Conjunctivitis still getting worse after two sets of antibiotics

[jsp]

Thanks, yes, my husband has gone off to see the exotics vet. I don't want to do that to Roc. Roc is a bear of very little brain and I don't think he would cope without an eye. He barely coped when he had two.

Also I have had very invasive eye fixing myself and it's not funny at all, because the brain doesn't rewire very well to cope with the change in eyesight. It's no laughing matter I can tell you.

[jsp]

The exotic vet says Roc eye is not infected any more and he can just stop medication and carry on being a hamster, with his eye staying where it is.

My husband asked how we are meant to know if the eye is infected, if it looks so bad, and the vet said that there would be white discharge. However, there was never any white discharge, and apparently the regular vet couldn't tell that it wasn't infected.

Good grief.

Honestly it's been months of faff and chaos and the vets don't even seem to agree amongst themselves. Now we have a hamster we can't safely handle without rubber gloves because it's anybody's guess whether he is covered in infective bacteria or not.

I'm thoroughly cheesed off.

The hamster is back in his cage.

[Ria P]

At least Roc is alive and didn't have to be put down.

[jsp]

Yes I suppose so.

I'm trying to think about what I could have done to avoid all this long horrible treatment course for Roc.

I think you were right about how I should have gone to the exotics vet first. I thought the regular vet might be offended if I asked to be referred, but now I'm a bit horrified that I felt under pressure to go to them when they were making bonkers suggestions like taking his eye out. He even said he once took both eyes from a cat and the cat was "fine". I wouldn't call that fine if someone did it to me.

The first set of antibiotics that they gave us wouldn't even go in Roc's eye because it was like vaseline, and they kept saying to treat him for x numbers of times a day for y days and then not giving us enough and then we kept having to go back.

Clearly you were right that we should have been at the hamster vet but the regular vet didn't even mention that that was a thing.

This hamster ownership lark is a very steep learning curve.

Now I need to urgently work out how to know if Roc's eye is infected or not. I wondered how one does that, when it looks to bad? Tricky.

I'm sorry that you lost your hamster. That must be hard. Xx

[Ria P]

Don't think it was me who suggested an exotics vet but a general vet needs to have hamster knowledge to treat them. My vet is a general vet but studied at a university that has an exotics department so her knowledge is more comprehensive. She also emails the exotics hospital if she needs advice.

I wouldn't call the removal of a damaged eye bonkers. If it removes the problem it can be a cure. You wouldn't call it bonkers to remove a cancerous kidney in a human. A hamster has bad eyesight anyway and they rely on smell more than sight. They are at their most active at night.

I'd be more concerned about the aneasthesia than a hamster coping with one eye.
Personally, if Roc is fit otherwise, i'd wouldn't dismiss this option as bonkers. There's no guarantee it would be a cure because the vet doesn't know what they'd find inside the head.

My hamster Clarissa had surgery but didn't survive for long because of what the vet found inside her.

I haven't come across eye problems in hamsters so wouldn't know what to look out for but have come across lots of other health issues with our dwarf hybrids.

Health is pot luck and any living being can get ill at any time whether it's a hamster, human or frog.

Roc was unlucky to get an eye problem and my departed dwarf kept falling over when he lost the use of his back legs. At least they're lucky enough to have us as their human life companions.

[jsp]

I just asked my husband if the vet said anything else about Roc and he said "yes the vet says he thinks Roc's got arthitis and he can have pain medication for that if we went it, and also Roc is bleeding from his penis."


<cue sharp crack as my jaw hit the floor>

[Ria P]

Arthritis is common in older hamsters and blood in the urine is something i've come across with my late Syrian Henry. The vet suspected bladder stones which made sense.

Most of our hamsters have been on a daily dose of Metacam/Loxicom for the last few months of their lives and it really helped them a lot. And me as well because it stopped me from worrying that they may be in pain or discomfort due to varying age related issues like arthritis, decreased kidney or liver functioning, bladder stones etc.

Metacam is sweet and they like it. Some licked it up straight from the syringe or on top of a small piece of Shreddie or whatever they like.

I'd definitely put Roc on a daily dose permanently. Chances are that it is going to give him a boost.

[jsp]

I'm really perplexed by this assumption that it's okay to give long term drug treatment to pets.

I find it so difficult because it's impossible to obtain informed concent from a pet, or to ask they are experiencing distressing side effects. I myself cannot take NSAIDs because they cause stomach damage, but there is no way to know if a hamster is experiencing that until it becomes so bad that they are losing weight. It would be a miserable experience for them in the intervening time.

Your point that there is no difference in taking a cancerous kidney from a human and taking a damaged eye from a hamster also really worries me, because there is no possibility of informed consent with a hamster and I think that is a massively important thing.

It's like giving forced medical treatment to a baby or toddler, which I have also had to do over a period of years with my son unfortunately (many years ago now). Yes, I did save his life, and he is physically well now. However, he was not able to give informed consent at the time and the trauma and loss of trust that he is left with is very real and frightening for him. You wouldn't know to look at him - all the metrics that you would check with a hamster are fine - his weight is good, and he looks great. However, trauma from medical treatment without informed consent is a real thing with him, and I really worry about what people are insisting that I do to Roc, when they don't even know him at all, and won't listen to what I am saying about him.

I'm finding all this period of long and difficult treatment for Roc very concerning indeed. A lot of bad decisions are being made (like eye medications being given that I can't even get into his eye because they have the consistency of vaseline, and because he was initially unable to be handled. Then courses set for 10 days when they then only give me 4 days medication, and then they charge for another appointment so we can come and get more) and I'm not sure who to talk to to get sensible answers.

When Roc was tiny he had a leg injury that was resolve entirely with a single injection of antibiotics. I'm wondering now if the eye thing could have been solved with injections that would have prevented all this forced treatment over these last months.

It's such a massive tangle.

[jsp]

I think I'm going to ring up the practice manage at the exotic vet practice and ask for advice on how to get a sensible conversation with someone about Roc.

Part of the problem is that both vets are non-native English speakers and we are really struggling to communicate. One of the vets has a clear accent but limited English, and the other had good English but a strong accent that I can't make out over the phone.

The exotics vet who does speak English is off with covid unfortunately. To add to it all, I can't go to the vet in person because I haven't been able to travel after having two lots of long covid and a bad reaction to my first covid vaccine.

It's not okay for this to be happening to Roc though, and I need to find a sensible, informed person that will talk to me about the big picture, and how to get the best out of the local healthcare available.

FWIW, my job is as the head of a local voluntary organisation that gathers feedback from patients about NHS medical care (complaints, basically), so I do at least know how to have a kind sensible conversation about healthcare problems with a practice manager.

Thanks again for all your help. I had no idea this was going to be so complicated.

[jsp]

Sorry my posts are a bit heated at the moment. It's all a bit frazzling here.

I'd better park myself offline for a bit I think, and deal with the situation here, rather than risk getting into a debate on animal welfare ethics.

Thanks so much again for all of your help.