Just noticed a brown dischrage in eye?

[HammieandMerlin]

Hi guys,
Tonight I was giving Mowgli a treat and I realized there was a small amount of brown-ish discharge (from what I could find searching the forum, discharge from their eyes is usually this colour?) coming from her left eye. It's barely noticeable, and there's no swelling, any suggestions on what I should be doing? thanks

[HammieandMerlin]

Just had a thought, I used a different type of "litter" in her cage for the first time last night/ today, could that have irritated her eye? I took it just in case, I'm rather rattled, even though she seems totally fine otherwise

[souffle]

The discharge due to irritation or infection is red in a hamster. It isn't blood like some people think but a pigment secreted from the back of the eye to try and get rid of the problem. It may well be an allergy to the new bedding so it may be an idea to go back to the old stuff and see if it goes. If it keeps up or gets worse you will need to have a vet check it out and treatment is usuall successful with drops or eye gel.

[petal10]

For ages Pugwash had a clear/slightly whitish discharge in one of his eyes and we couldn't work out what was wrong... He had several trips to the vet but eye drops and Baytril didn't seem to work, and giving him the medication was just stressing him out... Over time though, his eye seems to have sorted itself out and other than being a bit watery sometimes, seems absolutely fine. Obviously I'm not suggesting that you just leave Mowgli if her eye doesn't seem to be getting better, but trying to give you hope that it may just be a random thing

[HammieandMerlin]

Thank you guys, there is nothing there this morning, so I'll see if anything shows up as the day goes on, and if it does, I'll call the vet to nip it in the bud early on

[Vectis Hamstery]

One of my Chinese has had this recently since changing substrate. My vet checked him to make sure he didn't have any chest problems or a cold and we used a couple of different types of drops as for my little lad just changing the substrate didn't settle it down right away. I hope Mowgli is feeling better soon.

[HammieandMerlin]

Thank you, I'll keep the threat updated, thanks for the well wishes x

[HammieandMerlin]

Update: Mowgli's eye is still clear, which has my panic levels lowering

[petal10]

Hurrah! Sounds like a reaction to the substrate...

[HammieandMerlin]

Second morning: Still clear, so I am going to assume it was the litter!