My hamsters mystery illness

Question
QUESTION: Hi, I hope you might be able to shed some light on this situation.. My 2yr 7month-old male hamster Jerry seems to be ill, or has been becoming ill over some time. We have taken him to the vets, but they weren't sure what was wrong as he seemed to improve again shortly after falling ill and told us to just keep an eye on him. He seems to fall in and out of the same symptoms getting really bad, then clearing up again in the next few days he looks much better. During these periods of illness he breathes very heavily and unevenly, feels cold, is lethargic, disorientated, sometimes shakes his head and finds it very hard to walk around properly as he staggers around his (now one-level so it's easier for him to get around) cage. He still takes some interest in food and water, and continues to look as though he is fine a while later. He still attempts to climb around his cage and look happy. Though, it seems he has suddenly become white and pale in one eye, like he may be blind but we're not sure. Maybe he is a fighter and is trying to fend off whatever took him in the first place and keeps coming back to get him and his now weakened physical state. My guess is that he's had at least one stroke.. but I could really use some advice about what to do with my baby. We love him to pieces, don't want him to suffer, and want him well again. Any advice or suggestions or what it is or what we might do? Thank you very much for your time.

ANSWER: Hi Manda

Sorry to hear Jerry isn't well.

He is very old and unfortunately at this age, as with humans, the body starts to shut down.  It is difficult to know exactly what is happening - but it is very likely he's lost his sight (not that this is a problem for hamsters as they are very shortsighted anyway), and he may well have had a stroke - they usually walk lopsided if this has happened and tend to drag themselves around.

The main thing is to make sure he isn't in any pain and still has quality of life.  

If you buy some human baby food - the powder variety is best but you could use the small jars/tins.  Mine like the 'creamy porridge oats'.  Mix a small amount with water and give him this every day - if you make it quite wet - then he will be getting plenty of moisture too.  If he doesn't want to eat from a dish - you could sit him on your lap and try and feed him off a spoon.  This will give him lots of extra nutrients.  You also need to make sure he is not dehydrating - at this age they can suffer from this, or they drink loads but pee a lot because their kidnesy are starting to fail and they don't retain any nutrients or vital salts.  You could buy some human oral rehydration powders - mix one up with water as per the instructions on the packet and using a dropper try and get him to take some of this.  They usually like it because it is sweet (if you buy the blackcurrant variety).

If you think he is in pain - i.e. if he goes cold and is hunched over, then you could either ask your vet for pain relief (Metacam - is the name of the drug we use in the UK - this is an anti-inflammatory and hamsters love it because it tastes of honey - they only need half a drop a day and can become addicticted!  But at this age, that probably doesn't matter! The only problem with using it with a hamster this age is that it can cause kidney failure but I have always taken the view that this is the chance I have to take if it means the hamster isn't in pain.)  Alternatively, if your vet won't prescribe this or you need pain relief urgently, you can make your own although it is very fiddly - get an aspirin (300mg dose) - you need 1/25 of this.  If you crush it up then try and separate it out into 25 piles - you are literally using a few grains.  This can be given 4 times a day if necessary.  

I think the reality is that your hamster isn't going to make a great recovery due to his age and it sounds as though a lot of what is going on is age related.  Having gone through this with a number of my own hamsters I can truly sympathise with you.  However, the most important thing is to make sure he is happy, isn't suffering and isn't in pain - and by doing some of these 'first aid' treatments it should help improve the quality of his life.

I wish you all the best with this and hope this information helps you.

Regards

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you so much for your fast reply. It can only help as Jerry seems to have gotten worse... but he's still interested in food so it can't be so bad. I think we'll try your asprin idea, but I'm a little unsure of how to split the dosage and how I should feed it to him. Have you got any suggestions?
ANSWER: Hi

There's a couple of ways you can do this: you could crush the tablet into powder, spread it out on a dark surface so you can see it clearly and try to divide it up that way.  Don't worry if you're not 100% accurate - this dosage is quite a crude one - based on an average hamster size.

Alternatively, do you have a 1ml syringe (without the needle)that the amount of liquid is marked out on the side in 0.1ml intervals?  If so, you could try dissolving one tablet in 2.5ml water.  Then you know that you need to give your hamster 0.1ml of this at a time.  (I'm not sure where you are writing from, so I don't know if these liquid measurements mean anything to you - if not - you need to find some way of measuring an amount that you could then realistically give you hamster a 25th of - hope this makes sense!)

You might be able to syringe this straight into your hamster's mouth, although you might want to add a drop of blackcurrant juice to it to sweeten it up.  If you keep the aspirin in powder form, you could either mix the dosage with a drop of water/blackcurrant juice or a drop of honey and put this on your finger so your hamster can lick it off.  

If you can get him to drink some water it would probably help him feel a bit better.  Another idea regarding food - if you can't get baby food today - you could try soaking a small piece of bread or porridge oats in a drop or two of milk and seeing if he will eat this.  Remember to remove anything that is uneaten so it doesn't go off.  When I have a hamster that is like this, I tend to mother them a bit and sit them on my lap and feed them with a spoon every few hours!

I hope this helps.  Let me know how you get on.

Regards

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks again for that!
We can't find the syringe sadly, but I dissolved some asprin powder in milk and soaked it in bread. He eventually ate most of it. Right now he feels cold, and we've tried to make the room hotter for him but he's still feels quite cold to the touch, breathes heavily and staggers around his cage. He is only taking a slight interest in food and I can't get him to drink much. But I will try the asprin again in a few hours. I hope he feels a bit better because of it. It seems he can't rest..
Is there anything else at all I can do?

Answer
Hi

there's nothing much else you can do, I'm afraid.  You need to prepare yourself for him dying - it certainly sounds as though he's getting ready to.  All you can do is hold him and keep him warm so that his remaining time is comfortable.

Sorry I'm probably not telling you what you want to hear, but I think this is the reality of the situation.  He is very old and has done incredibly well to get to this age and I think his body is just shutting down.  All you can do is give him pain relief, keep him warm and make sure his food and drink are closeby in case he wants them, then let nature take its course.

I know this is a very difficult time, as it is easy to get so attached to these lovely little creatures, and I'm sure he's had a fantastic life with you.

All the best
Regards