Hamster losing weight (and loss in appetite) ... Please Help ...

[Peanui]

Hi all,

My male Syrian hamster is over 26 months old. He had met with a horrible accident last December when he broke one of his hind legs. His doctor had bandaged his leg and now he can use all four legs, with weak hind legs, because of the joint at an angle. He was 150 grams before the accident.

Over the last few weeks, he started losing weight from 135 grams to around 113 grams today. As of today, his appetite has decreased considerably. I have been trying to feed him high calorie diets but a week ago, too much nuts had upset his stomach and caused diarrhea. Since then, following the veterinarian's suggestion, I stopped giving him fresh vegetables and nuts for several days. These days, I have been giving him a mush mainly made from oats, tofu, and a mix of his Science Selective hamster pellets, all ground up together. Owing to his weak hind legs, his mobility is limited and he isn't able to properly stand up to drink water from his bottle (he never got used to drinking from his bowl). Thus, I am syringe feeding him water, thrice a day (1 ml each time). Very recently, he has become less interested in vegetables, but until yesterday, he was eating the mush that I was giving him.

What I am mostly worried about is his rapid weight loss. Otherwise, he is grooming himself.

I have written to his veterinarian and will call her in the morning but I am worried.

Any advise from your end would be really great. Thanks a lot.

[Axeriax]

I am sorry to hear about your hamsters decline in health. It is important to note that he is an old man by now being 26months old. He must have had a great life to reach that age!
Loosing weight is normal for any eldery animal and even in humans too, how much is normal in hamsters I dont know, so your vet would probably be best to advice you in that.
But you saying it is rapid and given his age makes me wonder if you might want to prepare for his final moments, he might not have the fight in him to persevere with his disability and decline in health. I hope I am wrong!

I cant say much more than talk to the vet and that my honest advice is to carefully asess his quality of life. If he is pain free, and functioning then wait and see. But if he is starting to look very week and frail and have no life quality left you might want to consider to let him wander over the rainbow bridge to wait for you there. It is one last act of kindness and love you can do for him <3

[Peanui]

Originally Posted by Axeriax

I am sorry to hear about your hamsters decline in health. It is important to note that he is an old man by now being 26months old. He must have had a great life to reach that age!
Loosing weight is normal for any eldery animal and even in humans too, how much is normal in hamsters I dont know, so your vet would probably be best to advice you in that.
But you saying it is rapid and given his age makes me wonder if you might want to prepare for his final moments, he might not have the fight in him to persevere with his disability and decline in health. I hope I am wrong!

I cant say much more than talk to the vet and that my honest advice is to carefully asess his quality of life. If he is pain free, and functioning then wait and see. But if he is starting to look very week and frail and have no life quality left you might want to consider to let him wander over the rainbow bridge to wait for you there. It is one last act of kindness and love you can do for him <3

Thanks so much for your message. I am just coming back from Peanui's veterinarian. So, she said that until he is in pain, to let him be. To ease his pain, she asked me to administer Meloxicam to him and to give him vitamins for a week. She also asked me to give him probiotics before his meals and mirtazipine to increase his appetite in case he doesn't eat. So, I was asked to cut down on fruits which can cause diarrhea. She also asked me to reduce his nuts and seeds quota per week and to feed him oats/tofu etc.

So, I will try these and see how he feels and just hope for the best.

Thank you so much for your care.

[Stanza]

I’m sorry to hear your hamster is unwell and hope the information from the vets helps him to feel better. Sorry I don’t have any tips to help, he’s a great age and is clearly very loved, wishing him well.

[Pebbles82]

I think metacam is a good idea. It's hard to tell when they have pain sometimes and it can keep them comfortable. I'm wondering if his bottle could be lowered so he can drink from it more easily. They do have quite bendy necks! And one of ours always used to drink sideways from his bottle quite comfortably.

In terms of diet I would keep it simple. Science selective has everything they need nutritionally - you can soak it with a bit of boiled water (just a tiny) but then leave it too cool till its soft.

My regime for an older hamster is

1) Soaked science selective in a separate small dish
2) Normal hamster mix in their usual dish (they still like to pouch and hoard it)
3) Babyfood - they love it and it adds to their enjoyment of eating
4) A pinch of hemp seeds and a pinch of linseeds on a baby food lid - they lick them up. Hemp seeds are supposed to contain all vitamins and minerals and they enjoy them.

If he can't have the veg at the moment he'll appreciate the baby food.

For extra little dishes I use the lids from the jars of baby food. So I'd have the normal hamster bowl with the usual muesli mix in so they can have normal behaviours.

One baby food lid with a few pellets of soaked science selective. One baby food lid with the hemp seeds and linseeds (one at each side - somedays they'll eat one but not the other). And one babyfood lid with a heaped teaspoon of baby food on.

For the baby food you'll need the 4 months ones as they usually don't contain things like spices, pepper and onions (which aren't good). Also best to avoid things with tomato.

There are usually two or three varieties that have simple ingredients - chicken and pumpkin used to be a favourite here. Most of the sweet or fruity ones have lemon juice in though so I avoided those but you're avoiding fruit anyway.

So this is what I would put out daily. For extras/treats you can give a bit of porridge or scrambled egg on a teaspoon and they just nibble it off the spoon. They love anything fresh or cooked. You mentioned oats so by making them into a bit of porridge it can be a bit easier for them. Latterly I bought the Ellas kitchen strawberry baby porridge - it's really easy and quick to mix and they go potty for it. Doesn't have fruit - just strawberry flavoured. And at this age anything they enjoy makes them happy

I have never heard of hamsters beign given Mirtazopine! I know for humans that is an antidepressant. But it also has quite a lot of side effects in humans - so keep an eye on things. Drowsiness usually. What does it say on the bottle?

I personally wouldn't given anything for his appetite - if he wants to eat he will - if he doesn't that is a natural sign that he is getting to his time of not wanting to try any more. And I think I would query the mirtazipine.

Keeping them happy and comfortable is the main thing. And still some out of cage cuddles. I used to give the porridge on a teaspoon during out of cage time.

[Pebbles82]

There's an article here on Mirtazipine for cats with a lot of info including side effects. Personally I wouldn't give it to an old hamster - it could spoil their quality of life and cause other health issues. It could overload his system. My experience is they keep eating almost until the very end. And when they reject food it's because they are preparing to go and near their time. The important thing is that they can access it easily when weak so moving the food dishes near the house at floor level helps (even though ours used to then walk through the baby food sometimes!) Leaving a walkway is an idea! If dishes directly in front of the house.

Sudden weight loss is more likely a sign of an ageing disease than not eating. Hamsters naturally lose weight when older but sudden weightloss could mean organ failure or an internal tumour. Organ failure comes naturally in old age - in stages. Sometimes a tumour can be causing the weightloss. And however much they eat they still lose weight.

I think your hamster is ageing gracefully. Have you checked his teeth btw? Because another sudden cause of weightloss is when they can't chew hard food due to toothache or when their bottom teeth have got so long they can't open their mouths properly (or arthritis in the jaw meaning they can't open their mouths properly). That's why you give the softened food and baby food.

Please Wait... | Cloudflare

[Peanui]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

There's an article here on Mirtazipine for cats with a lot of info including side effects. Personally I wouldn't give it to an old hamster - it could spoil their quality of life and cause other health issues. It could overload his system. My experience is they keep eating almost until the very end. And when they reject food it's because they are preparing to go and near their time. The important thing is that they can access it easily when weak so moving the food dishes near the house at floor level helps (even though ours used to then walk through the baby food sometimes!) Leaving a walkway is an idea! If dishes directly in front of the house.

Sudden weight loss is more likely a sign of an ageing disease than not eating. Hamsters naturally lose weight when older but sudden weightloss could mean organ failure or an internal tumour. Organ failure comes naturally in old age - in stages. Sometimes a tumour can be causing the weightloss. And however much they eat they still lose weight.

I think your hamster is ageing gracefully. Have you checked his teeth btw? Because another sudden cause of weightloss is when they can't chew hard food due to toothache or when their bottom teeth have got so long they can't open their mouths properly (or arthritis in the jaw meaning they can't open their mouths properly). That's why you give the softened food and baby food.

Please Wait... | Cloudflare

Thank you so much for your detailed messages. Before reading your messages, I did apply 0.03 ml of Mitrazipine over his ears. It was an ointment and not an oral solution. However, since this evening he is very wobbly and wasn't eating his tofu mush (with 2 sunflower seeds). Because I only have Oxbow herbivore critical care formula, I mixed it with 2 pellets of Science Selective and have been syringe feeding him (mostly the liquid bits) every 2 hours. I did it thrice now and will do so in 1 more hour. His body has lost a lot of its tension and feels weak. I have kept him in an area in his enclosure which is close to a heat pad set at 26 degrees C, but is now at 24 degrees C. I felt that his feet felt cold. He could walk but only barely. He seems severely dehydrated.

A friend of mine suggested that I should give him subcutaneous ringer lactate solution if he doesn't eat solid food by tomorrow. Any advise for that?

I will not give the Mitrazipine any longer after what you have written. I gave him a drop of Benebac (which I have been giving him since the last couple of weeks) as a probiotic, a drop of vitamin and a drop of RodiCare Senior that his vet recommended. I kept a little bit of tofu mush just over his head.

Any other advise will be greatly appreciated. I am not sure if the messages from members come instantaneously. But, if you are okay with it, my email id is [email protected]. My email is always open.

Many many thanks for your help and suggestions.