Hamlet

[Hamlet]

Hi, I was hoping for a bit of advice about Hamlet. My husband said the other day he thought he was shaking. I honestly wouldn't have thought anything was wrong, but we are currently sitting a second hamster from school, and they don't do this. Video link below hopefully! If you watch his side, I can see his chest moving in and out behind his front paw. Towards the end of the video you can sort of see his head waving a little? I think it's related to his chest movement. Does this look normal or should we be off to the vet?

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This is our first hamster. He is 5 months old. He has not lost any weight. He is coming out, eating and seems normal behaviour wise, although it's really hard to tell to be honest as he's quite a late riser and can not get up till 10:30 some nights so we don't see him for hours. He has not been on his wheel this evening so is perhaps a bit less energetic.

If we do need a vet, can we just do the local high street vets? We have only ever had birds before and for them you had to go to a specialist avian vet and hour away as the local vets know nothing about birds.

 

[Maz]

Hmm. He does seem to be breathing quite fast. Is he still like this? Hamsters can get respiratory tract infections and it could be worth having a vet check. You need an exotic vet really as they know about hamsters. Some general vets don't know a lot about hamsters.

 

[Socks' Mum]

He is breathing with a lot of effort. Yes, he may have a respiratory infection and could need antibiotics urgently. An exotic vet is best, but you could phone your nearest vet or veterinary hospital and ask if they treat hamsters. Poor little Hamlet. Yes, the sooner he is seen the better. I hope he feels better again soon

 

[Hamlet]

Thank you both. Currently trying to find an exotics vet. Can book an appointment for Thursday morning with one but nothing sooner. Waiting till 8am to call the other one.

Am I better calling local vet practices and seeing if they do hamsters and will see him today if I can't get an exotics appointment before Thursday?

 

[Socks' Mum]

Yes, if you can find an appointment for today it would be good, but perhaps ask if the vet has experience with rodents as they are very different to cats and dogs. For example, they shouldn't get penicillin. Otherwise Thursday with the exotic vet. It's just a pity there is a wait. Some regular vets are good with rodents so it's worth speaking to them. I hope things work out OK ❤

 

[Hamlet]

I've taken him to an exotics vet and left him. The vet is calling me once he has been assessed. They will look at him whenever they have some time between appointments. So fingers crossed it is just something that antibiotics can fix.

It was a very exotic vet. Saw a tortoise and a pair of marmosets while I was there!

 

[Hamlet]

I do think there is something wrong though. After putting him in the carrier he didn't even burrow into the bedding to go back to sleep.

 

[Maz]

That's good they allowed you to leave him and he might get seen earlier. And it does sound like he's not well. Hopefully a course of antibiotics will fix that - he's quite young. They can actually catch colds and flu from us

 

[Hamlet]

I am not looking forward to the prospect of medicating a hamster. I've done budgies before but they don't have big teeth!

 

[Maz]

Don't worry about his teeth The difficulty is more that the antibiotic medicine tastes really nasty so you need to disguise it as they may refuse it from a syringe. A lot of hamsters refuse to take it from a syringe, even if it tastes nice, but it can be disguised in food. Having said that, there is not much that disguises the taste of this antibiotic - I have always used Country Hunter beef dog pouches for small dogs - it's a bit like corned beef. Tiny, pea-sized amount on a little dish (eg a baby food lid). I put one half of the pea sized amount, then drop the meds on it then the other pea sized amount. the dose of antibiotic is quite small so it stays on the food and doesn't run off the edge.

Any hamster I've ever had has gone crazy for that and eaten it all up, licked the plate clean and started pushing it round for more It was a tip I had from a very experienced hamster owner.

You could try him with the syringe first - by drawing up a bit of runny honey after the meds into the syringe. Some of them don't mind the syringe and grab it and lick it up as you push the plunger. The meds are often only about 0.2ml - a teeny tiny amount - the two smallest markings on the syringe (they'll give you the syringe) which tends to equate to a large "drop". So you draw that up - that's the difficult bit - you need good eyesight or good glasses! Then draw up a teeny bit of runny honey - the hamster likes the honey so licks it from the syringe and gets the meds at the same time.

If you tried to give it on its own they have been known to just spit it out again. Hamsters tend not to bite - has he bitten before?

 

[Hamlet]

Thanks you. I will try the dog food idea!

Vet has called. There is definitely something on his chest and he is breathing very heavily. They could not rule out heart issues or a tumor. So we are trying steroids and antibiotics and see how he responds to that.

Only other option is a general anesthetic and x-rays, and then it's obviously unclear if that would actually find anything treatable.

He has bitten once as a baby. I think he was testing if my daughters finger was food.

 

[Maz]

I think trying antibiotics first sounds good - it's most likely a respiratory infection. Presumably the steroids are in case it's inflammation or allergy. I don't know how the steroids are given as I haven't had to use them before. Assume it is drops via a syringe also (ie liquid).

It's not easy to find that specific dog food - any other would be too chunky. Maybe get some runny honey in? And prawn crackers. Have a look at Bruce's thread where Doodleham is currently finding things to put the antibiotic in. Every hamster is different (in terms of what they will and won't accept). But the country hunter dog food has always worked for me. You can get it on amazon.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Natures-Menu-Country-Superfood-Selection/dp/B01BHTZNZO/?tag=thehamsterfor-21

Discussion on this topic here Baby food isn't likely to work - it needs to be a strong meaty flavour to disguise the meds. Or runny honey. Or maybe some of the things Doodleham has found that work. The important thing is that they get the full dose every day so finding something they will eat that disguises it is quite important!

Bruce

I do think there needs to be some flexibility, eg if a hamster is shy or newly settling in and 6" of bedding is not too bad for a dwarf hamster. You might remember that I decided to give Tino less bedding and he's seemed much happier and more sociable since! And enjoys digging down inside his...

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Socks' Mum]

Someone was talking about corned beef. Certainly strongly flavoured enough to hide most tastes . It's great that you have an exotic vet and that Hamlet is being treated as an inpatient. Hopefully the problem will respond to the antibiotics and he will get better quickly ❤

 

[Hamlet]

Yes fingers crossed. I'm just about to pick him up now to take him home. Hopefully I will be able to get the medicine in him tomorrow. I have got the dog food. Off to get honey, prawn crackers and corned beef now

 

[Maz]

I suggested corned beef if the dog food wasn't available - although I haven't actually tried it. But the dog food pouch beef is a similar texture to corned beef (better because it's more moist). Corned beef is quite salty but it's only a tiny amount for a limited period of time!

Great you've got the dog food That should work.

 

[Hamlet]

Well I woke Hamlet up this morning and I tried the dog food. He licked it and then looked at me with this face of "have you seen how much food I have stuffed in my pouch before going to bed?" No amount of gentle persuasion was making him eat it. So I got some more antibiotics in a syringe and covered the outside of the syringe in honey. Picked him up and when he popped the syringe in his mouth pushed it in. He sat licking his lips for a bit. Fingers crossed he will comply tomorrow as well.

To be honest he seemed more interested in sleeping than eating! It was obviously past his bedtime.

 

[Socks' Mum]

So sweet Come on little man, take your medicine

 

[Doodleham]

Poor little man. I had great success with fruit. Tiny little cube of fruit , I tried nectarine, grapes, plum, and melon. Each day a different fruit. I used a cake tester to poke a hole in the cube of fruit and then syringed the meds into that and kind of closed the hole over by squeezing it very very gently. This is a pic of the size I used. (It's in a glass tea light holder)

 

[Hamlet]

This looks good. I will I think part of the issue I am having is I am trying to give it in the morning and he is more interested in sleeping than eating at that point. If that's could leave something like that in the cage till he finds it and chooses to eat it that would help!

 

[Socks' Mum]

Well done! Yes, catching up with a hamster's sleep schedule can be tricky Excellent that he is taking the meds