Hamster losing fur on rear and neck :(

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Biscuit_7

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Hello, Joey is a 1 y/o (or older) female Syrian hamster who has been losing fur for a few months. I didn't think much of it until it started to become more apparent, and took her to the vet a few weeks ago. They found a mite and prescribed a topical flea treatment, but it has not been working and she seems to be getting worse, her skin is flaky now. From what I've read it could be a deficiency, disease, old age, etc, or another type of parasite.

I have changed her food and bedding, cleaned her cage, and she is still eating and drinking normally. I can't afford another vet visit if it's a more complicated issue, but I can try homeopathic remedies if anyone has any reccomendations. She has wooden accessories that I cleaned with apple cider vinegar and left to sun-dry, but I can just throw them out if that is better.

Pictures are below, they aren't the best quality (she doesn't sit still for long). She is sweet but doesn't like being held for long and will squirm and bite, so I most likely can't bathe her or administer anything orally.

Any reccomendations help, thanks!
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Welcome to the forum! I'm sorry that your hammy is having problems with hair loss. My hamster went to the vet for hair loss and was given a course of Ivermectine which lasted for about two months, with dosing bring given at fortnightly and longer intervals. I changed his food to Harry Hamster and increased the protein in his diet. His fur has grown back, although it is still a bit thin in places. Baking wooden furniture at 100C for half an hour should kill any mites. Bedding should be changed completely and the cage and plastic furniture cleaned with hamster safe disinfectant. Maz has more medical knowledge than I have and will give you more information soon. Good luck with your little patient.
 
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Hello and welcome. She's very sweet :-) When you say the vet found a mite - did they prescribe Invermectin or "Spot on"? The other thing is sometimes they get fur rub in that position - check things in her cage - is there anything she could be squeezing through that's rubbing there? An entrance that's a bit small maybe? Also they can sometimes get wheel rub from a wheel with a spindle if it's not big enough. - what wheel does she have? She shouldn't bite - they only really do that if they're scared or in pain. But then I did have a hamster who did when he first came to me - he was a rescue and scared of hands. Some careful taming sessions might improve that :-) I'll chat more about that later when we've solved the balding patch.
 
I got her a bigger wheel and made sure there was nothing else she could be rubbing herself on in the cage, so I'm hoping that helps. They actually did a very small dose of topical Bravecto that they usually use for dogs and cats but they said it had worked for other rodents they'd treated. It's not a typical treatment so I was a little confused but he said it was because she was so difficult to handle (she runs away) that I wouldn't be able to do a daily oral dose or anything.
 
It's not something I've heard of used for Hamsters before - it seems to be flea and tick treatment. It's more usual for Hamsters to get mites. Mites can't be seen with the naked eye - they usually have to do a skin scraping and look under the microscope to see if it's mites. Some vets just assume it's mites and prescribe Invermectin to see if that works. It's better if it's properly diagnosed though really.

How long has she had the fur loss? Sometimes hamsters have a bit of a moult as well, but that's usually more patchy and in different places. Does she scratch the area at all or make it sore? That's often a sign of mites if they're scratching it sore. If it hasn't got any worse and she's not scratching it sore then maybe watch and wait a bit?

Mites live on hamsters normally - when they "get mites" it means they have proliferated - sometimes due to stress or some other cause of low immune system.
 
They did a skin scrape and looked and found a mite, then he prescribed that. The fur loss has been going on for 2-3 months now and she just seems to be losing more, not sure if the mites were really the culprit or if it's something else. I also don't know if I could double up with ivermectin on what she's already been treated with

I haven't seen her scratching, but she's also only out at nights so I haven't watched her for long periods of time.
 
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It's a shame the vet didn't prescribe Invermectin in the first place. I know you said you can't afford to go to the vet's again, but is there another one you can see? Exotic vets know more about hamsters. How long since she had the last medication? How are her feet by the way? On one of the photos above, one of her back feet looks like it might be sore?
 
Her appointment was on November 11, and the dose they gave is supposed to be followed up with part 2 ~60 days from then, so January 10 ish.

I'm not sure about her feet, I can look again.

I just got back from a trip and she's definitely looking more itchy and raw now. Poor thing, I'm not sure if I can give her any other treatments though while she's already on this one.
 
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Not without a vet say so, no. So she's mid treatment with something else at the moment then. I think she maybe needs to see a different vet. I wouldn't even like to suggest herbal solution for dabbing the sore skin if she's on medication.
 
Yeah, but could they prescribe anything while she's on this one? It was a topical 60-day treatment that's still in effect.

Also, could it be her bedding or some other irritant?
 
I don't think a vet could prescribe anything else while she's still on this 60 day treatment. It should have helped by now if it were a parasite problem (unless it's fungal or bacterial, in that case I'd have to go back after this dose is up most likely).

I'm going to try changing her bedding type and giving her some more protein in her diet and give that some time, then call the vet in a week or so if she's not improving.
 
Biscuit_7 said:
Yeah, but could they prescribe anything while she's on this one? It was a topical 60-day treatment that's still in effect.

Also, could it be her bedding or some other irritant?
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A vet would know if it's possible to change treatment mid course :-) It does seem quite a wait until January for the second dose but yes I can see you'd want to finish that treatment and maybe it will help after the second dose.

What bedding does she have now and which hamster mix is she on? Low protein can affect skin and health condition. Also you can give a pinch of linseeds daily - these work wonders with skin and fur conditions - I've used it before and it does help fur grow back. Brown linseeds (AKA flax seeds) usually. She'll enjoy those too - they usually lick them up :-) I usually put them on a separate little dish so they get most of them. After a couple of weeks of giving them regularly, it should show improvement - if it's anything other than mites. But it's good for them anyway. I had a hamster who had a big moult once and looked like a mangey camel! After two weeks of the linseeds, not only had his fur grown back fully but it was amazingly glossy and thick! One of our members Elusive, who's on a break, also recommends Evening Primrose oil - a single drop on their food.

It's a difficult situation as you don't want to cause more stress (which lowers their immune system) on the other hand maybe you will need to change the bedding. Depending on what bedding you use now. Can you get paper bedding like Boxo? Or Oxbow paper bedding? There has been the occasional case of a hamster with an allergy to Carefresh (although Kaytee clean and cosy is fine) and they can be allergic to any type of wood bedding, even hardwood. It could even be a food reaction if it's allergy.

I know what you mean about wanting to try homeopathy and this is something I have wanted to do on occasion, when there was no treatment for something for a hamster - the difficulty is getting a dose to them - they are unlikely to eat a little sugar pill and dissolving it in their water isn't a good idea as if the water tastes different it can stop them drinking. There are actually homeopathic vets as well, although they don't usually treat hamsters but I'm sure they could work something out! Sometimes though it just needs medical treatment - which you're in the process of giving.
 
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I emailed the vet to ask if she could be treated for anything else while on this treatment, hopefully they'll get back to me soon.

Right now she has Uber paper bedding and she's eating the health plus Katee fiesta mix, but I'm thinking of trying pellets instead so she can't pick out the seeds only. I'll get some linseeds for sure and my friend reccomended Veterycin spray to help with the skin irritation.
 
Update I called the vet and they'll get back to me within 24-48 hours hopefully with a reccomendation on what to do next!

I have some extra carefresh bedding that my brother uses for his guinea pigs that I can try switching to instead of Uber. What food would you reccomend switching her to as well?
 
The Kaytee fiesta isn't a very good mix and ingredients aren't great - it's very corn based as one of the main ingredients. It also has quite low protein at 13.5%. Hamsters need at least 18% protein in their first year. How old is she? If she's over a year then the protein might be ok but it's still a little low. Lack of protein can also cause fur loss and skin issues. Just checked you said she's about a year old. It's possible she hasn't had enough protein in her first year so I'd try and find a different Hamster mix. The Higgins Vitae Garden is better and is also sugar free.
 
Biscuit_7 said:
Update I called the vet and they'll get back to me within 24-48 hours hopefully with a reccomendation on what to do next!

I have some extra carefresh bedding that my brother uses for his guinea pigs that I can try switching to instead of Uber. What food would you reccomend switching her to as well?
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Posted at the same time (above). I would try changing her diet first and see if it improves but see what your vet says :-) Did you get a look at her foot?
 
She's eating the forti-diet version of katee fiesta which is 17.5% protein but I can switch it to the vita mix if that's better for her.

Do you think carefresh paper bedding will be fine? And what do you mean by her foot looking sore
 
Sorry I didn't realise - I looked up the forti diet and is it pellets? It says 20% protein.
 
I would try Kaytee Clean and Cosy rather than Carefresh. I've never heard of a hamster being allergic to the Kaytee but some have apparently had skin allergic issues with Carefresh.

It's this photo - maybe it's just the light? One of her feet looks a bit red.

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