Constipation in hamsters

hughes62 · 09-30-2013, 02:11 PM

Hi, I'm fairly new here. I have a two year old syrian female hamster. She has been in the best of health all her life but has developed constipation with really small hard droppings. Her bottom has also been a little wet, (she does get quite a lot of discharge every few days from her cycle, but this is normal.)

I took her to the vet today, but the vet just gave her antibiotics (engemycin) that they gave her a few months back when they thought she had an infection. I don't think from what I've read, this is going to help her constipation? I've given her bits of carrot and apple but it doesn't seem to be doing much. She is walking hunched up now.

I'm really worried. The vet was hopeless. Do you all think I should take her to another one, (there is another one in town, but it is more expensive. Wish I'd gone there to start off with now.)

I don't know what to do. I've just given her a drop of olive oil on a piece of carrot and will see how that works, but I was banking on the vet doing something. Any thoughts/help gratefully received.

souffle · 09-30-2013, 02:37 PM

Does she seem bloated or swollen at all? If she does the cause of the small hard droppings could be a tumour or an womb infection placing pressure on the bowel and not allowing food to pass through quickly. The fact that she has a discharge is suspicious of a womb infection which is serious in a hamster especially at this age. Fluid in the abdomen can gather with kidney or heart failure and this can draw fluid from inside the bowel too causing hard stools.
Firstly check her bottle is working well and easily in case she is dehydrated. The bottles can get the ball sticking in the spout. Older hams sometimes cannot stand up so well to drink and may not take enough. Try a shallow pottery bowl for her to lap from.
Antibiotics also kill her friendly bowel bacteria and this can hinder digestion. They need good bacteria to keep thing going correctly inside. You could give a teaspoon of live yogurt daily or better still get some ProC (from pets at home) or some Avipro which are powders that help replace bowel bacteria.
Hamsters do not normally suffer constipation without a valid cause due to their high fibre diet so you need to find the root cause.
I hope things improve for her soon. She is a very good age for a hamster and must have been well cared for.

hughes62 · 09-30-2013, 03:04 PM

Thanks, Souffle. No, that is the thing, she isn't swollen or bloated at all. And her bottom area doesn't look different either, just a bit wet. I also forgot to mention that she is running around, alert and eating and drinking as usual. Far from not being able to reach her bottle, she often stands on a little wooden bridge and performs quite funny acrobatics to reach it, (don't know why she doesn't just drink it from a sitting position on the floor.)

I have been really worried about things before and she's come through them. She just ran across the settee now and doesn't even seem hunched up. I don't know if it's me worrying too much as she doesn't look ill at all, apart from the small droppings. I still might take her to another vet if they continue though.

hughes62 · 09-30-2013, 03:10 PM

Oh, and thanks for the info. re the yoghurt and the Pro-C. I'll get that tomorrow. Can you tell me how much yoghurt to give my hamster? I've read this online but how much you should give varies.

souffle · 09-30-2013, 04:02 PM

about half to one teaspoon. It must be the live stuff though with the live bacteria in it.

hughes62 · 10-01-2013, 09:54 AM

Thanks, Souffle. I actually took Sundance (my hamster) to another vet today, who was much better. This vet examined her thoroughly and weighed her. She think that the small poops might be because she is eating a certain kind of food, where she picks and doesn't eat all of it. The vet couldn't find anything wrong and thinks the discharge is probably just part of her cycle, as it has happened so many times before. It was really funny as well as Sundance wouldn't keep still to sit on the scales and sat in the middle of the table and emptied her pouch to start eating. Didn't look like there was much wrong with her there

Thanks for your help.

souffle · 10-01-2013, 10:17 AM

Glad to hear you have had a second opinion. The Pro C or yogurt certainly wouldn't do her any harm so you can still give those. I hope she continues to do well and we get to see some pics

I love the name Sundance! She sounds lovely

hughes62 · 10-05-2013, 04:52 PM

Sorry this has taken me so long. I'm not really sure how to post photos on here. I put a link to Sundance below, if it works. She has just woken up from a long sleep, it is the only time I could get her to keep still

She is fine now, and seems to be "toiletting" as normal. I just worry too much, probably. I picked up the food the vet recommended, it is supposed to cut out selective feeding. I'm just mixing it a bit at a time, at the moment. Wish I'd joined this forum before.

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&i...72-1&safe=1&zw

Oh, her fur is sticking up a bit on here as I dropped a bit of olive oil on her, as I read it was good for hamsters with constipation. The vet said it would be ok to just leave it and she would clean it off herself. I bet she wishes I would quit worrying and leave her alone