Diabetic Syrian!!

[Kirsty_roe]

Has anyone got a diabetic Syrian. Our 8 week old girl was diagnosed yesterday. Our first approach is going to be a strict diet change! Id really be grateful for some advice on what you feed guys!! Just want to get her stable! x

[Teddy001]

I'm sorry to hear your baby ham has diabetes. Did you take her to the vets to be tested or did you test her yourself? I'm assuming for an diabetic hamster, do not fed any type of foods that contain sugar, that includes natural sugars from fruits and veggies. Reduce carbohydrates. Make sure your hamster food mix does not contain, honey, or molasses, and I'd assume no corn, noodles, or peas.
You may want to consult with a vet on what diabetic level of your hamster. There is insulin for extreme diabetic hamsters, although, that is something that really needs to be determined by a vet that specializes in treating hamsters.

[kyrilliondaemon]

I'm sorry to hear your hamster is diabetic, have you consulted with the vet about her? A vet may be needed to prescribe medication in the worse cases (and vets are really handy for confirming the diagnosis too - lots of things have similar symptoms sometimes, although glucose in the urine does definetly strongly suggest diabetes)

This page was the one I found most useful when we had a diabetic hamster - Diabetes in Hamsters - Vectis Hamstery and Exotics

We mixed his food from scratch and with lots of help, good care and a ton of luck he did quite well despite the diabetes

The website I linked covers it all - A quick summary would be test the urine, consult the vet, then you want higher protein and fibre, lower carbohydrates and fat. You may also need medication depending on the hamsters condition. I personally would never use insulin for a hamster - there are other medications that I feel are far safer and more easily administered (with less stress to the hamster).


Please do not try and treat at home with medications without seeing the vet - its very easy to cause serious harm or even kill your pet if you get it wrong.

[Kirsty_roe]

Hey guys. Yes she was at vets yesterday who have confirmed diabetes and a bladder infection. She's on baytril and the vet said to try diet change first to see if it helps? We were on harry hamster which I have now changed to nuggets (advised by vet), then failing that glipiside? I think they said and the very last would be insulin injections. I just wanted to know abit more about the diet side of it. Do you believe switching to nuggets would help as my first thought was to pick the corn and peas out of HH and feed that. I've ordered some keto-diastix and vet wants me to urine test twice per day for 2 weeks to see if diet works first. I've gave her some mealworms today? I'm hoping that's ok!!? Felt cruel with just nuggets haha x

[kyrilliondaemon]

We managed Ghost with diet alone, it was really helpful

I'd not change to nuggets (but if you do I'd go for science selective because of the ingredients - they're by far my favourite pellet diet for hams) because ideally you want to have different levels of fat, fibre, protein and carbohydrates than in a normal mix. You could change to nuggets and add things in to up the fibre and protein though

Mealworms are good, they're really high in protein but they may be high fat too (I can't remember off the top of my head). Maybe feed the nuggets but with some of the high fibre and high protein foods listed on Vectis' website mixed in to change the proportion of things in the diet?

[Peanut84]

So sorry you little one has diabetes. I would also use science selective and add to it, as Harry Hamster has quite a lot of fatty seeds. Some people also feel feeding Fenugreek seeds is beneficial, it's supposed to lower blood sugar.

[kyrilliondaemon]

Originally Posted by Peanut84

Some people also feel feeding Fenugreek seeds is beneficial, it's supposed to lower blood sugar.

Which makes it a medication. If given without close supervision from a vet it could induce severe health problems and an overdose could easily kill the hamster