Stuffed/Impacted pouches - concerned

Guinea Slave · 06-19-2012, 03:36 PM

Hi All

I am wondering if you can help advise? I have a lovely and very lively 4 month old Syrian who is quite a character to say the least. I decided (stupidly i now think!) to buy her one of those seed sticks so she could nibble away and not get too bored (she has a huge cage and loads of toys...but a hamster can never have enough!!).

Anyway, tonight it appears that she has consumed the entire stick, but she has broken some very large pieces off and stuffed them into each pouch so she has a very long and solid lump of seed stick in each one...about 2 inches long each...you can feel the corners in her pouches. Its been 3 hours now and they have not gone, she seems fine, eating OK and I have given her some cucumber and tomato in the hope that the wetness of these foods may soften it and help her remove them but I am seriously concerned these are now impacted. She has tried to remove them herself (not that hard I may add!) but I have seen her try which is worrying me. She is perfectly OK in herself if a little 'unbalanced' !!

She rarely if ever travels with anything in her pouches.

I have a great vet who will not be phased at all by this, but how long would you leave her? Would you leave her a day or so in the hope she sorts herself out or do I need to get her to the vet tomorrow? If she has to go to the vet how on earth do they remove it? Is she in any danger? Not ever experienced this so keen for your thoughts. I have no issue in taking her to the vets but I don't want to stress her unnecessarily as she is quite a handful.

Look forward to hearing from you thank you!

gutterglitterxx · 06-19-2012, 03:46 PM

I'm not an expert and don't have a ton of experience with this, so hopefully more people can offer their thoughts. But I do know that Cheeto sometimes stuffs her pouches to capacity and then goes for a jog on her flying saucer or wheel. It looks pretty bizarre when she walks around like that and 9 times out of 10 she empties into her hoard almost immediately. But every once in a while she decides "miiiiiiiiine" and pouches stuff for a while.

**Hope** · 06-19-2012, 04:57 PM

I would leave her at least untill tomorrow, see what the situation is in the monring and go from there. They do have huge pouches that can make your eyes water looking at what they can stuff in! They shouldnt be called cheek pouches really, more shoulder and half body pouches!

As she will have most likely broken off bits from the stick, I would not be too worried, as the bits should be little enough fro her not to get them stuck or anything. And its all hard stuff, no wet stuff that easiliy can get stuck and compacted.

They can be forced to depouch by pressing and easing the right bit, but it can be quite stressful for the hamster and I would certainly not attempt it myself and get a vet to do it, if you have a good vet (which is amazing in its self! v jealous!) it should not be too much of a problem. The other thing I have heard that vets can do is flush the pouches with water which removes any stuck food, not sure if they may anethatise a little for this though.

Kirsty1987 · 06-19-2012, 05:00 PM

Give it 24 hours and see if he manages to get it out, If there is any fresh food in there like veg etc don't let him keep it in there any longer than 24 hours as this can poison the hamster. You can try massaging the back of the cheek pouches to see if he will spit it out, If not then take her to the vets they will will clean it out

Guinea Slave · 06-20-2012, 12:58 AM

Hi All

Many thanks for all the advice. After getting very worried I checked her very early this morning and low and behold, no more pouches. So it was a false alarm, I am told her that I am highly unamused and she sat there looking at me as if butter would'nt melt!! She is one very cheeky little girl.

Thanks once again and at least I know what to do next time!!

Willow's mummy! · 06-20-2012, 01:11 AM

Glad she's ok now, they do like to worry us!

Guinea Slave · 06-20-2012, 01:49 AM

Yes just to make sure I don't give the guineas more attention than her LOL! I just bought her a huge new cage what more could she want!!

I have to say though, concern aside, she did look utterly hysterical yesterday...pocket or shoulder pouches is definitely a better term!!

Sandti · 06-20-2012, 01:55 AM

Awww I'm glad she's okay!

It was probably a 'Mummy, Look at me, see how much I can fit in my pouches!!'

Arraminta · 06-20-2012, 02:39 AM

Hahaha glad she's ok and hope she listens to her telling off!! Cinnamonster often has cheek pouches so full her head is bigger then her body (mostly thanks to silvers mix) and like Cheeto (gutterglitterxx) she will often spend time doing other stuff with her pouches totally stuffed!!
And totally with you there Willow's mummy I am convinced at times they actually do stuff to keep us on our toes hahahahahah x x

Lynternette · 06-20-2012, 06:09 AM

I'm so glad she's emptied her pouches. I've known Dusty to fill them so much that his mouth's full as well and its all sticking out. It looks like a huge set of false teeth sometiimes.