My hamster, Doodle, is sick :(

Question
Hi. I have 2 hamsters, Doodle and Minnie. About a week ago, I noticed Minnie had a watery eye, a runny nose, and was sneezing a lot. I read up on the Internet about it and figured it was probably a common cold for which I treated with warm milk and honey. As she got better, I noticed Doodle was getting sick and it was the same symptoms Minnie had. I treated it the same way and it still hasn't improved. It has actually gotten much worse. Her symptoms include: watery eyes, runny nose, "clicking" while breathing, and now her right ear is bleeding. She is sleeping all the time and she used to run like 6 hours every night, and now she hasn't ran in 3 days. I don't really have the money to take her to the vet right now, so I am actually trying to find a home remedy. I will take her to the vet ASAP, until I need advice, please. Thanks.

Answer
Hi Nikki

I'm sorry to hear that Doodle is sick.

These types of symptoms could point to a cold, or an allergic reaction to something.  Usually with allergic reaction to beddings/surroundings the hamster sneezes a lot, breathes heavily, and can develop skin problems.

The symptoms you describe certainly sound more like a cold due to the watery eyes and runny nose etc. although I'm not sure about the bleeding ear - I've not come across this before.  

Colds can be very serious for hamsters.  The standard treatment is to keep the hamster warm and quiet, offer foods that they like (try some baby food - either the variety in a jar/tin or use the powdered type that you mix with water) to try and get them to eat.  Also trying to get her to drink milk with honey is a great idea.  However, upper respiratory problems can quickly become complicated and need veterinary intervention.  A secondary infection can lead to pneumonia.  Antibiotics are therefore needed, such as enrofloxacin, marbofloxacin, oxytetracycline or chloramphenicol all of which you would need to get from a vet.

I appreciate that vets can be expensive but hamsters can deteriorate rapidly without the correct treatment. With some illnesses if they are treated quickly with the right drugs they can make a good recovery.  Especially as Doodle is breathing badly, and her ear is bleeding I would be tempted to get her seen as quickly as possible.  If you don't know of any local vets it is worth telephoning a few to see if they have a small animal specialist there.  Also check what their fees are as most will charge a much lower fee for a hamster than a cat or dog.  It is always worth establishing this before you go so that you don't have an unexpected bill.  

I hope you get on OK and that Doodle recovers from this.

Regards
Sheila