Help With Hamster Eye Problem

[Colmcad]

Hi

This is my first post on the site and I am messaging to see if anyone might be able to help with regards to my Syrian hamster.

He is a Syrian who is about 3 months old (maybe). We're not exactly sure as we got him from P@H back in the middle of December, but I would assume he was about the 6 weeks old back then. He was fine at the start, although he did sleep almost constantly for the first week or at least hide away as much as possible, which I guess is expected due to the new surroundings. He seems to be very tame now though as he has never bitten and quite happily stays on our hands and eats from us etc. but in the last few days, things seemed to have gone a bit badly.

About 3 days ago I noticed that his left eye wasn’t opening and was all crusty around the eyelids. I used a cotton bud which was dampened in sterile water to clean it off, as I thought it might have been some sleep or something along those lines, but about half an hour later I checked on him again and it was all white and wet, looked a bit pussy looking actually. I decided to do a search on the net and came across this site and found some information about what I could do. So I used the tissue technique to hold him still and I cleaned it again as thorough as I could and the next morning his eye seemed to be all cleared and fully open, although when I looked again a few hours later, the white stuff was there again, so I once again cleared it off. He was cleaning/rubbing/scratching it with his back leg and I noticed the white seemed to appear after that, but don't know if it’s linked in any way.

Anyways, today when I checked him, both his eyes now have the white stuff in them and I really don't know if it is an infection or something else. The problem at the moment is that I am really, really short on money and I don't think I can afford veterinary treatment for him. I don't really know how much a vet would charge to at least have a look and maybe prescribe something. If it's not too much I may be able to find the money somewhere and go for it. I'm not sure if there is anything I could do on my own to help so I could avoid going to a vet though, but if it does come to it; of course I will take him to be seen but would just prefer to avoid paying out any extra money this month. I really do feel guilty and selfish even thinking that way, I really don't want him to be suffering and he is only young, so didn't even expect any complications this early on.

Also I noticed a few weeks back that his bottom teeth seemed a tiny bit wobbly, they would separate a bit if I pulled back his cheeks to look at them, I don't know if this is a normal thing with rodents but today when I was tending to his eyes, I noticed one of his top teeth is very wiggly indeed and was actually pointing towards the inside of his mouth at one point. I managed to straighten it out with my fingers but it feels like the whole tooth is going to fall out and also noticed a bit of blood under his top lip too, so maybe he has hit his face off something, god knows.

Sorry if this post seems like a flippin' hard back novel, I guess I just wanted to get as much info in as possible.

If anyone has any ideas/advice on the problems with his eyes, and now the teeth, I would very, very much appreciate it.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Regards,
Colin

[Treacle_08]

Hi,
In regards to the eyes I don't have a clue but what I do know is that if there is any problem with a hamsters teeth then you need to go to the vet asap. It shouldn't be too expensive unless you have a horrible vet but thats not likely. When I go to check my hamsters teeth they do separate very slightly at the top but they aren't wobbly so that needs to be addressed by a vet.

I hope this is some help for you, but I am no proffesional

I hope you find out whats wrong!

[Colmcad]

Hi

OK then, well at least for the tooth problem alone, I'll give my local vet a phone tomorrow. I'll see if they know much about hamsters and if so, I'll get him booked in ASAP to get them looked at as well as the eyes problem too for that matter.

Thanks for you're help there, it's much appreciated

[souffle]

Hi and welcome.
The eye problem you describe is not uncommon in hamsters. It can be a condition on its own but is also seen frequently when the hamster is ill in another way. Conjunctivitis is usually caused by either an injury or a bacterial infection and this does need treatment from a vet. Normally they will give either fuciderm eye gel or maxitrol drops which are not too expensive.
The teeth may be at the root of the eye problem though. It sounds possible that he has malloclusion of the teeth which means they do not meet properly and so do not grind down when he chews. The teeth can then overgrow and can curve and pierce the roof of the mouth causing pain, bleeding and irritation. To make sure he gets enough nutrition make sure you feed some soft food till he sees the vet. Eggs, baby food & porridge are good.
The vet can clip the teeth even. If he does lose a tooth he should sill manage if you grind his food up in a food processor and also feed soft food daily. He will likely need the teeth clipped every few weeks as this condition is lifelong. Ask the vet to teach you how to do it.
There are instructions on how to apply eye drops by Pophammy in this section at the top.
Find a vet who does 'childrens pets' prices. Ours charges £9 for a consultation for a hammy and the eye drops were about £5. After he is better you can store them in the fridge for reuse for a while.
I hope he is better soon

[Colmcad]

Hi Souffle

Thanks for you're detailed reply. I didn't think about the eye problem being caused by something else, so that could very well be what it is, but I will have him checked out none the less.

I don't think there's been any problems with his teeth at all until the last day or 2 though. They were straight, level and seemed to be wearing down evenly. They did very slightly separate at the end of his bottom teeth if I pulled back his cheeks but that was it, just like Treacle_08 had said. He didn't seem to be in any distress or pain but I guess that's all changed now.

When I checked him late last night, I found that his tooth has now actually fallen completely out. I don't know if it has broken under the gum line or if the whole thing has came out, so don't know if it will ever grow back in time. I have sifted though his nest and all the bedding but have failed to find it, I did check his pouch just in case it was sitting in there too but still nothing.

I also noticed last night that when I was checking his teeth, there seems to be hard loose bits under the skin around his bottom jaw, it kinda feels gritty actually. I don't know if there is any bone breakage around there or if its normal feeling but I will have that looked at too.

We checked his food dish this morning and there has been nothing taken from it at all and the water doesn't even seem to be touched either. I did put him in front of the water bottle last night so he would lick at it and have some, as I'm worried he hasn't had that much at all lately. I also treated him to some raisins from a hot cross bun as they are much softer than the normal hamster muesli he has and I have a funny feeling he may not even be able to eat it properly with the missing tooth now.

Thanks for you're help again, as stated before. I will definitely keep you updated when I know more on what's happening with him.

Colin

[Colmcad]

OK, just another update.

He has just there lost the other top tooth!. I have no idea what's happening with him, it was suddenly all loose but I'm sure it wasn't beforehand and then it just fell out when he licked it with hit tongue.

I have had a look at the tooth and it seems as though it is actually broken as I can't seem to see a root. It looks like its broken diagonally across and I can see the inside parts of the tooth, which is a pinky red colour but still not sure if it will grow back, and if so, how long that's gonna take.

When he wakes up again I will make him some egg, porridge or something like that and see if he will try eating that. My girlfriend had taken some of the muesli things and soaked them in water to make them all mushy, he did seem to be eating that but now that he has no top teeth, I doubt he will be able to any more.

Jeez, it just seems to be going from bad to worse. Will definitely phone the vets first thing tomorrow and get him seen to as quick as I possibly can.

Colin

[souffle]

I think the teeth may have come out because he has abcess in the roots or in the bone socket. This will be affecting the eyes. He needs an antibiotic to have any chance of recovery. Dont worry about the missing teeth as even if they do not grow back he will still be able to eat as they have grinding back teeth and also sort of use the hard roof of the mouth to grind food. Put some hammy mix in a bag and bash it fine with a hammer for him. Also feed cooked pasta, baby food like Hipp turkey, vegetable and cranberry, weetabix in kitten milk, cooked carrot, veg (not onion) and fruit. It is essential to keep him eating or else the bowel can stop working properly. Another good thing to try is live yogurt. He may have been bar chewing and broken a tooth on this. It can then get infected.
If they grow back it should take around 3-4wks however you need to watch the bottom teeth don't overgrow with not having the top ones to grind against. He may well have broken a jaw or have some sort of abnormality in the jaw bone, even sadly a tumour is possible.
I hope the vet can do something. Poor wee mite and he is just a baby. It is really not fair.
Keep us posted
XXX

[Colmcad]

Hey

We have not long got back from taking him to the vet there and we have found out a few things. He is so poorly though, that she wouldn't try putting him under any anaesthetic to have a proper look as he may not survive it, so she has prescribed him some Baytril as I expected her to for the eye problem and any other problems he may have and hope that puts him some way on the road to recovery. If it does, they can look into it further and take it from there really. She said he is very thin which is something I didn't even notice at first, my girlfriend had said it at first and I thought she was seeing things but I began to notice it too (just not as much as I should have). When I think of it, he has got a lot thinner in the last week or 2, but then he hasn't been eating much or drinking either so I guess it should be obvious. She said he could have had underlying problems that won't have surfaced until now but won't be able to check until he is better.

She also questioned if he is the age we though he was as he looks a bit older to her and his teeth are really yellow, as apposed to the white they would be if he was younger, but then again that could be down to a deficiency of some vitamin or mineral, so who knows.

I will let you know if there is any sign of any of the teeth popping through again and if there are any other general updates at all.

I would just like to say thanks for all you're help and advice though, as without it I think we would be pretty much stuck on what to do with him just now and I think he would be in a worse state now than he actually is.

Col

[souffle]

Hi Colin
I do hope the Baytril helps your little one and the soft foods help build him up. You are a star for getting him his treatment and I hope it was not too much of a financial strain. Things are hard at the moment for everyone.
The vet is wrong about the teeth though as even tiddly baby hammies have yellow/orange teeth. The outer layer of enamel which is hard is this colour normally. It it is white it means that there is something not right with the outer layer.
All good wishes for a speedy recovery and those teeth growing back in. Some calcium enriched food might help growth. You could try calcium enriched dog biscuits soaked in kitten milk. If you do use cows milk be sure to boil it first as this reduces the lactose content. Many hamsters do not cope with cows milk due to the lactose in it. You can use soya milk or the lactol powdered kitten replacement milk from pet shops or the little cartons of kitten milk too.
Everything is crossed for him. Could I ask what his name is and his colour?
xxxx

[Colmcad]

Hi Again

The price wasn't that bad at all, it was £10.50 consultation fee and £6.50 for the Baytril, so not that bad I guess. She did inject some sort of pain killer but didn't charge anything for that. We did decide that you simply can't put a price on an animal's health or life, so we went ahead with it for that reason. It really annoyed me when I was doing some searching on the net and there were some people 'advising' (if you wanna call it that) other people to just get rid of a poorly hamster as it only costs £7 to buy a new one and that's a lot less than the cost for treatment or a even a £30 fee for them to be PTS, complete heartless *!*%*/*!, of course people are gonna get attached to the hamster and it's not fair on them just ditching them if anything goes wrong . . . . (I don't think I'll continue that rant, will just get me angry!)

Cheers for the info on the teeth, now I don't have a clue what age he is but as I said in the first post, he was happily sharing a tank with 2 other male hamsters when we got him from Pets at home, so I figured he would be young as they would fight if he was much older than 10 weeks, if not before then.

I will try some of the ideas you suggested and see how he takes to it. I have put some slices of normal banana broken up from him as I'm sure the dried ones are no good just now without soaking them. I am going to have a big bowl of porridge tomorrow, how is it you go about feeding it to the hamster?, I assume it is when its cooled down, maybe even cold but should it be when it's starting to go rigid like jelly or does it have to be runny and gooey? (I eat mine when it's set, but then I do love mine very salty too but I will leave the salt out so he's OK eating it himself)

I can't believe I haven't even mentioned his name, how ignorant is that. His name is Fudge, although we tend to call him Fudgie more often than not. I am not sure exactly which colour he is, but he's light brown, creamy with a white band round his body, but doesn't look like a proper banded hamster, I haven't a clue tbh. We have a hamster book here and it has a picture of one that is a Dove Dominant Spot, he looks pretty close to that colour so I'd say he is Dove Banded. He also has pinky/red eyes.

Here is 2 pics that were taken 2 nights ago when he was helping himself to a chocolate drop (just so he was at least eating something). He certainly isn't in the best of shape either of course. Also, are his ears supposed to be like that, any hamster I have seen has some sort of hair on their ears and his have been bald from the day we got him and have never changed. They're also very, very thin and a bit like cling film really.





Thanks Again

Colin