what to do about potential respiratory infection - Page 5

Pebbles82 · 08-20-2021, 01:04 PM

Oh it’s ok it was years ago! He is absolutely fine now - but for 6 months afterwards he was very weak and could hardly walk or work. It’s a bit like post viral fatigue afterwards. And obviously we had to be very careful with the whole Covid situation- OH has had pneumonia twice now! After that he got the anti pneumonia vaccine. But that only works for bacterial pneumonia. Fully recovery but no doubt he has some lung scarring.

Point is - and I know hamsters are different- but he can make a full recovery. Hamsters are always prone to respiratory infections so just extra care needed if you ever have a cold etc (ie get someone else to feed him or hand wash and wear a mask. Before Covid it would have been seen as over the top wearing a mask! But normal these days

Lovely to hear he is running around.

Benefitsben · 08-20-2021, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Oh it’s ok it was years ago! He is absolutely fine now - but for 6 months afterwards he was very weak and could hardly walk or work. It’s a bit like post viral fatigue afterwards. And obviously we had to be very careful with the whole Covid situation- OH has had pneumonia twice now! After that he got the anti pneumonia vaccine. But that only works for bacterial pneumonia. Fully recovery but no doubt he has some lung scarring.

Point is - and I know hamsters are different- but he can make a full recovery. Hamsters are always prone to respiratory infections so just extra care needed if you ever have a cold etc (ie get someone else to feed him or hand wash and wear a mask. Before Covid it would have been seen as over the top wearing a mask! But normal these days :-)

Lovely to hear he is running around.

ah good, glad to hear he's doing good now, and thanks for the advice :)

Amethyst_ice · 08-21-2021, 06:54 AM

My sister had pneumonia many times as a kid, in and out of hospital. I also lost a friend to it in college so while I don't mean to sound dramatic, it is a serious condition and should be kept in mind.

Gentle handling and no wheel or resp stress at least until his antibs are over.

Has vet asked you to go back for a follow up?

Pebbles82 · 08-21-2021, 07:03 AM

It absolutely is serious - and a real medical emergency. The lungs can fill up with fluid if not caught in time and that effectively leads to drowning. My OH was dismissed by paramedics as having flu/chest infection. But he was in a lot of pain. Ended up yelling down the phone at a Doctor that if they didn't do something he'd die (instinctive at how bad it was). Even at hospital it was initially dismissed as a chest infection until a senior Consultant did a second check and found the classic pneumonia sound lower down the chest.

Sorry - off topic a bit. It can be treated if treatement is quick enough but can lead to death really quite quickly if not treated quickly.

You've done good by your boy

Benefitsben · 08-22-2021, 04:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amethyst_ice

My sister had pneumonia many times as a kid, in and out of hospital. I also lost a friend to it in college so while I don't mean to sound dramatic, it is a serious condition and should be kept in mind.

Gentle handling and no wheel or resp stress at least until his antibs are over.

Has vet asked you to go back for a follow up?

Yeah I took out his wheel and I'm not handling him atm. The vet hasn't asked to go back for a follow up, but if he's still not right after the full course of antibiotics I'll be taking him back anyway

Benefitsben · 08-29-2021, 04:05 PM

update:

it's not looking good, and I'm pretty sure he's not gonna make it much longer. he's super wobbly on his feet, he's moving very slowly, his ears are always folded, and his eyes are squinting all the time. he's also eating and drinking very very little and his breathing is slow. often he completely freezes before making a squeaking sound and just collapsing for a few seconds before getting back on his feet and just sitting still. I'm not really sure what I should do, and if I should take him to the vet or not. what do you think would be the best idea? distraught he's probably gonna die so soon, he's not even 2 yet :((

Pebbles82 · 08-29-2021, 05:29 PM

So sorry to hear this. Is he still on the antibiotics? I think I would probably call the vet and explain but also say you don't want to stress him more by bringing him in - and just ask for some advice. They know what the diagnosis is. They might change the antibiotic or increase the dose. Or prescribe metacam for pain relief.

Really sorry - it does sound like you think he is nearing his time. Not all hamsters live to 2. Anything from 18 months is considered old.

It sounds like he may be in pain though. I would ring the vet and describe it. Of course it's a bank holiday week-end now. They should have an emergency number.

Benefitsben · 08-29-2021, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

So sorry to hear this. Is he still on the antibiotics? I think I would probably call the vet and explain but also say you don't want to stress him more by bringing him in - and just ask for some advice. They know what the diagnosis is. They might change the antibiotic or increase the dose. Or prescribe metacam for pain relief.

Really sorry - it does sound like you think he is nearing his time. Not all hamsters live to 2. Anything from 18 months is considered old.

It sounds like he may be in pain though. I would ring the vet and describe it. Of course it's a bank holiday week-end now. They should have an emergency number.

Yeah he's still on the antibiotics, tho cause he's eating little it's difficult to get it into him. He's already on metacam, he has been since I started the antibiotics

ik not all hamsters live long lives, I'm just sad cause my previous hamster lived for 31 months which is a long time in comparison, and I expected I'd have more time with him

Benefitsben · 08-30-2021, 03:51 AM

Here's a video of him wobbling as he walks and collapsing, incase my description wasn't very clear

WARNING: Distressing video

Pebbles82 · 08-30-2021, 11:17 AM

No he doesn't look good and is clearly struggling. How is he today? I would call the vet and explain he is still on the antibiotics and metacam and show them the video if you can. It might mean calling the out of hours vet. Maybe say you would prefer not to bring him in as he is in a bad way but can email a video. And ask if they think an increase in antibiotics or a change in antibiotics would help.

After he's fallen over on your video you can see him panting quite a bit. It could be lack of oxygen if his breathing is still bad - ie no oxygen to his legs or head etc, hence collapsing.

He looks to be in lovely condition fur wise, and doesn't look old. It's very tough.