Screeching sounds!

AnitaJ

AnitaJ

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Hello, I’m new here and I wanted to ask for advice please.
We have an adorable, much loved Russian Dwarf Hamster, called Petal. She was two years old around the end of March 2024.
She has been blind on her left eye since she had an eye infection last year and the vet tried to force her swollen eye open, only to make it bleed! I was beside myself and thought she’ll die, it was horrific!
Thankfully she is still with us and she’s been fine, bless her!
Recently I could see her right eye is clouding over and she doesn’t seem very confident when she’s walking around, almost like as if she was drunk, she’s hesitant and wobbles a bit as she walks. I think poor Petal is going blind on her right eye. 😔
I’m giving these details to give context.
Today I was in the other room and she made a loud, screeching noise! She’s never done this before. It was an awful noise 😖 I run in to the study where she is, and she was running around in her cage! She’s never done this before! She was running manically. She settled after a while. This evening I went in to check on her and I thought she wasn’t breathing.
I opened the top of the cage and she woke up, lifted her little head, kind of fell backwards (she was in her little nest that she dug for herself and I didn’t touch her), and that’s when she screeched again. Only once for a short time this time (1-2 seconds).
Is she in pain? Does anyone have any recommendations/suggestions? We are due to go on holiday on Monday, our neighbours were going to look after her but I’m worried!
Thank you 🙏🏼🌷
Anita
 
Hello and welcome :-) I'm so sorry Petal is having these issues. Being blind in one eye wouldn't make her act drunk or walk differently. The clouding over could be a cataract. Or it may be something else. It does sound like she might be in pain or have some medical condition. And she's really quite old at two years old. It's such a worry if you're going away on Monday but I would phone tomorrow to get an emergency vet appointment and find out what's going on. They may try antibiotics and pain relief first. It's possible the clouding in the eye is some infection behind it and that could be painful.

Or it may be some other medical condition. It wouldn't be ideal for a pet sitter to have to deal with giving meds but it's possible. If the vet does prescribe antibiotics and pain relief then get some meaty dog food or corned beef in, some runny honey and some baby food. The metacam (pain relief) can be put into a tiny amount of baby food. The antibiotic tastes nasty and is hard to disguise so it either needs some strong beefy flavour or runny honey.

See what the vet says.
 
Thank you so much! I had no idea hamsters were allowed to eat meat!
The clouding is definitely cataracts but she has both eyes closed. Not sure if that was because she just woke up? Neither eye is swollen or has any discharge. I’m REALLY worried about taking her to the vet since the vet blinded her on one eye!
She is nearly 2.5 years old, bless her!
I love her so much! She’s my daughter’s hamster but I look after her and stroke her, my daughter always jokes that I’m in love with Petal, but I do really, really love her! I nursed her through some eye infections before, including the one when the vet blinded her and gave her nothing! I use colloidal silver when we have eye infections and I used that on Petal too, it helped every time, but she never screeched before and it broke my heart!
She always walks around kinda differently for months now, I think it’s because she can’t see that well. She has been eating well though, but she definitely lost some fur especially on her little neck - I could see that when she screeched 😖
I’m scared about taking her to the vet, when the vet blinded her, she gave no pain relief, no antibiotics, nothing! Once when she had an eye infection, they gave Metacam but I don’t think I’ve got that anymore and it’d have probably expired by now.
 
I know exactly what you mean - our first Syrian was our 6 year old boy's hamster but I fell in love with him :-)

It sounds like your vet isn't the best. You need to see an exotic vet. If you google exotic vets in your region, see what comes up. Sometimes you might have to travel to the next town. The fees are no different usually. The difference is that exotic vets know a lot more about hamsters. General vets don't really do any training in hamsters when they qualify and many don't really know much about them at all.

She is really old at two and a half! It's a credit to you she has lived this long. Staggering about can be other things like heart or other issues.
 
Thank you so much, you’re so kind Maz! 🙏🏼🌷💝
I just put the staggering down to old age, she is always so happy and adorable when I take her out, or when I stroke her back, she loves that! 🥰😍
It’s only in the last 2-3 days that she seems to be different, and I was worried that she might be coming to the end of her little life, bless her! It completely breaks my heart! She’s a little angel! Thank you for recommending the exotic pet route! I just looked it up and there’s a vet nearby, who seems to have an exotic pet vet, according to the reviews (4.8/5!)
They are only open Mon-Fri, so I’ll call them first thing Monday morning, before we go anywhere! We might just have to take Petsy with us to Weymouth ☺️ I’d rather treat her myself, and make sure she’s ok! 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼
 
If you're staying in something like a holiday let or house where you can set up a cage, that could be an option (taking her with you), if the travel distance is too far. I have done that myself with an elderly hamster who used to go downhill if we went away, but was perfectly happy as long as he was with us, even in a different house and cage and he'd run around the room where we were staying. I had a real bond with him, as you have with Petal.

I hope the vet can help on Monday. Most vets do have an emergency service or appointments at week-ends, but the exotic vet might not be available then.

It sounds positive she is ok out of the cage. She might just need some Metacam to keep her comfortable.

If you do decide to take her with you, it's best if they are transported in a pet carrier, not a cage. And secure it so it can't be thrown if you have to break hard. Eg between the seats in the footwell. Or I sometimes hold it on my knee. I also bag up all the bedding, nest, hoard and other items from the cage and then set up a temporary cage with those at the other end, so everything smells familiar. They usually accept a different wheel if the regular wheel won't fit.
 
Thank you so much Maz, that’s great advice! We are having to drive only 2.5 hours to our holiday destination and I think we might be able to take her whole cage. We are renting a house so it shouldn’t be a problem. I think it’s best if she comes with us!
She’s asleep now, I put in 2 blueberry halves for her, she loves blueberries, I hope she eats them and I’ll see how she is tomorrow, thank you so much for all your kind help and advice! 🙏🏼🌷💝
 
She's a beautiful little girl :-)
 
Hello & welcome.
Petsy really is an adorable little ham!
I had a very elderly Russian who was blind for quite some time toward the end of his life & the blindness wasn’t a problem for him at all & I’m sure Petsy would manage ok with that too.
The clouding in the eye may be a cataract but it could also be an ulcer, ulceration of the eye is not uncommon, if it is that it may explain the screeching & behaviour change as it would be quite painful for her.
I really hope you can get the help she needs from the vet.
It may be worth asking them to check her ears too as an ear infection or other issue could lead to unsteadiness & loss of balance but that could also just be down to old age.
 
Thank you so much for your lovely and kind message, I really appreciate it!
She had sunflower seeds and banana for the first time last night and she loved them! I’m using colloidal silver on her eye as that always helped her in the past. She seems to be eating well and at the moment she seems to be sleeping more than she usually does. She likes me stroking her little back very gently when she’s awake or when she’s eating. I will keep you posted about her progress! I know she’s a little old lady but I hope she has some more time with us! I’m so glad I found this forum, where people get it that she’s not ‘just’ a hamster! Love is not logical and can’t be explained to others who just don’t get it, and I’m so happy that I found a place where people get it!
I love Petsy so much and it’s so lovely that you all love your little hamsters too! Wishing you all a beautiful weekend! 💝🌷☀️
 
It’s great to hear what a lovely strong bond you have with her, I really hope all goes well for you both to have plenty of time together yer.
The silver sounds like a good idea until you can get to the vet & see what they say.
 
I’m going to do my best to get her an appointment before we go on holiday on Monday! I hope I can find somewhere with an exotic pet vet, because I won’t take her back to the place where the vet blinded her! 😖
 
*Update* Petal ate nicely today, she seems stronger, and there was no screeching! She enjoyed some banana, sunflower seeds, apple, blackberry, raspberry and her usual hamster food.
I treated her eye, and it was open. She drank nicely too and we had a tiny cuddle. The colloidal silver is definitely helping her again! Thank God! My sweet little baby 😍🥰
 
Glad she's much better. I believe colloidal silver can be useful for various things but there are some risks if it's over-used, which I'm sure you know and are careful :-) Sometimes when they're older and get sticky eyes, just bathing them with tepid saline (Eg with the corner of damp soft cloth) can free the eye up and sooth it.
 
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