Glucosamine good for aging hamster?

CharmeC · 02-04-2012, 04:53 PM

My aging guinea pig Serena takes glucosamine daily for her arthritis and it helps greatly. Lately I've noticed my 1.5 year old dwarf hamster Dragon developing a stiff gait and arched spine, and am wondering if glucosamine could help aging hamsters too? Thank you!

Actually now that I look through photos I took of her, she was already looking hunched last October, and I got her very young in August 2010:

sully · 02-04-2012, 05:10 PM

I know dogs and people take it but didnt know about hamsters?

happysaz133 · 02-04-2012, 05:27 PM

I've never heard of hams having it either, or guineas for that matter! One of my greyhounds takes it. I think you would have to speak with your vet to find out how much she would need.

waycoolsnoopy · 02-04-2012, 11:03 PM

I would be very curious to find out what you find out. Sorry I can't tell you anything. My Syrian hamster, Pushkin is getting up there (27 months old) and is having a difficult time walking. He has everything he needs within reach of his house on the first floor of his cage but I worry that he may be in pain. Please post here what you find out and if it is okay for hamsters, what kind of dosage are you using? I'm going to do some more research myself and I'll post to your thread what I find out. In the meantime, I hope you, Dragon, and Serena are happy and healthy!

racinghamster · 02-05-2012, 08:31 AM

If you got her when she was very young, she may not have been fully weaned or been on a bad diet and not had the protein, calcium or vitamin D her little bones require when growing. I wouldn`t give glucosamine suppliments to a hamster to be honest. Not unless my vet was the one suggesting it.

What you could do, is look at upping the additions to her diet that provide extra calcuim/vitamin D and also look at the protein content in her food mix. She`s probably too old now to worry about high protein levels because her bones are set now, but there are steps you can take to make her feel better about herself. Without knowing what you currently feed her, we can`t really advise, but one thing I would suggest is to start feeding her little and often fresh greens and sprouted beans/seeds. In their raw and sprouted state, they contain good nutritional benefits and contain zinc, iron, calcium, magnesium, protein, carbohydrate and energy, not to mention the vitamins.

Dwarf hamsters love small seeds and fresh greens, but you should only feed very small amounts to begin with so as not to upset her tummy. I can list a few things that are beneficial for her all fed fresh and raw:

Broccoli
Mange Tout (this is a type of green bean)
Cauliflower
Mung beans (soak these in cold water for 8 hours overnight) - drain and add more fresh water the next day. The beans will start to sprout. Drain and keep in a freezer bag in the fridge for a few days to keep fresh. Only feed a few sprouted beans to begin with as too many might cause her poo to go soft, so start with one or two over a couple of days. Always rinse in cold water before feeding and leave to get to room temperature (not straight from the fridge!)

All of the above are good for her in small amounts. Millet seed can also be sprouted and resembled green grass when it sprouts. If you go to YouTube, there are videos showing you how to sprout mung beans.

It sounds as though your little one could have a deficiency, so looking closely at these fresh foods could help.

Demecat · 02-05-2012, 08:41 AM

Another risk about feeding glucose is that dwarfs are especially prone to diabetes and if you get the dosage wrong, you could eventually give your hamster type 2 diabetes.

CharmeC · 02-06-2012, 07:39 AM

Thank you all for the replys!

racinghamster, Thank you for the suggestions! I've got millet seed still on the stalk, I hope they will sprout! Mung bean sprout is part of the cuisine in my culture, I'll go get some mung beans later too, sprouting seeds is actually fun XD

Dragon has been eating Oxbow healthy handfuls all her life, supplemented by organic flaxseeds and some hamster seed mix snack. She also gets a small piece of green leafy vegetable every other day since my guinea pigs have to be fed veggies everyday. However broccoli and cauliflower could cause bloating in guineas so Dragon rarely gets those too. And since these days I've been buying plain 0% fat yogurt, she gets a bit of that too.

Dragon's always been small, nowadays she weighs around 29g, would it be safe to give her a little roasted peanut to fatten her up?

racinghamster · 02-06-2012, 09:05 AM

Peanuts (the plain monkey nuts in their shells) are high in fat but a few times a week will be fine. You often find peanuts in hamster mixes, but if you feed a pelleted food? She may not be able to eat the small seeds and grains that a dwarf hamster would do naturally. I find the pelleted foods very bland to be honest and use a commercial hamster mix as a `base` and add many other seeds and grains to this. Variety is what your looking for and dwarf hamsters love small seeds like mixed millet/bird/canary seed mix, hemp seed, linseed, dry porridge oats, dry buckwheat, plain puffed or flakes wholegrain rice, Pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc...and dry mealworms. These are a good protein source and great as a hand fed treat.

Complex carbohydrates will put weight on her and build energy as they release slowly in the body. Dry porridge oats are loved by hamsters, so pop a level teaspoonful over her mix daily. Organic jumbo oats are best but any will do. Just the human grade porridge oats you buy from the store.

CharmeC · 02-07-2012, 06:38 AM

Oh, yes! I forgot to mention I always mix a handful of oatmeal in her bedding! Thank you for reminding me on the importance of variety in her diet. I also am wondering if I should start pulverizing her food in case her teeth are getting weak (they look fine though), I noticed yesterday that she's unable to shell a peanut.

Dragon is still a little fur ball of energy though, she will charge out of her wooden house ready for a fight if she hears me call her name over her bin any time of the day! In comparison, the 2.5 year old Syrian hamster I just adopted days ago seems to sleep 22 hours out of 24 every day.

racinghamster · 02-07-2012, 06:53 AM

I always break a monkey nut shell in half and give it that way. It still gives the hamster something interesting, but is easier access to the nut inside. I take half an empty shell and put little seeds and a small piece of peanut inside and leave it inside the cage. When she wakes up, she gets a nice little treat and carries the half shell about with the seeds inside!