Weight Loss and Vet Opinions

[hamburrito]

I have a hamster Hamithy, I adopted him from an ethical hamster rescue at 7 months old in Janurary this year. Since then it has been a battle with this health.

A few weeks after I got him, I caught the flu and noticed the same week, he lost a little weight. I had taken him to the vet for a basic check up the week prior and didn’t want to rush back so I waited to see if he gained the weight back…he didn’t.

I took him to the vet towards the end of February and he had a scent gland infection. A week later he started antibiotics and now 4 days in he’s still loosing 1g a day! (He initially was initially loosing 5g a week which was already worrying)

The vet is now suggesting he be brought back in for an x-ray, blood test, and ultrasound. They said they’d have to put him on iso fluorine gas for the blood draw and x-ray which has me nervous. I am unsure if this really is the best option as he’s already been to the vet twice in under 2 months. Any help is appreciated!

 

[Maz]

Hello. I'm so sorry you're having all this. What species of hamster is he please? And which country are you in? It is very unusual to suggest blood tests from a hamster as the veins are too small to get a sample from! It's only a very few highly specialised vets that can do it usually.

What is his weight at the moment - just to see if it's still a normal weight or not. They do have to give them a whiff of anaesthetic gas to do an x ray, so the hamster is still from the x ray, so maybe they think they could try and get a blood sample at the same time (I'd be really interested to know what method they are intending to use if you go with that).

However, hamsters can get quite unwell during a course of antibiotics, and start to look a bit scraggy even. The antibiotics can hit their system hard. But once they've finished the course they go back to normal a bit and it can help to give a probiotic after the course (Benebac or Dr S are good ones) to help their gut flora as the antibiotics can affect their gut. If it's just a week's course, it's not usually necessary but still a beneficial thing to do - it's mainly if it's a longer course.

Maybe you could wait and see how he is once he's finished the course of antibiotics before deciding. Also, is it possible he might be older than thought?

 

[hamburrito]

Hi, thank you for your response, Maz! You have been so helpful in navagating taking care of my baby!

He is a hybrid dwarf as far as I can tell. I'm in the US in a state with a lot of exotic pet owners, and I am unsure if this helps my exotic vet be more equipped than most. The rescue got him from a girl who bought him at I believe a pet store, so it's possible he could be older than expected, though he doesn't give off senior vibes just yet (when I got him, his energy/ anxiety was so high I don't believe he is too much older, if so)

When I first got him, he was 77g, and I was told he had a few extra treats and gained some weight for the holiday season, so I was expecting some weight loss, and he did stay stable at 70g for 2 weeks before getting sick. Before starting the antibiotics last weekend, he weighed 51g, and he's now weighing 47 g as of this morning.

The vet suggested giving him the antibiotic to help him gain weight since he had begun losing weight even faster. The antibiotic is also to help a scent gland infection that worsened initially after I got him home, but is now clearing up with the antibiotics.

I also continue to notice slight behavioral changes, such as slightly slower running/walking speed and more frequent burrowing. I am uncertain which behaviors are him getting used to his space as time goes on, and what is indicative of underlying issues.

I removed all his sprays today from his enclosure, as he seemed to be eating them too quickly as of recently, and I am hoping that also helps with weight gain.

I'll definitely look into the probiotics as well, the antibiotics are only a week's course, but still.

 

[Maz]

Tbh 77g sounds really quite large for a Russian dwarf and 51g is also quite large. 47g seems fairly average. Obviously it depends on the size of the hamster as to what is a normal weight, because one weight will be normal for a large hamster, one for an average dwarf hamster and so on.

The average weight is between 30g and 60g. With about 38g to 45g for females and 48 to 55g for males.

So his weight sounds normal to me, unless he's a particularly large russian dwarf and even then 77g sounds overweight. If he's eating his sprays a lot then maybe leave them in They may help him gain some weight. Sunflower seeds also help with weight gain - in fact some dwarf hamster owners have to restrict sunflower seeds for that reason.

I think I would just observe him and only weigh him weekly, until he's finished the antibiotics. It's good the vets have all these resources, but they also charge a lot of money for them and unnecessary investigations can also be stressful for a hamster. If you weigh him daily it will cause anxiety and weight does fluctuate daily. Weighing weekly gives a better guide. Apologies if that's what you're already doing.

Weight loss is a concern if it continues, but honestly he sounds a reasonably healthy weight to me right now. If he continues to lose weight then that would be a concern that something was going on health wise.

So maybe just have some observation time and probiotics may help as well. If you're in the US then you should be able to get benebac for small animals - it's a powder. I've always felt it was the best hamster-specific probiotic and annoyingly we can't get it in the Uk any more - not the correct version anyway. I did have some once and it's fiddly working out the dose for a hamster I think I worked out a quarter of a teaspoon meausre then needed dividing into umpteen smaller amounts to get the right dose - but it's a while since I did it. Once you've done the maths it's not too difficult!

 

[hamburrito]

Thank you for all of this information; it helps put my mind at ease. I also felt he was surprisingly large when I got him, but the vet felt his weight was ok at 70g.

Ironically, the Sunflower seeds I ordered from a hamster Etsy shop just came in today, so he will definitely be getting a few more sunflower seeds in his diet very soon.

I do weigh him weekly, though I did weigh him biweekly this week for the antibiotics and to monitor the weight loss. Until recently, with the weight loss increasing before antibiotics, he was losing 5g weekly, which just felt faster than I expected his weight loss to go.

Based on your reply, I am assuming that if he gets below 30g, to maybe begin getting more worried. I'll pick up the benebac and I appreciate the heads up on the dosage math. I'll be prepared to do some very small measurements.

 

[Maz]

Yes it is worrying if it's 5g a week. Unless he was overweight to start with. Do you have a photo of him? It could have been the infection causing weight loss as well possibly.

If it was me I would wait till he's finished the antibiotics and then see how he is a week after that, continuing with the weighing. ie watch and wait a bit.

Bet he'll love his sunflower seeds!

 

[hamburrito]

I do have photos of him! The photo of him on the dirt I took today, they other two were taken in January closer to when I got him for a visual of the overall weight loss.

That’s a good point about infection maybe causing the weight loss. I’ll wait a little longer and see how his weight gain goes

 

[Maz]

He looks fairly normal to me He maybe looks a little peaky round the facial expression in the last one but that could just be the camera angle.

 

[hamburrito]

Thank you, it's good to know he looks normal That last photo was from when I first got him, so yes im pretty sure that's the angle I'll try to remember to add an update on how he's doing and some more photos when he's off the antibiotics and more energetic!