Sick hamster/Update page 4

[Pea-n-Me]

I heard a scream from DD16's bedroom the other night. She'd found Woody, our little white hamster (and her little buddy), cold, blue and almost motionless in his cage.

Over the next several hours DD held him to her chest to warm him up and talk to him. (After our last hamster died we vowed no more veterinary intervention when they're sick and/or dying; too much pain and suffering for these little guys with needles and probes and such.) A few times his breathing pattern looked as though he was taking his last breaths. We stayed up half the night with him. Surprisingly, he made it through to the next day.

Unbelievably, a day later, he perked up a bit. He even took small bits of yogurt and water. Yesterday he stood in his wheel and took a few steps, but was too weak to do much else. Basically he's been holed up in his cage under a nest of tissues. (His choice.) He did spend a little while with us last night out of his cage, but only slept. He wouldn't drink but ate two blueberries and a few bites of cheesecake.

I think he has pneumonia. Maybe aspiration pneumonia, I don't know. At any rate, it's touch and go for Woody. He's still hanging in, but is weak and probably dehydrated. Still giving him as much fluid/Pedialyte and food as he can tolerate. He is about a year and a half old. We hope he pulls through.

The day we brought him home.

 

[lauradis]

Very much a cutie. Come on Woody you can make it. Good luck.

 

[3Gsandme]

The best to Woody and all of you. <3

 

[chisnpeke]

 

[Chickenlady]

If it got cold in your house, the hamster could have started to hibernate. Keeping him warm and cozy will help.

 

[hereyago]

Thoughts and prayers going out to Woody.

 

[Mel522]

He's so cute.

I've never heard/read anything like that before. Unfortunately if you want to know what's wrong with him and how to treat him, you have to go to a vet.

 

[DawnM]

Awe. Poor guy. Hang in there Woody!

 

[Kellydelly]

It is totally your fault that we have six hamsters in our house now . Your signature pic of the adorable white long hair convinced me they are cute, LOL.

One of our Russian White dwarf hamsters had a problem a couple months ago. He was dragging his hind end like he was paralyzed . We took a bunch of pics of him and video and prepared for him to probably die . He somehow rallied and is still with us and almost walking totally normal again . When I googled the issue, most answers were that he was probably not going to make it. I am curious what was wrong with him, he didn't look injured or beat up by his brother. I thought maybe he had fallen and broke his back (our Syrian hamster boys are always hanging from the top of their cages and falling to the bottom . He is doing really well now, though .

I hope that your hammie rallies and is just getting over a virus or whatever these little buggers can catch.

 

[teacup princess]

Isn't the typical lifespan of a hamster only a couple of years. We've always just tried to prepare our kids in advance that the are a fun pet but they won't live very long. The longest we ever had one was 2.5 years. I never considered taking one to the vet.

 

[Dish]

Poor guy. He's a cute one!

Hope he'll be ok. Sometimes with warm, they get ok. If it's too cold inside they get ill. Or so I know from a friend of mine.

 

[Muushka]

I'm pulling for Woody. He's a cutie.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thank you.

It wasn't cold in the house. He was in his igloo.

He had some physical signs (TMI here) that made me think pneumonia. He drank a good amount of Pedialyte today but is still resting. He's seems happy to see us all, sniffing the air and each of us when we're near, and when DD walked away he started to go after her.

We know they don't live long, and we do prepare, but he's been very active and healthy up until now. We also have a dog who's not well so it's been kind of hard on all of us seeing our pets ill. One at a time is bad enough.

Kelly, so sorry! I have someone else to blame here, too!

 

[MrsDuck]

Sending lots of love for Woody!

 

[mom2rtk]

Hugs and prayers for Woody.

 

[Mousemommy1]

Aww, poor Woody!! Prayers sent!!!

 

[lilkimmyk]

Come on Woody! Feel better soon lil fella!

 

[lovesmurfs]

Aw...poor Woody!

Just a thought -- if he does have pneumonia, I'm not sure the dairy's (yogurt, cheesecake) the best thing -- when we've got respiratory stuff as humans, the dairy gums up and makes more phlegm; I'd think it would happen with animals as well?

 

[MartDM]

Sorry Woody hasn't been well! I hope you can get him in to see the vet tomorrow!

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Aw...poor Woody!

Just a thought -- if he does have pneumonia, I'm not sure the dairy's (yogurt, cheesecake) the best thing -- when we've got respiratory stuff as humans, the dairy gums up and makes more phlegm; I'd think it would happen with animals as well?

Good thought. At the time, it was the only thing he would take of a variety of things we offered. I was happy to see him eat because I knew his blood sugar had to be low, and frankly, he appeared to be dying, so it was a last ditch effort. He is not in any respiratory distress.

DD brought him in to see me a little while ago and he still looks sick. We'll see how tomorrow goes. He does not appear to be suffering, thankfully. He sat with DD in his pineapple on her bed tonight while she did her homework. Maybe he is just getting old.

No vet. We took our Remy last time and I so regretted it. (And we'd taken Gus, too, but thankfully it was our own vet and they didn't do anything to him, just gave us general advice.) Remy was very stressed during the long ride in the car to the small animal vet. They injected fluids under his skin (and he jerked in pain so they had to do it a second time), put a probe in his butt, and also I think he aspirated on some of his medication (more a vitamin supplement, actually), given by syringe when he didn't want to take it. I'm sure there was more, too, but that was all I saw because they'd taken him in another room to re-do the probe. After all that, the overall advice was: see what you can get him to eat and drink. Oh, and he died two days later. So live and learn, this one stays home with us and we'll keep him comfortable.