Hamster losing fur on rear and neck :(

yeah but i should have thoroughly cleaned her cage the first time when she came back from the vet. i cleaned the base with dawn dish soap and gave her fresh bedding, but I should have cleaned the bars and thoroughly disinfected everything so I'm feeling guilty and like I need to do that as soon as possible so the mites don't proliferate anymore
 
Sorry I just updated my last post if you want to read back. Don’t feel guilty - it’s clear the vet didn’t advise you about disinfecting the cage.
 
Actually that wheel was her old one. all the wooden platforms are gone and she has a new niteangel wheel with a base on the floor of her cage. it spins very nicely and is a pretty nice wheel but she may just not be up for it at the moment - i can send a picture later today
 
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Have you tried putting a smelly treat in it like a bit of cheese or cucumber? Is it warm enough at night? If it’s cold they often stay in their nest and don’t use the wheel.
 
You know it has been getting cold here at nights so she may just be huddling for warmth especially without all of her fur :(
 
She's losing more fur but she does not smell as bad now so hopefully that means the antibiotic is working
 
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I don't know if you've had experience with this, and this could just be me being dumb, but when I give her the prescribed 0.1 cc in the syringe i'm noticing the top is full as well and looks like that's adding an extra 0.1 cc or so. Do you know if this is normal or if this is adding too much to her dose?

She has also chewed part of the top of the syringe while giving her the meds so the plastic part is falling away and I don't want her to ingest plastic - I might have to buy some more 1cc syringes.
 
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I'm not sure what you mean by "the top part". Do you mean the narrow bit at the end that draws up the meds? That's ok. The pharmacy or vet might even just give you another syringe. I wouldn't worry about it being chewed as long as it works though.
 
Yeah the narrow end, the only part I'm worried about is the plastic is flaking off so I don't want her to ingest any - i ordered some more on amazon, hopefully they'll fit with the needles I have 🙏🏻

Finally took apart and deep cleaned her cage, did one round with soap and water then another with 1/10 bleach. everything is drying, tossed everything wooden, and will put fresh bedding in and a little cardboard ledge for her. hopefully that will have killed any remaining mites or at least help prevent them from proliferating anymore
 
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I called the vet to see if I could use anything for pain relief but they want to see her back for another skin biopsy, which is probably going to cost another small fortune. 😭

And it will stress her out so much, she took a while to recover from the last one :(
 
That sounds good :-) I really hope her skin improves soon - it seems a long time to wait for her second dose. Did you say January?

I think you'll need to do another full cage clean like this when you give her second dose as well. Ie she would need to have the second dose before you put her back in the cleaned out cage again the next time the dose is due.
 
Biscuit_7 said:
I called the vet to see if I could use anything for pain relief but they want to see her back for another skin biopsy, which is probably going to cost another small fortune. 😭
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I'm so sorry - it is expensive. I know vet fees are expensive in the US.
 
Was that just the consultation or did it include meds as well? Average in the Uk is about £50 for a consultation (about $64). Meds add to the cost though. I had to pay over £100 to have a hamster put to sleep earlier this year which was a shock. I didn't check the price first and it wasn't my usual vet - I just went to the closest one.

It sounds like you'll just be paying for the consultation this time. It could be worth it though if they decide it is something else or give some different treatment.
 
She said with everything they would do it would be $200-$500. I definitely can't do that right now but I am going to spend $20-40 on the topical mousse they reccomended for her skin and keep my January 10 appointment to reapply the mite treatment.

And that's just for the exam/biopsy, not even whatever they would prescribe. Sadly any small animal vet here is probably going to cost around the same - another reason I am thinking of moving out of the US eventually for medical costs.
 
I'm going to do my best otherwise to keep her comfortable. Her new vita garden food got here so i'll start switching her to that for extra protein as well.
 
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That sounds good for now, getting the mousse for her skin and applying the next dose. If it still hasn't improved after the next dose, you could maybe think about trying a different vet for another opinion.
 
Biscuit_7 said:
I'm going to do my best otherwise to keep her comfortable. Her new vita garden food got here so i'll start switching her to that for extra protein as well.
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It'll still need supplementing a little bit - I'm sure she'd enjoy a bit of chopped hard boiled egg or scrambled egg a couple of times a week :-) Mine had it last night - about a quarter of a teaspoon of scrambled egg. I leave the spoon in the cage.
 
When I take her next too I won't have any bedding in the enclosure - the topical treatment got some stuck on it and I'm afraid she may have rubbed some off the first time - it's supposed to absorb very quickly but just to be 100% sure.
 
I think she'll need bedding in her enclosure. Maybe you could dose her while she's out of the cage and leave it to dry for a while before popping her back. It should have soaked in then even if a bit of bedding does stick to it later.
 
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