is my hamster dying

Question
I have had my hamster for 7 months she is 10 months old I used to have 2 but one dyed. now the other one is getting the same simtems.
her front is covered in wee. her immune system is down but she still is eating propely. My other hamster that is dead died 2 weeks earlier. she showed no sings just her front covered in wee. before died  she was out playing then she just we put her in her cage a hour later we found her dying she did not go off her food, she did not go of her water and she did not sleep more. Is it going to happen to my other hamster? and is there anything I can do about it what does not include her being put down.

Answer
Hi Lauren

I'm sorry to hear about your hamster.

What type of hamster is this?  Is it a dwarf or Syrian?  

A couple of things come to mind.  Is the reason why her front is covered in wee is because she is peeing more than usual?  Is she drinking more than usual too - usually a hamster drinks virtually nothing but if there is any sign of illness you notice the water level going down.  The first thing I am wondering is diabetes.  This is quite common in dwarf hamsters (Campbell varieties) - so if your hamsters are dwarf then this could be the reason.  In cases of this, they drink and pee a lot, their pee smells sweet and they are quite wet, their cage needs cleaning more than usual.  The hamster tries to regulate its sugar levels by keep eating and drinking.  Often, apart from the excessing peeing and smell they behave normally but when their sugar levels have spiralled out of control they collapse and die.  I have had several hamsters with this and it often runs in families.  Whilst it is more common in Campbells I have known it to affect Syrians too.

It is easy to check for diabetes - whilst no vet would do a blood test because the hamster is too small, you can test the urine with a 'diastix'.  You either get these from the chemist or vet and place the hamster in a clean plastic container and wait for them to pee, then test the urine.  If the diastix shows any signs of increased glucose you are pretty certain that diabetes is the cause.  

However, in the case of your hamster I would take immediate precautions - if you find she is not diabetic and there is another problem, such as a urinary/bladder infection (which a vet would need to treat with antibiotics) then taking these precautions won't have a bad affect on her anyway.  The first thing is to remove any sugary foods from her cage.  This includes hamster treats (many are stuck on with honey), dried fruit that you find in some of the dry hamster mixes (such as raisins, banana etc).  Also avoid giving fresh fruit.  If you go to the health shop and buy a small packet of sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, linseeds and pumpkin seeds and mix all these together and put a teaspoonful in her cage daily along with a dry hamster mix and some fresh vegetables.  These contain essential fatty acids and help regulate sugar levels - this can help.  Also make sure she has plenty of water.  If this is diabetes and you have caught it in time you should start to notice some improvement over the next week.  Unfortunately, you might find she doesn't respond but it is worth a try.  Some hamsters I have had have managed to regulate their sugar levels and have gone onto live a normal life (I just had to be careful with any food I gave them), but sadly some of them didn't survive.

If you don't feel that she is diabetic and that there are other symptoms then it would be worth getting her to a vet - it could be some sort of infection that is causing her to pee more than usual hence the reason why she is covered in it.  Have a look for any traces of blood in her pee (it is sometimes hard with a hamster because their pee is quite orange anyway), also look to see if there is any sign of diarrhoea.

If in any doubt I would get her to a vet and also if she deteriorates at all.  If you think that her symptoms fit with diabetes, then you can treat her yourself - I have never met a vet who treats a diabetic hamster because of their size etc. and usually they just advise that you eliminate sugar from the diet.

I hope this helps you.  Good luck with this please let me know how you get on.

Regards
Sheila