New owner- baptism of fire!

[MissMaggie]

Hi there.

I’m new to owning a hamster! We got our sirian girl ‘Maggie’ a month ago and realised after bringing her home that we needed a much bigger better enclosure.

I’ve spent an absolute fortune in a short space of time and although not the best I’ve seen, feel we are doing an ok job and Rome wasn’t built in a day!

We’ve hit the ground running with a UTI yesterday. She’s not very tame yet but I had to dig her out of her burrow and take her up to the vet. She had an injection of antibiotics and I was sent home with 3
Syringes for daily dose oral antibiotics.

She seems ok in herself, not eating as much as normal but hopefully she’s just feeling a bit rough. I’ve eventually managed to get a dose of antibiotics into her tonight (but wasted 2 trying to disguise in food so will need to replace tomorrow) I managed to draw up a bit of honey into the syringe and when she locked on I got the dose into her. She wasn’t best pleased and not won’t even lick honey off the syringe now so not sure where to go from here! Will she maybe have forgotten by tomorrow night? Or traumatised forever

She takes treats from my hand but not hand tame and im not confident to pick her up and try and syringe by hand.

For such a tiny thing she has had a massive impact on my life- it’s like having a newborn baby again!

 

[Maz]

She's adorable Especially that first photo - so sweet. Don't worry, she'll get over the palaver of the meds and you can start taming then. Saw you posted on the "disguising baytril" thread as well Hope it has helped!

 

[Socks' Mum]

She is a darling I think that often they understand that the yukky stuff is making them feel better. Great that you picked up that she has an infection. I think she will become tame quickly once the UTI is gone ❤

 

[MissMaggie]

Thank you maz. She’s stolen my heart for sure!

Starting to think I’m too emotional to be a hamster owner- I’m so worried for her!

I’m glad I eventually got some meds into her. I don’t think the honey on syringe is going to work tonight though. She knows it brings nasty stuff now. I don’t know what their memory is like though?! Do you think she will remember? She wouldn’t accept a drop of honey from the end after I’d medicated her last night so I don’t fancy my chances.

Need to speak to vet this morning to replace the two ‘spilled’ doses so will discuss with them. Such a shame they couldn’t give one long acting injection while she was there!

She’s definitely still a little off her food so droppings are smaller and fewer. Wheel was clean this morning but there was a pee in the sand which looked normal (no visible heamaturia) so I’m hoping she’s on the upswing.

X

 

[MissMaggie]

She is a darling I think that often they understand that the yukky stuff is making them feel better. Great that you picked up that she has an infection. I think she will become tame quickly once the UTI is gone ❤

Thank you! She’s really very sweet. A bit of a shy girl but has been coming up to the door and almost climbing out more recently so I’m taking that as a positive. She’s still a little skittish some nights but I guess thats just her personality.

I’ve never had a hamster before and I was woefully ignorant about their proper needs when we got her a month ago… she’s had a drastic enclosure upgrade and she’s mad for the sprays so think she’s going to cost me a fortune ongoing!

We are learning together as we are both a little timid I guess! Horses- no problem… Hamster- terrified im going to hurt or scare her!

 

[Maz]

Hamsters can be savvy and it does sound like she now won't take it from the syringe, so putting it in a bit of food is in option, that disguises it. My go to for this is this country hunter beefy dog food (the one that is similar texture to corned beef but looks nicer ha ha and is in a sort of jelly). This has always worked for me with all hamsters. A pea sized amount on a separate little dish like a jam jar lid. Remove the top half of the pea sized amount. Drop the meds onto the bottom half carefuly (so it stays on the meat and doesn't run down the sides onto the dish - eg by leaving a slight indent in the bottom half). Then put the top half back on it again. And/or you could then mix it up a bit with the end of a cocktail stick. But I've found the half and half with it in the middle works well. The hamsters don't even notice - they go absolutely crazy for the beefy amount, lick the plate clean and often start pushing it around as if they want more.

How often were the doses supposed to be - once a day? You mentioned two doses so I wondered if it was a twice a day dose. Usually it's once a day. If you feed in the evening then that's often a good time to start putting it out.

None of mine would every take it from the syringe and just batted it away

These are small pouches and you can get 3 days worth out of a pouch if kept in the fridge after opening. Which is a small amount and the rest then has to be binned unfortunately, unless you happen to have a dog!

Country Hunter grass grazed beef

 

[MissMaggie]

Hamsters can be savvy and it does sound like she now won't take it from the syringe, so putting it in a bit of food is in option, that disguises it. My go to for this is this country hunter beefy dog food (the one that is similar texture to corned beef but looks nicer ha ha and is in a sort of jelly). This has always worked for me with all hamsters. A pea sized amount on a separate little dish like a jam jar lid. Remove the top half of the pea sized amount. Drop the meds onto the bottom half carefuly (so it stays on the meat and doesn't run down the sides onto the dish - eg by leaving a slight indent in the bottom half). Then put the top half back on it again. And/or you could then mix it up a bit with the end of a cocktail stick. But I've found the half and half with it in the middle works well. The hamsters don't even notice - they go absolutely crazy for the beefy amount, lick the plate clean and often start pushing it around as if they want more.

How often were the doses supposed to be - once a day? You mentioned two doses so I wondered if it was a twice a day dose. Usually it's once a day. If you feed in the evening then that's often a good time to start putting it out.

None of mine would every take it from the syringe and just batted it away

These are small pouches and you can get 3 days worth out of a pouch if kept in the fridge after opening. Which is a small amount and the rest then has to be binned unfortunately, unless you happen to have a dog!

Country Hunter grass grazed beef

Thanks Maz. It’s one dose per day.

I was sent home from vet with 3 drawn up syringes on Monday (to start giving once a day from Tuesday)

I wasted 2 by trying to hide in food which she refused: once in mashed banana then second time 1/2 a blueberry. She dropped this the instant she got to the middle where the meds were.

I need to try and get a dose into her tonight and tomorrow night. I have 2 more syringes from the vet now.

I will try as you say above but will need to use corned beef as that’s all I can access at such short notice. She only emerges at midnight so that’s when I put food in. I was up until after 2am trying to get her medicated last night!

If she won’t eat the corned beef then I have one dose in hand which I can only guess I will need to put directly into her mouth by picking her up. I really want to avoid that at all costs as I’ve never picked her up before and so not very confident- let alone the added anxiety of getting meds into her. I just feel so stressed and anxious that she’s not going to take it and I know she needs them!

All else fails we go back to the vet for another SubCut antibiotic injection tomorrow.

 

[Socks' Mum]

It is very difficult to hold onto a strongly resisting hamster. I dont know if it can actually be done, but wrapping her up might work or holding her in a cloth. She might bite. They are also good at jumping straight into the air for a good couple of inches. Handling her at this stage might set back taming unless it is done by someone else. You could ask someone to hold her. With a URI there might be a bit of a loss of smell, but the UTI does not affect the accuracy of that little nose. It's such a small dose and easy to.lose I hope you can get Maggie to take in the Baytril, good luck

 

[Socks' Mum]

If you can, keep her at floor level when handling unless she is in a transport container with quite high sides because hamsters don't have the ability to break a fall, even from a low height ❤

 

[Maz]

I put it in food because most hamsters are hard to keep still however you hold them or wrap them and some can get quite distressed. They can also just spit the meds out again! Plus squirting into the side of their mouth can risk it going down the wrong way and them choking - as well as the risk of it being spat out.

You could try the corned beef the way I mentioned above for the meaty dog food A pea sized amount with the meds dropped between the two halves. They do tend to go crazy for meat.

It's very difficult as she's probably still a baby.

 

[MissMaggie]

It is very difficult to hold onto a strongly resisting hamster. I dont know if it can actually be done, but wrapping her up might work or holding her in a cloth. She might bite. They are also good at jumping straight into the air for a good couple of inches. Handling her at this stage might set back taming unless it is done by someone else. You could ask someone to hold her. With a URI there might be a bit of a loss of smell, but the UTI does not affect the accuracy of that little nose. It's such a small dose and easy to.lose I hope you can get Maggie to take in the Baytril, good luck

Thank you. I’m really really hoping she takes it hidden in the corned beef. It’s such a tiny amount but when put on a tiny portion of food it turns out it’s actually quite a lot!

She completely froze at the vet (obviously terrified) and he was able to handle her easily but that’s all part of his job and he’s had plenty of practice I guess!

If I do resort to directly syringing I think I will try to do it as follows:

Use her jug to move her from her tank to her tiny pet carrier which I will have open inside the pop up playpen on the floor. That way she will be safely contained no matter what happens with the syringe!

I will see if my husband is willing to try and pick her up/hold her for me once I have her in the pet carrier as she is more likely to freeze in his presence- from previous experience! I could then quickly do the syringe. Before giving a nice bit of broccoli and putting her back in the tank.

Videos online make it look so easy. I can only assume because they are experienced handlers and tame hamsters!

I definitely did not foresee this level of drama! (My own drama that is!)

 

[Maz]

I would definitely try the food first The dose is usually about 0.02 to 0.03 mls for a Syrian but that is usually for a week, which is like a large "drop", so I'm wondering if the vet has done a slightly bigger dose over 3 days instead? What mark on the syringe is it drawn up to? Assume it's a 1 ml syringe with 10 markings?

 

[MissMaggie]

I put it in food because most hamsters are hard to keep still however you hold them or wrap them and some can get quite distressed. They can also just spit the meds out again! Plus squirting into the side of their mouth can risk it going down the wrong way and them choking - as well as the risk of it being spat out.

You could try the corned beef the way I mentioned above for the meaty dog food A pea sized amount with the meds dropped between the two halves. They do tend to go crazy for meat.

It's very difficult as she's probably still a baby.

That’s another reason I’m loathe to try this! I just don’t feel I should be attempting such a delicate procedure which could hurt her or choke her.

I hope she didn’t spit out what I think I gave her last night next thing to worry over!

Should I just prep the ‘meatball’ and set it on the jar lid in the tank just before I expect her to get up for the night then keep watch?

I’m not 100% sure how old she is. We have had her for 1 month but the place we got her from (no names but no prizes for guessing where) weren’t very clear how old she was. I’m assuming anywhere between 6-8weeks? Would that be the norm?

Maybe I should just try the corned beef and if she refuses just leave her be and take back to vet tomorrow for an injectable and hope 3 doses is enough! (Not sure if the injection is higher dose than oral?)

Dose is 0.05ml

 

[Maz]

I think I would do that. Try the corned beef. Yes just leave it out on a dish at night - it'll probably be gone by morning. They are usually at least 6 weeks before they can be homed somewhere. So yes she could be 6 to 8 weeks.

 

[MissMaggie]

Thank you so much for all your advice and support! I’ll do that and just leave her in peace with no hands in the tank tonight then.

How can you tell they don’t just pouch or stash it?

This is optimism by the way… I’m fully expecting to see a pea size blob of corned beef tomorrow morning!

I’ve attached pic of invoice which shows dose of injection she had too

 

[Maz]

Ok so 0.05 is maybe a slightly larger dose over 3 days so yes it would be more than a large drop. More like 2 drops? I have never known a hamster just pouch or hoard a tasty bit of mushy meat - they tend to eat it straight away. However it would be difficult to disguise the taste in a pea sized amount if it's a bigger amount of baytril. The size of the dose seems to be the issue. I suggest going back to the vet and asking if she can either have another injection or she can have a weeks worth of a smaller dose.

 

[MissMaggie]

Thank you. I will do that

I know I need to check with the vet but wonder if I could put half in the meat tonight to see if it’s something she will accept and just split the rest of her meds over 4 doses instead of 2.

If that’s even an option I’m not sure how well I’d manage to dispense half the amount from the syringe at a time.

 

[Maz]

I think dispensing half the dose at a time might be difficult to do - depending on the markings on the syringe and one type of syringe it is. I seem to remember it's quite sticky stuff. Last time I had it I was just given the bottle of meds and a 1 ml syringe to draw it up into at the correct dose.

 

[MissMaggie]

I think dispensing half the dose at a time might be difficult to do - depending on the markings on the syringe and one type of syringe it is. I seem to remember it's quite sticky stuff. Last time I had it I was just given the bottle of meds and a 1 ml syringe to draw it up into at the correct dose.

Yes I think it will be nigh on impossible. The dose basically fills the nose of the syringe only so can’t judge and one press and it’s all out!

I’ve phoned the vet to leave the query with him and will see what the night brings. I envisage a trip for an injection tomorrow…

 

[Maz]

It sounds like it isn't a 1 ml syringe, but a larger one. Hope the vet can help sort something