unhappy hammie :(

stellanova1 · 07-13-2009, 12:02 PM

My hamster whitey isnt doing too good,

About a month ago he was taken to the vets as he had a bald patch that looked really sore and had been itching like crazy. The vet treated him for mites, and he was again treated for mites 2weeks ago.

Thing is he seems to be getting worse, not better...

his bald patch has got bigger (although not as sore looking) and he seems really stressed, (trip to the vets really stressed him out, as he hated being handled) he goes crazy if i put a piece of food in his cage, (its like he thinks hes being attacked)

Anyway he wasnt the tamest of hamsters to begin with, but we were getting somewhere...and now since the vets he's become spooked

Going to the vets this week to get him seen to again, but im worried another sressfull trip might make him worse.

Any ideas on what i could do? its like we're back to square one with the taming. I just want him to get better and be a happy hamster again!

Bunsey · 07-13-2009, 12:37 PM

when my robos had mites, the vet gave me a bottle of stuff (ivermectin) with a dropper on the end. Every 7 days i had to put a drop on the back of the neck and i had to do it a minimum of 5 weeks else the mites could come back.

So firstly, having a treatment every 2 weeks is not often enough and secondly, he won't be getting better with only 2 treatments and finally, can you not be given stuff to take home and do it yourself?

Going to the vets is stressful for them though, one of my winter whites started nipping me after the vet upset her. I'd just spent 6 months getting her to stop nipping, so i wasn't impressed.

stellanova1 · 07-13-2009, 01:09 PM

See the vet said nothing to me about how often, she just said come back in 2 weeks for another treatment. I had no idea....you think they would tell me eh.
feel well stupid now!
i'll make sure this time, life would be much easier if we did it at home.
i'll post again once i been to the vet, this time i'll just ask for the treatment to do at home!
Thanks for letting me know,

stellanova1 · 07-13-2009, 02:01 PM

Or can i buy ivermectin somewhere so i dont have to take him to the vet?

Bunsey · 07-13-2009, 04:49 PM

you can buy something called Xeno 50 online i believe, or you could call your vet and see if they'll give you some without having to take him back in again. Could just be that they wana get money out of you for more visits.

stellanova1 · 07-14-2009, 03:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunsey

Could just be that they wana get money out of you for more visits.

Yeah that thought had crossed my mind!

Thank you for your help, hopefully Whitey will be on the road to recovery very soon!

Toria · 07-14-2009, 01:16 PM

I hope whitey does get better. Keep us posted

stellanova1 · 03-27-2010, 01:59 PM

I know this was ages ago, and I'm sorry i didn't update sooner! but found out that it wasn't mites Whitey had at all, turns out he had an allergy to the dyed bits of Harry Hamster food(the orange and green dried bread bits i think)...I realized this after the treatment for mites wasn't really making a difference and read on here about fur loss being linked to food allergies.Got rid of these bits and improvement was instant! His fur is looking gorgeous now! and isn't agitated at all anymore

fluffymunchkins · 03-27-2010, 02:32 PM

aww thats great

how did you find this out???
Did he always leave those bits of food???
Glad he didn't have to go through any more stress and he can become tame and happy

stellanova1 · 03-27-2010, 02:46 PM

No he ate all his food but I read on here about dyed bits of hammie mix may cause allergies so thought I'd take them out and see if there was any change, and his fur looked visibly better within a couple of days! it was amazing! Its crazy how something so simple can cause so much irritation! I still feed him HH but just take those bits out and he's fine and dandy

he comes out on my hand now, still a bit skittish but no bites anymore