Hammys bleeding from nose and ears,very poorly

Question
Hi, I emailed a while ago about my hammy packing her tube with sawdust and was v. satisfied with your answers and advice. Thankyou. I have been distraught at the mo. We have had her for about 7 weeks now from the pet shop and the last couple of days I noticed she has only been having very few BM's which isn't normal for her although she appeared reasonably perky - no change in her moods/behaviour. Last night her head was hung out of her bed. She vaguely responded to calling her name but I thought perhaps she was just a bit tired. About a couple of hours later though she had dragged herself out into her chube and there was blood oozing from her mouth and nose and she looked very poorly. I whisked my 6 + 8 yr olds over to their grandparents as I was on a night shift anyway and I didn't want them to see her in that state. When I got back she was still alive but her breathing sounded a little bubbly and crackly. Very staggery and lethargic although when I took the top off she staggered over and tried to climb out of the box to me! I cuddle her for a bit willing her to die and not suffer any more but in the end had to put her back wrapped in a towel. I got back this morning expecting to find her gone, but she's still with us. No better no worse although the bleeding appears to have slowed if not stopped. What do I do? I have tried giving her water through a pippet which she isn't interested in. I don't know whats wrong with her, so don't really know how to help her or just let "nature" take it's course. I certainly don't want the kids to see her like this as I'm sure it would upset them so much more than to see her cleaned up once she's gone.Please help. Thankyou so much
Jane

Answer
Hi Jane

I'm really sorry to hear about your hamster.  She does sound very sick.  I honestly don't know what has caused this - and I feel that she really ought to see a vet as soon as possible.  They might be able to diagnose her and get her some treatment.  This is very unusual for a hamster of this age - if she were a couple of years old I would think she had a tumor, but young hamsters don't really get these.

If it was just a bit of blood from the nose I wouldn't worry too much as sometimes they can injure their noses especially if they are burrowing or chewing bars but in these cases the bleeding is superficial and the hamster is lively in themselves  However the fact that she has blood coming from her mouth and her ears is a concern.

Can you get her to a vet - it would be kinder on her to at least see if you can have her examined.  If the vet can't treat her then they may opt for euthansia but at least you and your family won't have to go through the awfulness of watching her die.  I am sure it is very difficult when the hamster is a child's pet but I think a vet needs to examine her and advise you on this.

I hope you get on OK.

Regards