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Old 07-02-2022, 01:05 PM   #1
Hammy_Newbie
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Default Hamster losing weight

We regularly weigh our lovely hammy and I noticed yesterday that she felt a bit bonier than usual. I weighed her and she was 10g less than her usual weight. I weighed her again tonight and she’d lost another 5g. She is given plenty of food every day and has a stash in her tube so access to food is not an issue.

I haven’t noticed any other unusual behaviour except that yesterday she was falling asleep on her ledge, which she doesn’t usually do. She had been out of her cage for an hour though while I cleaned her out, so might have been tired. Other than that she is active and alert, ears are pricked up and no hunching or diarrhoea.

Would you take her to the vet for weight loss alone or monitor the situation and take her if any other symptoms developed? Our previous hamster died of an intestinal issue and weight loss was an early symptom but there were others, like sleeping excessively and ears down. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Old 07-02-2022, 02:12 PM   #2
Ria P
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Default Re: Hamster losing weight

Weight loss is reason for concern and i would get her checked out by a hamster knowledgeable vet.

I'm a bit concerned that she stashes food in her tubes. Tubes lack ventilation, combine that with heat (weather, body heat) and moisture ( fresh food, wee) and you have an ideal breeding ground for harmful bacteria that can lead to allsorts of health issues.
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Old 07-03-2022, 03:26 AM   #3
heidii
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Default Re: Hamster losing weight

Definitely take her to the vet. Weight loss is one of the only signs to tell if a prey animal is sick, as they hide weakness to prevent being picked off.

Also, is the hamster a dwarf or Syrian? 15g would be horrific for a dwarf, so I imagine a Syrian? I'd honestly also worry about the tubes with Syrians. Like Ria said, that's a lot more moisture, a much smaller space, a lot less ventilation.
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Old 07-03-2022, 09:28 AM   #4
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Hamster losing weight

Have you checked her teeth? How old is she? Older hamsters do start losing weight naturally but that is a big weight loss in a short time (assuming it's a syrian?). First thing to check is their teeth - if she can't eat, she will lose weight quickly. If the bottom teeth get overgrown they can't open their mouths properly to eat - or a tooth could be broken. Also with older hamsters they can toothache in the back teeth and can't chew food.

If her teeth are ok then yes a vet check is needed. In the meantime, supplement her diet with soft food. I found one of our older syrians started putting the weight back on again then. You can give baby food as a supplement (not many calories in that but they like it). And softened hamster mix. Science selective softened is ideal as it contains everything they need so they're still getting the nutrients. If you haven't got any then just soften a bit of normal hamster mix. Just put a bit on a separate dish with a bit of boiled water from the kettle on and wait 10 mins or so for it to cool down and it should be mushy by then. I use baby food lids for these extra bits of soft food, but any jar lid would do.

Still keep giving the regular hamster mix though as even if she's not managing to eat it, they still like pouching it and hoarding it (ie carry on with normal behaviours).

High calorie supplements are pecan nuts and hemp seeds. You'd need to grind the pecan nuts with a spoon so she can lick them up. Not every day for those. Hemp seeds they can have every day (they lick those up too).

If it's not her teeth and she is older, then as you say she may be in her twilight time and there won't be much a vet can do except prescribe metacam for pain relief and then see how she goes.

Falling asleep on the ledge could be the heat. If she's acting normally otherwise then that's good. Check her teeth first - but if she's older she could probably do with some metacam anyway (toothache isn't nice). One vet told me they can even get arthritis of the jaw and another reason to not eat properly. Metacam would help with arthritis.
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Old 07-03-2022, 02:22 PM   #5
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Default Re: Hamster losing weight

Thank you for all the responses. She is a Syrian hamster. We are not sure how old she is but probably at least 1.5 years old as when we adopted her just over a year ago they didn’t know her age but estimated that she was between 6 months and a year old. Her teeth look normal and I have seen her eating and nibbling food so she is eating but I’m not sure how much. She has different food stashes which makes it hard to know how much she is eating and how much she’s adding to her stashes.

I do regularly remove the stored food and replace with new food but after what you said about tubes I did remove that food completely except for a little bit of sweetcorn. She doesn’t actually spend any time in her tubes and uses them purely as an area to keep food.

I’m going to call the vet tomorrow and get her checked to be on the safe side. Tonight she is still alert and active, and not sleeping more than usual so I’m hoping that’s a good sign. I will also bear in mind the advice about softened food - thank you.
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Old 07-05-2022, 01:49 AM   #6
Stanza
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Default Re: Hamster losing weight

Sorry to hear you Hamster is acting differently to normal and with weight loss. Hope the trip to the vet was helpful. Sending get well wishes to you Hammy.
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Old 07-05-2022, 07:10 AM   #7
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Hamster losing weight

I think maybe don't remove her hoard. They feel more secure with a good hoard they build up. Leave it as long as you can. I tend to leave it till the next substrate change and then I "prune" the bottom half away (from underneath) and leave the top half in tact. But then I only do a substrate change every 3 to 4 months.

She could well be older than 18 months so I'd start adding soft food as well as her usual hamster mix. They tend to eat from their hoard. They pouch the new food and hoard it and then tend to eat from their hoard. So if the hoard is always new food it might be affecting her eating habits possibly.

If the hoard gets pee'd on then you do need to remove it but can usually find some of it to leave behind that isn't pee'd on - and add a bit more to that. But that should be a temporary thing really. It usually stops them peeing on it when you have to remove it.

You can get in an itch scratch cycle though - in that if you take the hoard away they pee on it more - to deter thieves! Then it needs removing again. So if it's pee'd on and you need to remove it, try and leave some of the old hoard behind and put it on top of the new food - and put it back in a slightly different place - just next to where the old hoard was - it can help break the cycle.

Even so I would start giving her soaked science selective in addition to her regular food - so she regains the weight. And is getting all the nutrients needed. She may have toothache in the back teeth and not be eating properly.

If she doesn't regain weight within a week or two then something else is going on.
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Old 07-05-2022, 02:39 PM   #8
Hammy_Newbie
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Default Re: Hamster losing weight

I took her to the vet yesterday and they did some checks but could see nothing obviously wrong except the weight loss. They did contemplate giving me an anti-inflammatory in case there was any discomfort that isn’t obvious to us but as she seemed so alert and active they decided against it in the end. I’m to monitor her weight and let the vet know in a week how much she weighs as well as looking out for any other signs of illness.

She’s definitely got an appetite but it’s hard to know how much she is actually eating. I ordered some science selective so I will try that, softened, to see if it helps her gain a bit of weight.

I removed most of her tube stash as I hadn’t pruned it for a while but generally I leave it a while and gradually remove bits and sometimes replace with fresh food. She does sometimes store food in her toilet so that stash needs a bit more attention as it can get wee’d on.

I will keep you posted and fingers crossed she gains weight soon.
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Old 07-05-2022, 02:44 PM   #9
cloudy
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Default Re: Hamster losing weight

I really hope she gains weight soon. I think it is positive the vet could not find anything wrong.
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Old 07-05-2022, 04:55 PM   #10
Pebbles82
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Default Re: Hamster losing weight

If you get some hemp seeds as well, they like those, and they contain all the vitamins and minerals and are supposed to be high calorie too. I just put a pinch out on a separate little dish. You can get them most health food shops. I get the Linwoods shelled ones - they're kind of light and fluffy and nutty and easy to lick up. Holland and barrett sell them.

Amazon.co.uk
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