoopy, by the way. Is he named after the Peanuts most famous beagle? If so, I extra love it because as a young child I was a total Peanuts fan. Who am I kidding, I still am! :) Hugs to you both, and whisker kissies from Eros! Please keep us updated on how Snoopy is coming along whenever you have a chance.

[chesca_27]

Hi and welcome to HC! Sorry to hear Snoopy isn't doing too well, but you've done the right thing by joining the forum and taking him to the vet. There is an excellent guinea pig vet in Northampton who I believe sees hamsters and is very highly regarded among the guinea pig and I assume is good with other rodents (especially rodent dentistry). I have personally used this vet and can recommend them (I had a sick guinea pig who needed conscious dental work because I didn't want to risk him under anaesthetic). They are called The Cat and Rabbit Clinic.

I hope Snoopy gets well soon :).

[Lucyjane100]

Hi all,

I took snoopy to the vet this arvo and she found that he had a large growth in his tummy that seemed to be very painful for him. The vet didn't think he would survive sedation to investigate what was wrong, so said the kindest thing would be to put him down, which she did. Poor little thing, house seems so quiet without him.

Anyone had anything similar happen? I got him from Pets at Home - am wondering if that was the best place now.

[Coco61]

Yes, Lucyjane, sadly this does happen. We lost a 6 month old Syrian a couple of years ago like this. Internal tumours. The lovely boy was from a well known breeder not a pet shop so it can happen to a hammy even from the best. It is bad luck, nothing more. So very sad for you to lose a little hammie so young. Plenty understand here on HC.