Hi,

Please bare with me as I need to describe everything in detail so that people can understand the situation better....

We got our beautiful syrian female Honey on 15th December last year. She's never been a totally healthy hamster. I took her to the vets at the beginning of the year who told me she was partially blind and had a spinal twist as she was walking funny. My mam also rang the pet shop that we got her from the same day and they said we could take her back and they would let their vets have a look at her whilst I chose another hamster. I chose to keep her as it wouldn't have been fair on her letting her settle in then moving her again. However soon after her walking improved which I was happy about Honey also had a lump on the side of her body which the vet told me to keep an eye on and if it got worse then to take her in. She's also had other tiny lumps all over her body which have never bothered her. It never did up until recently when it burst. It didn't appear to be causing her any pain so I left her and have just been keeping an eye on her. Her stomach has always looked bloated so I've never been too worried. The past few weeks her underneath has been dirty with her poos sticking to her. She's always eaten and drank as normal.

This weekend she seems to have got worse. Her eyes are shut,she's been making a screeching type noise when we try picking her up so going by that I can only guess that she's in pain. She's never been like this before. I can't even pick her up without her making that noise It's heartbreaking because it seems to me that she's suffering so much. I still have the metacam that the vet gave to Piddles before he died and I have given her a bit of that and she seemed a bit better after that.

What else can I do for her??

I know most people will tell me to take her to the vets but I have a feeling they will advise me to have her put to sleep because of her weakened state. Would that be the best thing for her?? I don't want her to have an operation or owt like that because IMO she's suffered enough

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To be honest the vet wouldn't advise putting her to sleep unless she was suffering and if she is then the kindest thing would be to do that. It could be a number of things but I think the vet needs to see her, Hope its something they can cure and she is better soon.

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oh no! that sounds awful for you! its so nice that you chose to keep her to give her a better life....the vet can give your hamster painkillers and antibiotics, so i would definatly take her, they dont just put them down, they try and do the best for them

hope it goes well
you might be able to by the baytril antibiotics from a shop, you add it to their water...

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Well I'm hoping they don't advise putting her to sleep because I'd rather her be alive. I'm no vet but IMO I would say she's suffering because of the screeching sound she made. She's been like it for the past 2 days. I was going to take her yesterday but our other hamster Poppy died so I cancelled it

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I'm glad we kept her. She's always been a loving hamster and is beautiful! I think baytril is only available on prescription in the UK unfortunately

Taking her to the vets is an option but I also need to go careful with money as I was laid off my job for approximately 4 weeks on friday just gone. As you can tell it's not been the most amazing of weekends for me

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Oh no I'm so sorry that you're having a hard time at the moment

I'm affraid that she does need a vet. They should only recommend putting her to sleep if she's suffering but you never know, maybe the vet can prescribe something that will help.

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Yeah,think I'm gonna book her in for a consultation for some point in the week and see how it goes from there Hopefully it is just an infection that requires Baytril or some other antibiotic but my gut feeling is telling me otherwise. Lets just hope I am wrong in this instance and that my girl is going to be ok!

Here she is. I took this pic a small while ago

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It does sound likes shes suffering, in which case she needs to see a vet. Like stated, a vet wont suggest euthansia unless it really is the best thing to do.

You also need to be extremely careful about medicating you own animals. These drugs are prescription only for a reason. It may seem like vets have a standard approach (bayril, septrin, metacam) but they know what they are doing, and know that certain conditions can be exacerbated by certain drugs.

Metacam is certainly one that has to be used cautiously in small animals.

it cost me £9 for baytril and a check up at the vets

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Well the vets I'd be taking her to opens at 8:30am tomorrow so I will be ringing them then. In the past I've managed to get in on the same day so all being well tomorrow will be the same

I know it was probably a bad idea giving her the metacam but at the time I was desperate. As I said earlier I did have a vets appointment for her yesterday but our other hamster Poppy died shortly before I was due to set off so I cancelled it All being well we should find out tomorrow whats wrong with her!

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