Wounds?!

[Humphrey Furball]

When you hold him, just wrap the cloth around his body and paws, tuck it under your fingers and thumb so that the edges overlap at the front, and your hammie will look a bit like a baby in a blanket, with just his head peeking out the top - it stops their paws pushing the syringe/your fingers away. I know what you mean about smell - also you'd need new gloves, you wouldn't want any germs from the garden getting near Cookie. If the facecloth is right up to his chin, then it might protect your finger a bit if he does decide to nip.

[jay_92]

oo! thats a good idea! sounds abit tricky to get him in the facetowel but i will give it a go! im trying to make friends with him again by just letting him climb out on me! will let you know how it goes! thank you!

[Humphrey Furball]

I managed it (just) by myself, but I've heard Souffle recommend that 2 people are ideal, one to hold the ham in the cloth, and the other to use the syringe to put the medicine into the side of the mouth. My boy was really well behaved, so it wasn't too bad, and he did forgive me afterwards. Hope Cookie is ok.

[Dora]

i found on day 2 with baytril if i dipped in yogurt speckles was happy to accept and by time she took it 0.01 baytril it had gone before taste got her. She got it in her nest so was sleepy too. Hope he improves soon.

[Past_member_10071]

Hi Jay
It sounds like he's just biting because his wound is hurting so don't feel bad. It's probably most important to give him the baytril by mouth so it's great that you're managing this. You might have to brace yourself for his being a bit grumpy. I always find the little ones are very forgiving.

Sorry this is so tough for you and Cookie. You're doing your best. If it were my hammy I would try to keep the cage very clean and soft, focus on giving him the baytril, as a priority, and attempt to clean the wound when I was a bit more relaxed. Perhaps, if you're holding Cookie, someone in your family might be less nervous and be able to gently clean the wound? The swaddling method is very good (we've had to use this for our poorly bunnies ) For buns we've heard this called the bunny burrito! So I guess this would be a hammy burrito

I also imagine it's important that this course of baytril lasts long enough to allow the wound to heal. If his tummy still seems bad a day or two before the antibiotics are due to run out, call the vet for more advice.

If you can't get him to take the antibiotics you may find he'll eat it, as Dora said, mixed with some tasty food. I'm a bit wary about advising what food but I'll bet other forum users have plenty of ideas for you.

Best of luck Jay, thinking of you both x

[suga]

I'm not 100% sure how souffle does it but the way I do it is to get a teatowel and wrap it round the hamster. Only the face is poking out and all paws are tucked in and being held away by my hand and the wrapped towel. Get someone else to then administer the meds or the other way round. it will stop them wriggling so much and pusshing the syringe away - which they will do with their paws if theyare free.

[jay_92]

Thank you all 4 the help ! I managed to give cookie all of the baytril but i couldnt disinfect the wound but i saw that it had started to heal so thought it would be okay. I didnt notice if this was there yesterday but today i saw a lot of wee in his corner. I tried to look at the underneath of him to see his wound but didnt want to pick him up because he will get scared because i think hes still thinking about the baytril! but i managed to see abit of red on the wound and it looks like a thin piece of skin going from the wound to the lower part of his body i think. it was only a quick look but when cleaning his wee corner, at the bottom i saw redness? not too too much but a few specles in areas! anyone know what this means? i am taking him to the vet hopefully tomorow.

[Past_member_10071]

Hi Jay,
Sounds like it is a good idea to have him checked by a vet again. I don't know enough about hamsters but I do know that in rabbits there may be many reasons why wee can be a little red - from diet to urinary tract infections and I suspect it's similar for hamsters. Since he's had smelly wee before, its possible there is a lingering urinary infection and I think weeing a lot can indicate this too, so good to check it out with the vet. Make sure he's getting enough to drink and maybe give a bit of cucumber as, souffle mentioned before, to keep up fluids. So sorry it's taking a while to sort out but Cookie's clearly a little fighter.

I couldn't say what the redness is on his lower body, It may be a scab or pink skin (a newly healed wound would be quite dark pink/reddish, I would think) or a scar and if so, it's a good sign. The wound when healed I imagine will be furless, initially at least, and hamsters' skin is pretty pink.

Sorry I can't help much Jay. Well done for working so hard to get him better and let us know how he gets on at the vets.x

[souffle]

It may be that the abcess has opened up and drained now which will be good if it can be prevented from filling up again. It should heal from the inside outwards now.
I do think he needs seen again though because after this amount of Baytril he should not have a urinary tract infection. Sometimes with an abcess there can be a tract that damages the bladder and this does need investigatation.
I hope he gets on well at the vet tommorrow x

[jay_92]

hi all, thank you for all the help from both me and cookie. took him to the vet today and its really not good news they said its a tumour and have advised him to be put down within the next few days because he is slowly deteriorating. at the moment we are unsure of how much he is even eating but he is clearly drinking alot. apparently the original wound just became infected and this just carried on which is why his wound looked like it was healing with the baytril but the tumour was already there we were just unaware of it, it just became clearer because of the wound. He's not eating too much we dont think but hes not moving much and is sleeping most of the time. He's not comfortable which is clear to tell and he doesnt seem to be comfortable moving at all which is just longing the suffering of him I never expected this from what started as a wound :'( :'( im trying to feed him is favourite foods and a few chocies especially to keep his energies up but it just doesnt feel right that my Cookie will be going