Advice needed for sneezy hamster!

[cornishrobos]

On Saturday we had to take one of our Robos (Henry) to the vet as noticed him making a clicking noise when breathing the night before. Took him to the Vets in the Pets @ Home Store, who were really good and diagnosed him with a Respitory Infection, we were given Baytril and fortunately he is now a lot better and running around like a mad thing again.

However Sunday night when we were doing feeding time, we noticed Coco our newest Syrian was sneezing quite a lot, we didn't think much of it at the time as she's always digging around in her sand bath and bedding, so assumed she had got something up her nose. On Monday she was still sneezing, almost the whole time she was awake, only time she didn't do it was when she was sleeping, we were quite concerned but being a Bank Holiday we couldn't get her in anywhere to have her checked, so first thing Tuesday morning we took her to the Vets in P@H, the vet remembered me from Saturday and said she is most likely to be coming down with the same problem as Henry and again prescribed Baytril which were are giving her and of course some Pro-Biotic in their water. The thing is she is still quite sneezy and had a sticky eye last night (seems to be ok today though), so was wondering if it might be anything different. I did change their bedding last week from shavings to Megazorb, used it before with all the rest of them and had no problems but to be sure i've now changed her bedding for carefesh. Also was wondering how long it takes for the Baytril to start kicking in, with Henry it's been pretty quick but then we did pick up on the problem quite quick, we did pick up on Coco as soon as it happened but was unable to get her to the vets as quick.

She's definitely not herself, we've checked her teeth when we've been giving her the antibiotics, so pretty sure it's not that........so what else could it be?? If it continues, i'll be taking her to the vets again but would like some ideas of what else is might be that's making her sneeze?

Any ideas welcome, sorry for the long post!

[souffle]

It could be an allergy cornishrobos and hopefully she might improve on the new bedding. There are other causes of sneezing though apart from chest problems. Some hamsters do suffer from 'hay fever' type symptoms. There could be a tooth, eye or pouch problem irritating her nose. Check all these areas by feeling for lumps and bumps, checking the teeth for misalignment or breaks etc. It may be an eye infection draining through the nasal cavity and causing irritation.
Where did Coco come from? Was it P@H too or a breeder?
Our Lola suffered from this weird sneezing from when we got her from P@H. She never got rid of it despite treatment and kept rubbing her nose. Sadly she died at only 7 months with a tumour and we think this may have been in her nose too. This is of course the most unlikely cause in a young hamster like yours but it illustrates it can happen.
Baytril usually works in about 3 days on average. Give her it by syringe rather that in the water so she gets the full dose. I hope she is better soon.

[cornishrobos]

Thanks for the reply Souffle. She was from the RSPCA, so not sure of her background, there was a litter (unexpected) taken in there along with the mother and we chose Coco. Will check for anything untoward around her mouth and her cheeks when we get in from work. Hopefully it's nothing too serious, just don't like the thought of her suffering. We are administering the antibotics direct and not in their water supply. Henry seems to have improved a lot since Saturday, it was only Tuesday we took Coco to the Vets so hopefully the Baytril will kick in soon..........fingers crossed eh?!