Henry and Gordon - Page 15

LunaTheHamster1 · 07-27-2020, 07:54 AM

It could be a UTI, kidney's starting to fail due to age or something else entirely. You are doing the right thing with the Vets appointment. Goodluck and let us know how you get on. If he has to take antibiotics, I wouldn't worry too much, Star was on them for 7 or 8 months and Luna was on them for several months too.

Ria P · 07-27-2020, 09:39 AM

The vet couldn't feel any lumps or abnormalities in Henry's bladder so suspects a UTI but doesn't want to treat with antibiotics immediately. She prescribed an anti inflammatory, Metacam, to use once daily for the next five days because Henry seems fine in himself and the UTI may not be bacterial. There were two options of 0.8 for the cat one and 0.2 for the dog one which i opted for because i was worried that he'd choke on 0.8 squirted in his mouth.

The vet practice was actually one mentioned here as a good one and is local so no traveling involved but the vet is not an exotics vet. She was a vet in p@h so has experience with treating small animals (couldn't stop myself from vetting her!).

I have never been to a vet before so would love to get opinions of the knowledgable people here. Does the vet make sense in her approach?
I have a provisional follow up appointment booked for Monday and can contact them anytime inbetween should i need to.

Thank you in advance for any feedback and thank you for your good wishes.

sushi_78 · 07-27-2020, 09:54 AM

I always give Pumpkin her Metacam either squirted into half a raisin (cut a little slit in the pulp with a small pair of scissors) or soaked into a bit of bread. It's much easier than trying to get it into the mouth and she always takes it.

Ria P · 07-27-2020, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sushi_78

I always give Pumpkin her Metacam either squirted into half a raisin (cut a little slit in the pulp with a small pair of scissors) or soaked into a bit of bread. It's much easier than trying to get it into the mouth and she always takes it.

Thanks for the tip! Thing is that Henry is a champion hoarder and takes food in his house to eat later. The only way to guarantee that he takes his meds is by squirting it in his mouth. Does Pumkin take the dog or cat Metacam and what dose is she on? I wasn't expecting for Henry to be put on dog medicine and always thought that there was medicine specifically for rodents but as i said, i've never been to a vet before so its all new to me and i feel a bit nervous about it.

sushi_78 · 07-27-2020, 10:15 AM

In that case it's probably not a good idea. Pumpkin's not much of a hoarder so I never had to worry about that with her. I don't know which version she's on, but the dose is 0.03ml, or 3 units on a U-100 insulin syringe.

cypher · 07-27-2020, 10:22 AM

Would Henry hoard a teeny bit of some tasty baby food? That’s what I usually use for my hams meds so it gets eaten straight away if it’s a special treat kind of food. If you still have doubts then maybe try squirting it into his mouth but I find giving it that way a bit tricky.
It’s been a while since I’ve had to use it but the dose sushi mentioned sounds about right to me.

Ria P · 07-27-2020, 10:46 AM

I don't know if he'd eat the babyfood. He's a bit of an eccentric hamster who doesn't like to be watched eating. He'll come out because he wants some of our breakfast but only eats a little bit then pouches the rest or comes out later when nobody is about to eat the rest if he can't pouch it.

So Pumkin is on 0.03ml and Henry was put on 0.2ml of the dog one or 0.8ml of the cat one which sounds a lot to me. I wonder if i should get a second opinion from a different vet.

I'll probably start him on the Metacam tomorrow morning because i'm working tomorrow night so can't start him tonight. My OH's eyesight is too bad to be trusted to get the dosage right. I'll try and squirt it into his mouth and if that doesn't work i'll try it in food. The only thing he eats up on the spot is a dandelion leaf though.

One thing that does concern me is Henry's weight loss. He only weighs 205g now. He used to weigh 230g last year and then dropped to 222g begin of the year and now he's only 205g. I've also noticed a thin patch of fur right on top of his head today, like an old man, which i never noticed before in the dim evening light.

Isn't it awful when hamsters start to age because their lives are so short.

LunaTheHamster1 · 07-27-2020, 10:56 AM

Ria, the medicines are made for dogs/cats but the vets prescribe them for rodents, hence the dose is smaller as they are using it for something the manufacturers never intended it to be used for.

Various things to try if you don't want to have to 'force' the syringe into him.

You may not need to force it, if possible, stick the syringe in his house near him and see if he comes to lick it, just do it gently.

Can you put a tiny food bowl in his house? if so you could use some oats or baby food and put the medicine in that.

The other thing I have found works quite well is measure the dose in the syringe then squirt it out on to a spoon, Star would just then lick that if she got one whiff of it.

From my experience I would have started with the antibiotics, especially as you said his urine was smelly. Baytril was the only thing that made this better for both Luna and Star. Please bear in mind I am obviously not a vet, just sharing from my own experience. Maybe if you don't see any improvement in a couple of days you can ask for the antibiotic. Also worth noting is that it can take several weeks for the antibiotics to work it's stuff, often it is only prescribed for a week, i think it took 3-4 weeks for it to go away with both Luna and Star and as soon as I stopped it, it came back. Hence why they both ended up on it for life.

Ria P · 07-27-2020, 11:30 AM

His pee isn't smelly now but it was for a few days which didn't worry me because i thought Syrian pee is always a bit smelly. Just shows how little i know about hamsters or i would have taken him to the vet sooner. It's when i saw traces of blood yesterday i got very worried.
I'll try squirting it on a spoon and see if he licks it off. Wished i wouldn't have to work tomorrow or i'd start it tonight.

I'm glad to hear that Metacam is made for dogs and cats and that you've reassured me that the vet knew what she was talking about. I'm terrible and have so little faith in people but trust people on this forum a lot more than vets i've never spoken to before.

I must say that i did expect the vet to put Henry on a course of antibiotics rightaway and i did query it.

Coco61 · 07-27-2020, 12:31 PM

Hi Ria, I have had to give diluted dog medicine to my hamsters for different reasons.
0.2ml sounds right to me. Antibiotics must be taken and so the only way is squirting by syringe into the mouth. With other medicines, I used the baby food or porridge mixing method. Once I knew it would be taken - by licking off spoon - then I would leave it in a small container in his food area. It didn’t matter if it took a couple of visits so long as it went down. My Mocho had to have a daily dose for the rest of his life which turned out to be a year, and he never missed a dose this way.