A
Ash Barcklay
My hamster had surgery 5 days ago and at times shes still breathing funny. Yesterday was her last dose of pain meds? Could it be she is in pain again?
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A
Ash Barcklay
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Hi. I'm really sorry to hear this and you need to contact your vet straight away. Any breathing issues after surgery could mean some serious complications. One thing after surgery is hamsters really feel the cold - the anaesthetic causes this for a few days so it's important they are kept warm and cosy and the room temperature is warm enough. That might affect breathing. But I think the main thing is infection post surgery which can cause all kinds of things - it could be internal infection. If there is infection then yes the hamster still will have pain - and in my experience, 5 days of pain relief after surgery isn't quite enough - it might need a few more days. But please do contact your vet as your hamster may need antibiotics quite urgently.
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A
Ash Barcklay
Shes on a heat pad, and the vet gave me 10 days of antibiotics. I will call them now and ask for more pain meds.
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Just replying on here to your message
I'm really sorry to hear she's been pulling her stitches - it doesn't sound good.
I was going to say I think she urgently needs antibiotics - but you've just said she's on them, so that's good. Because if her stitches are being pulled out then she will have increased risk of infection - and usually the only reason they mess with their stitches is due to pain so she does need to be on pain relief. Ask your vet if you can keep giving the loxicom for a while (assuming that's what she's on) but frankly I would just keep giving it anyway personally. Did they only give you enough for five days or a full bottle?
Is your current vet an exotic vet? I would also double check the dose of pain relief with the vet. Sometimes they don't give a high enough dose - on the other hand you don't want to give too much! My exotic vet explained that with hamsters, the dose isn't just based on their weight - they have to do another calculation to factor in the hamster's fast metabolism so the dose is a bit higher than the dose per weight.
Is your hamster a dwarf hamster or a Syrian hamster. We're not vets, but we can compare what the usual dose is for a certain species of hamster. For example, my large syrian, after surgery was on 0.2 to 0.3 mls of loxicom. My roborovski was on 0.02 mls. The dose for his actual weight was 0.01mls
We're not vets but it sounds like she might need restitching and sufficient pain relief. Vets don't all get the dosage of loxicom right - on the other hand you don't want to give too much either!
My exotic vet says that the dose isn't just worked out by weight with hamsters as they have to factor in the hamster's fast metabolism so they actually have a higher dose than their weight.
She will definitely be in pain - hope you can get some more pain relief soon!
I'm really sorry to hear she's been pulling her stitches - it doesn't sound good.
I was going to say I think she urgently needs antibiotics - but you've just said she's on them, so that's good. Because if her stitches are being pulled out then she will have increased risk of infection - and usually the only reason they mess with their stitches is due to pain so she does need to be on pain relief. Ask your vet if you can keep giving the loxicom for a while (assuming that's what she's on) but frankly I would just keep giving it anyway personally. Did they only give you enough for five days or a full bottle?
Is your current vet an exotic vet? I would also double check the dose of pain relief with the vet. Sometimes they don't give a high enough dose - on the other hand you don't want to give too much! My exotic vet explained that with hamsters, the dose isn't just based on their weight - they have to do another calculation to factor in the hamster's fast metabolism so the dose is a bit higher than the dose per weight.
Is your hamster a dwarf hamster or a Syrian hamster. We're not vets, but we can compare what the usual dose is for a certain species of hamster. For example, my large syrian, after surgery was on 0.2 to 0.3 mls of loxicom. My roborovski was on 0.02 mls. The dose for his actual weight was 0.01mls
We're not vets but it sounds like she might need restitching and sufficient pain relief. Vets don't all get the dosage of loxicom right - on the other hand you don't want to give too much either!
My exotic vet says that the dose isn't just worked out by weight with hamsters as they have to factor in the hamster's fast metabolism so they actually have a higher dose than their weight.
She will definitely be in pain - hope you can get some more pain relief soon!
A
Ash Barcklay
They gave her metacam for 4 days. 0.1 ml. It worked good but as soon as she didnt have then yesterday morning she pulled them again.
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Yes she's feeling the pain then. Is she a Syrian? 0.1ml might not be enough. Although I don't want to suggest giving more without speaking to a vet but it's annoying that not all vets get the dose right! My exotic vet said they found they'd been underdosing hamsters for years by just going by weight.
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Ash Barcklay
Shes a dwarf
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Ok. Well 0.1ml is probably about right then. Poor little thing - I hope you get some more Metacam soon. Are you in the Uk? The antibiotics should help protect her. If the vet knows her stitches are open they should undersand she needs pain relief.
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Ash Barcklay
I got ahold of my vet, they are gunna give her more pain meds. Thankfully her area where she chewed her stitch out is already healing
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Ash Barcklay
I'm in the U.S
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That's good it's already healing And you're getting some pain relief. Keep her warm. You might need heating on at 20 degrees day and night for a few days until her breathing improves. No hotter than that but no colder either. I didn't know they used Metacam in the US It's usually Loxicom in the US and Metacam in the Uk - although it's all the same medicine with slightly different additives etc.
What's her name?
And you're getting some pain relief. Keep her warm. You might need heating on at 20 degrees day and night for a few days until her breathing improves. No hotter than that but no colder either. I didn't know they used Metacam in the US It's usually Loxicom in the US and Metacam in the Uk - although it's all the same medicine with slightly different additives etc.What's her name?
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Ash Barcklay
I just picked up her pain meds! They gave me 6 days worth! :] I guess it's meloxicam? I'm think thats same as metacam? But yea!
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Ash Barcklay
Will do