Betsy

[Petite]

Originally Posted by Ria P

Betsy went to sleep in the transport box until the vet woke her up. She was furious! I don't think that she was that scared but she was hissing, kicking, wriggling and she was snappy.
Vet couldn't see anything obvious and skin looks fine so suspects it to be hormonal. Going by Betsy's behaviour, she could be right......

Sounds like a teenage tantrum!

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by Petite

Sounds like a teenage tantrum!

At 14 months she's more likely to be menopausal.

[Pebbles82]

Lol. I have not yet had the experience of a menopausal hamster! My OH doesn't have much to do with Pickle but when Pickle is on the sofa he always likes to sit next to OH - but that may be because OH is creating a dark corner between himself and the edge of the corner where Pickle likes to sit and wash.

Looking forward to having a robo making a big mess!

[Petite]

Originally Posted by Serendipity7000

Looking forward to having a robo making a big mess!

Ah - if robos make big messes, that would explain why my Holly flings the sand from her sand bath EVERYWHERE! My dwarf, Engima, is a much tidier ham.

[Ria P]

Originally Posted by Petite

Ah - if robos make big messes, that would explain why my Holly flings the sand from her sand bath EVERYWHERE! My dwarf, Engima, is a much tidier ham.

Robos are like mini tornedos. Boom!!

[Ria P]

Betsy is going into hospital tomorrow as an outpatient.

I observed some behaviours yesterday and today that indicated towards a dental or oral problem. Her teeth didn't look right so took her to the vet today.

One tooth is too long and seems to be catching her tongue. It could possibly be misaligned as well. They'll sort it under anesthetic tomorrow and give her a thorough check up.

Betsy zoned out a bit caused by stress or discomfort so the vet had to stop examining her.

Anesthetics always worry me in a creature that small.

[LunaTheHamster1]

Hope it all goes ok for the little one. Keep us posted Ria.

[RolyRocks]

Poor Betsy, will keep everything crossed for her. Please let us know how she gets on.
Thinking of you both. X

[Ria P]

Glad to report that everything went well with Betsy. She recovered from the anesthetic very quickly and is now home in her own nest.

Two incisors needed trimming but aside from that no other dental issues.
The vet isn't too worried about her thinning belly fur because the skin looks healthy.
Her regular vet suspected a hormonal issue before but nothing that's causing her any problems. Betsy's fur on her hips thins and grows back periodically.

I'm glad that her teeth are sorted but i have no idea why they grew too long. She has chews and wood, attacks her nibble stick with vigor so its just one of those things to keep an eye on.

Betsy is 16 months old and literally getting a bit long in the tooth.
Glad she's back. It's very unsettling when one is missing from the house.

[Ria P]

Got a bad feeling about Betsy. She is not well.

I checked her mouth which looks fine so no infection there but there's something not right about her mobility.
She's wobbly and not using her back legs properly. She can't have had a fall because she lives in a Hamster Heaven and there are no fall risks. She keeps one eye closed when the other is half open and doesn't want to eat or drink. I tried baby food and allsorts, give her water from a syringe.
She mostly stays in her ceramic hide.

She's not a healthy hamster and i wonder if she had a stroke or maybe the anesthetic was too much for her system.
I'm not sure of her age but was told that she's six months when i bought her from a woman in January. The woman had to ask her kids when i asked the hamster's name so maybe the age was a guess.

She's on metacam and i can't see what else a vet could do so have to let nature take its course and try and keep her as comfortable as possible.