syrian hamster with sneezing fits and breathing trouble. Vet cant find anything.

Question
in an old thread Heather replied to there was a syrian hamster described who had sneezing fits. http://en.allexperts.com/q/Gerbils-Hamsters-2005/2010/4/asthma-allergy.htm
I have a hamster from a pet asylum, an estimated 20 months old, with very similar symptoms. Unfortunately, no vet in my vicinity has much experience with hamsterish health problems.
The hamster has been sneezing and breathing heavily for about 6 weeks now. The sneezing and wheezing never occur when she is excited or distracted, only when she eats, hamsters food, grooms herself or lies in her nest (only occasionally when she's asleep, though; mostly when she is awake). Her general condition is good. Eyes are clear, fur is shiny though a little thin (she's a long hair mix and not young anymore), belly is soft, no wet tail, skin is in good condition. She is gradually losing weight, about 5g per week. Her current weight is 170 g which I'd consider well within normal range. She was rather fat originally.
Suspecting an allergy I have repatedly changed the cage lining, food, bathing sand and even the washing powder for the table cloth under her cage. The whole room is kept as dust-free and clean as possible but without using any chemicals. There are definitely no mites (I used a dark cloth to trace any).
The laboured brathing sounds exactly like that of a rat with heart trouble and water in its lungs that I once had. However, there are no unusual sounds in the lungs of my hamster to be heard.
All the local vets and myself are at the end of our wits. Any help would be highly appreciated

Answer
Hi Ursula

thanks for your feedback.

You can always add a drop of blackcurrant juice(the concentrated variety such as Ribena) to the tip of the dropper when giving baytril.  Hamsters tend to like the sweetness and it might make it more palatable for her.  it might also be worth adding a probiotic to her water bottle too - whilst baytril is OK to use, it is always worth giving a pro biotic with antibiotics.  You can either get a pet one - Avipro, but if you can't get hold of this you can buy a bottle of acidophillus capsules from the health shop - empty the contents of one into her water bottle daily whilst she's on antibiotics. This helps regulate the friendly bacteria in the gut.

Hope she is OK.

Regards
Sheila

Hi Ursula

Sorry to hear about your hamster.

Sneezing/breathing problems can be due to a number of things.  There is the obvious allergy or colds situation, but it sounds like you have checked everything and therefore this is unlikely.  Another reason for breathing difficulties is aspergillosis. This is where a hamster breaths in a fungal spore.  Fungal spores can collect on damp bedding, uneaten fresh food that has gone mouldy etc. or come into the cage from damp surroundings (i.e. if the cage is against a wall that gets damp in humid weather etc. # If a hamster breaths in a fungal spore it can cause serious respiratory failure causing the hamster to struggle to breath, and often they lay on their side to catch breath. This needs urgent treating by a vet but sadly the prognosis often isn't that good. The fact that your hamster is Ok at times would suggest that it isn't this.

The only other thing that I can think of is the possibility of a tumor.  When you saw the vet did they examine her abdomen and feel for any lumps?  When hamsters reach 18months - 2 years they are prone to developing tumors.  Often the initial symptoms are an increase in drinking water, and they tend to appear to lose weight although often they grow more of a 'pear shape. I had a hamster with a tumor in/close to her lungs - as the tumor grew it put pressure on her lungs and she really started to wheeze - I could hear her breathing from across the room.  Sadly, when the situation became too serious she was put to sleep.  Whilst it is difficult to know what is wrong with your hamster as I am not a vet and obviously haven't seen her, something like this could be worth considering.  With my hamster there was no obvious lump, and in fact when my vet examined her he couldn't feel anything as such but she did appear to have fluid around her lung area.  It was only when he had sedated her and inserted a needle near her diaphragm to see what the fluid was that he realised what was happening and she was immediately euthanised.

The important thing is that your hamster isn't in any pain.  If you think she is, your vet might be able to give you some Metacam #the one that is used for treating dogs - you just need half a drop a day) which is an anti-inflammatory.  Whilst this may not help the condition it might make her feel a bit better.  If however, it is clear that this condition is causing her distress and she clearly is struggling, and if her condition deteriorates then it would be worth discussing options with your vet.

I'm sorry I can't be more specific with what is wrong, but hopefully this might help you get to the bottom of this.  

Regards
Sheila