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Old 08-07-2017, 02:59 AM   #11
Kippynugget
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Default Re: Hammy changed personality

Ok, so I've just got back from the vet with Nugget. He said that physically she is completely fine, her weight is normal for her age and he's not worried about her at all.

I am still really worried though and I'm scared I've made it worse by putting her through that He was really rough with her and I've never seen her react like that, she went nuts because she was terrified.

She hasn't left her nest apart from to drink or eat in 5 days, she's not going on the upper level at all. I've made sure that I know where everything is positioned and I've been leaving treats upstairs and I am 99% certain she is not going up there and she isn't touching her wheel.

I feel awful because I feel like this is my fault. She is clearly miserable and is making no signs of going back to normal. By staying in her nest 24/7 and never using the upper levels she may as well be in one of those tiny cadges which really upsets me.

Is there anything more I can do?
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Old 08-07-2017, 04:05 AM   #12
cypher
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Default Re: Hammy changed personality

I'm really sorry to hear you had a bad experience at the vet, I can imagine how you feel but try not to blame yourself, you're doing everything you can to help her & we would all have done the same.
It may take her a while to settle after being badly handled but it sounds as though her behaviour isn't really that different to before so I still think it's possible there may be something wrong.
Is the vet you went to experienced with hamsters? Did you mention to him that she seems to be drinking & peeing quite a lot?
I don't like to second guess any vet but sometimes if they don't have much experience with hamsters it's possible they could miss something.
I'm not sure what to suggest other than keeping her quiet & comfortable for now & maybe considering getting a second opinion from another vet.
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Old 08-07-2017, 04:31 AM   #13
Kippynugget
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Default Re: Hammy changed personality

Quote:
Originally Posted by cypher View Post
I'm really sorry to hear you had a bad experience at the vet, I can imagine how you feel but try not to blame yourself, you're doing everything you can to help her & we would all have done the same.
It may take her a while to settle after being badly handled but it sounds as though her behaviour isn't really that different to before so I still think it's possible there may be something wrong.
Is the vet you went to experienced with hamsters? Did you mention to him that she seems to be drinking & peeing quite a lot?
I don't like to second guess any vet but sometimes if they don't have much experience with hamsters it's possible they could miss something.
I'm not sure what to suggest other than keeping her quiet & comfortable for now & maybe considering getting a second opinion from another vet.
Thank you He just seemed really unconcerned. I basically repeated everything that I've told you and mentioned that she wets her bed very quickly and mentioned the other bits that you both have suggested. He said he thinks its because she is getting older (she's only 5 months old) so her personality is changing but it just doesn't make sense. I just can't understand why a very young animal would choose to be completely inactive 24/7.

He said to bring her back if she loses any weight and he'll put her on a week of antibiotics. Maybe I'm just being over sensitive but I'm just not sure I ever want to put her through that again. He dropped her three times (he was a tall man) was very rough when dragging her out of the box. It was like she was possessed she was going so crazy and she weed everywhere. It was so, so horrible I'm terrified I'm going to make her more ill now because she got into such a state and so stressed.

Thank you so much for talking to me about it- I know I'm probably over reacting (the vet certainly seems to think so!) but I promised myself I would never own an animal unless I knew I could give it the best of everything and make it happy. I just feel like I'm failing :/
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Old 08-07-2017, 04:58 AM   #14
souffle
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Default Re: Hammy changed personality

I think the vet is wrong and I'm sorry you have had such a bad experience. It isn't normal the way she is behaving. You describe her as feeling sort of large? Does she feel sort of squishy and bloated or solid and chunky? A well bodied young hamster will feel quite 'solid' more like muscle rather than fluidy.
I'm thinking if she feels very bloated that there is something wrong somewhere. There are a few things that can cause this such as a heart defect (these are not uncommon in hamsters) liver or kidney problems or possibly things like tumours in the womb, infections or cysts. To be fair some of these are not treatable and it would be more a case of managing her symptoms to keep her comfy.
Is she chewing the bottle spout at all. Have you seen or heard her doing this?
I'm wondering if her cage is actually too large. I have seen hamsters become very anxious in such large cages and often becoming very reclusive. Big is not always best and sometimes they can feel very exposed in a large cage. Has she always been in here?
Can you give us an idea of your region as we may have someone that can suggest a good vet to see with her.
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Old 08-07-2017, 05:20 AM   #15
Kippynugget
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Default Re: Hammy changed personality

Quote:
Originally Posted by souffle View Post
I think the vet is wrong and I'm sorry you have had such a bad experience. It isn't normal the way she is behaving. You describe her as feeling sort of large? Does she feel sort of squishy and bloated or solid and chunky? A well bodied young hamster will feel quite 'solid' more like muscle rather than fluidy.
I'm thinking if she feels very bloated that there is something wrong somewhere. There are a few things that can cause this such as a heart defect (these are not uncommon in hamsters) liver or kidney problems or possibly things like tumours in the womb, infections or cysts. To be fair some of these are not treatable and it would be more a case of managing her symptoms to keep her comfy.
Is she chewing the bottle spout at all. Have you seen or heard her doing this?
I'm wondering if her cage is actually too large. I have seen hamsters become very anxious in such large cages and often becoming very reclusive. Big is not always best and sometimes they can feel very exposed in a large cage. Has she always been in here?
Can you give us an idea of your region as we may have someone that can suggest a good vet to see with her.
Thank you! She just feels very round but in a solid way, not squishy. If I can get her to come and see me again tonight I'll have another look, it may be bloated but I can't say for sure.

I have never seen her chew the water spout and I haven't seen any marks on them- she has two and drinks from both. I was wondering that and wondering if I should put her back in her P@H Large cage (which is tiny and in no way large) but I'm worried another move will freak her out. She was in that cage for the first 3 weeks of us having her which is the amount of time it took me to convince my partner that the cage was far too small!

For the first two months that she was in the Alexander she seemed really happy. She spent loads of time exploring the upper levels and when I put extra substrate in she would spend hours burrowing, she's never liked her large rat wheel silent spinner but she always loved her flying saucer and would run on it every night.

I'm living in Central London at the moment- thank you again xx
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Old 08-07-2017, 06:00 AM   #16
cypher
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Default Re: Hammy changed personality

I don't think you're over reacting at all, that was a really bad experience for both you & your ham, I would be upset if that happened too.
They do often calm down a bit around 6 months but to say that much change & her current behaviour is due to age at 5 months is just wrong.
Not sure if it would be in your part of London but Coco61 has an excellent vet, if she doesn't see this you could PM her & ask.
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Old 08-07-2017, 06:14 AM   #17
Kippynugget
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Default Re: Hammy changed personality

Thank you Cypher. I'm going to give her at least 48 hours to calm down after this morning and then I'll try again with a vet if I've seen no change. I don't know if that's the right thing to do but I just feel like she needs that time having seen her behaviour this morning.

Thank you x
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Old 08-07-2017, 07:21 AM   #18
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Default Re: Hammy changed personality

I'm sure she'll appreciate a bit of peace now, hope she's going to be ok.
Let us know how she goes.
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Old 08-07-2017, 07:33 AM   #19
souffle
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Default Re: Hammy changed personality

was the cage more of a tank type? She may have got a bit of a fright somehow in the new cage and this has made her skitty. Is she from Pets at Home? I think coco's vet may be a good idea if it happened to be near to you and she has had a good experience. They really should not have put poor Nugget in a position when she could have fallen. That is really bad.
I do think it is concerning but understand your reluctance to move her back again when she did appear quite settled or to take her to a vets as the journey is stressful. Do you have any pictures of her from above you may be able to post. Are her ears down? This is often a sign they are not well.
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Old 08-07-2017, 08:12 AM   #20
Kippynugget
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Default Re: Hammy changed personality

Quote:
Originally Posted by souffle View Post
was the cage more of a tank type? She may have got a bit of a fright somehow in the new cage and this has made her skitty. Is she from Pets at Home? I think coco's vet may be a good idea if it happened to be near to you and she has had a good experience. They really should not have put poor Nugget in a position when she could have fallen. That is really bad.
I do think it is concerning but understand your reluctance to move her back again when she did appear quite settled or to take her to a vets as the journey is stressful. Do you have any pictures of her from above you may be able to post. Are her ears down? This is often a sign they are not well.
No, they are both wire cages. I'll post photos when I get home- I was wondering whether to drape a towel over half of the cage so that it feels more sheltered for her? She is from Pets at Home yes- I would never buy from there again having learnt everything I have from everyone here but at the time I didn't know any better.

I was really worried about it but he didn't seem to bat an eyelid. He basically lost control of her, she jumped twice and the third time she was dropped but it was a hard floor so I'm really worried that she hurt herself, at the very least she is going to be a bit stiff!

I'll pop some photos up tonight- she has had her ears back more than usual but they're not down all the time. She just seems to be in a zombie like state most of the time so I assumed they were down because she was tired and grumpy.

Poor Nug
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