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Old 09-26-2019, 10:25 AM   #31
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

I believe Quigley is 2 which is a grand age! Is that right AP? Personally for a two year old hamster I would want them to be pain free. Quality rather than quantity of life. Neither of our Syrians have made it past two and a half or two years 8 months, which is extremely old and their quality of life was suffering by then. I would hate to think of a hammy growing old in pain and unable to tell you. I don’t think sux months of Metacam will make much difference to the natural ageing process as most older Syrians develop kidney or liver problems anyway. Things start to fail. Main thing is that Quigley can enjoy his food and life. I think the antibiotics are more likely to cause him health issues and gut problems.

With Nugget our Robo - he was on long term Metacam for about 6 months and he wasn’t drinking or peeing more. In the end he couldn’t have it any more because he had lost so much weight with cancer so his metabolism woukdn’t Cope with it but by then it was time to help him on his way anyway.
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Old 09-26-2019, 10:32 AM   #32
Coco61
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

AP said earlier that Quigley will be 2 years and 5 months old in October. I support giving him the pain relief at once to ease things for him if he is in pain and that is interfering with his eating. AP has the same vet as I do and the head vet is first class with hamsters. However, antibiotics can be prescribed on a 'just in case basis' as it is difficult to diagnose sometimes. I have just given Maestro a week of antibiotics on this basis and it made no difference to his excessive drinking, so no infection.
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Old 09-26-2019, 11:57 AM   #33
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

I missed that. 2 years and five months is about 110 human years! Definitely give him some Metacam. Do you think he is suffering in any way? Sounds like he enjoys softened food and baby food though and at his age should have anything he likes basically! If he is starting to lose weight then something somewhere may be starting to fail and he may be in his twilight time xxx
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Old 09-26-2019, 12:30 PM   #34
LunaTheHamster1
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

Quote:
Originally Posted by Serendipity7000 View Post
I missed that. 2 years and five months is about 110 human years! Definitely give him some Metacam. Do you think he is suffering in any way? Sounds like he enjoys softened food and baby food though and at his age should have anything he likes basically! If he is starting to lose weight then something somewhere may be starting to fail and he may be in his twilight time xxx
I agree with Serendipity, at that age just make your little hamster as comfortable as possible.
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Old 09-26-2019, 01:15 PM   #35
AprilPearl
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

Thank you for the advice everyone it’s very much appreciated.

I’ve decided to hold off on the antibiotics. I’m sure it would be fine but I don’t want to cause him gut problems at this age, or unnecessary stress.

Good to know that the pain relief is safe. He seems to like it so no problems there. We’ll see how things go.

On a positive note, I gave him a banana chip yesterday and he gnawed it into pieces so that he could pouch it. So he can still eat hard foods when he wants to! He is just choosing not to... Funny little guy.

Yes he will be 2 years and 5 months old on the 7th of October. Apart from the weight loss and refusal to eat most hard foods he isn’t acting his age. He’s a bit slower but still very keen to climb on to my hand so I can take him out for play time.

Feeding him his mix crushed up with water seems to have stopped his weight loss. He even gained some of his weight back this week, so that’s good. I’ll have to keep an eye on his teeth, though, in case they become overgrown.

Any suggestions on hard foods I might persuade him to nibble on? As much as he might love banana chips every day I don’t think that would be at all good for him!
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Old 09-26-2019, 01:40 PM   #36
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

As too much weight isn't an issue, how about any of the following : whimzee, walnut, monkey nuts, broccoli, cauliflower.
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Old 09-26-2019, 01:49 PM   #37
Coco61
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

A piece of a shelled walnut or a hazelnut. Another nut is a monkey nut. If he cannot manage to break open the shell himself now, you could start it for him or just give him the inside peanuts. Never known a hamster turn any of these nuts down!
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Old 09-28-2019, 01:28 AM   #38
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

Thanks guys. Nuts are a good call (although I don’t want to give him too many in case it causes him heart problems). I gave him a brazil nut yesterday and chewed on it a bit which was no doubt good for his teeth.

He has plenty of whimzees in his cage though I don’t think they’ve been chewed on lately. Might buy him some new ones.
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Old 09-28-2019, 03:48 PM   #39
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

I think they do start chewing less with age generally. Newt also ignored his Whimzees latterly. He could never resist half a walnut though. Not that he actually ate them, he just put them in his potty and pee'd on them
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Old 11-11-2019, 01:56 AM   #40
AprilPearl
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Default Re: Older hamster not eating his food

I’ve been giving Quigley a tablespoon of crushed up Harry Hamster moistened with water every day (in addition to offering him a tablespoon of uncrushed Harry Hamster every day, although he barely ever takes any of this any more).

When I started doing this, his weight stabilised for a bit. But more recently he has started to lose weight again. I’m not sure why he’s still losing weight because he’s eating most of the crushed up HH (though he’s stopping eating all of it) and happily eats his fresh veggies and other treats.

I’m continuing to weigh Quigley every week and he was 159g yesterday. That is less than he weighed when he was 13 weeks old. Before he started losing weight he was about 205g so he’s lost almost a quarter of his body weight.

He also has a bad case of dandruff on his back - probably because he doesn’t seem to groom the fur on his back anymore. I’ve been trying to brush him every day with a soft bristled brush but it hasn’t helped.

Quigley is just over 2 and a half now so maybe it’s just an age thing and there’s nothing else I can do but I am really concerned because if he doesn’t stop losing weight he’s going to get very sick.

Should I take him to the vets again?
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Last edited by AprilPearl; 11-11-2019 at 02:54 AM.
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