food changes

Question
hi sheila.thanks for your answer to my previous question...the people at my local vetshops havent been very helpful.sadly.The other thing i wanted to know was,can a change in food be linked to the hairloss?you asked me if there was any change in his environment,in the past year i have used the same bedding etc,and always bought the food that the petshops package themselves,but about 2-3 weeks ago i decided to splash out and spoil them with food bought from a more expensive vetshop.could it be that the food is too rich for him?(a similar thing happened to my dog) i have stopped the new food,and his eye looks good now (yay!) thanks again for this forum to be helped.from Taryn

Answer
Hi Taryn

sorry to hear you are having problems getting information.  I know it can be very difficult, hence the reason why i ended up writing a book with my local vet as I was so frustrated that few people seem to know much about hamsters.

In terms of the fur loss - it could be a change in diet.  It is important that hamsters get a good quality and varied diet.  I tend to alternate brands of food.  I have noticed that there is a huge difference in the various brands of hamster foods and if you always give just one variety I feel that this could mean that the hamster is deprived of some of the vitamins and minerals they need.  Fur loss can be associated to various things - hormones, allergies, but also stress, or poor diet.  Vitamin B is what is needed to ensure a good glossy coat, and whilst your hamster might have fur problems due to other issues, it would be worth ensuring that he has plenty of vitamin B in his diet.  In addition to a dry hamster mix, give a small amount of vegetables nightly.  Vegetables that contain vitamin B are: brocolli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, carrots, dandelion leaves, parsley, peas, spinach, watercress.  It is also contained in sunflower seeds and wheat germ.  I tend to make up a special mix of sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, linseed and pumpkin seeds (all of these I buy ones that humans can eat that they sell in health shops), and then give a little of this every week.  You could perhaps add a little wheat germ to this mix.  This mix contains essential fatty acids and helps the body balance sugar levels (this is a mix I always recommend for diabetic hamsters which is quite common with dwarf hamsters), but you might find that just by adding some fresh vegetables nightly and a teaspoonful of this mix every week in addition to a dry mix will help.

Good luck with this.

Regards
Sheila