William

[William]

Hi, I have a syrian Hamster called William who is nearly three. He is loved very much and lives in a nature enclosure inside a IKEA Detolf. He has been suffering for a while with sticky eyes which we bath every day or at least every two days. However, one of them looks a bit inflamed. He is also dragging is back legs and sometimes he wobbles over when he first wakes up. I've been putting this down to his age but now Iam worried its not. He eats well and is drinking. He is also thinner than he use to be. Should a three year old hamster still look spritley? He can run around quite fast when he gets warmed up. Thank you Elizabeth.

 

[RainbowBrite]

Hello and welcome to the forum. William is a lovely name for your hamster. I am sorry to hear he is showing signs of age. Some people take older hamsters to the vet to get pain relief. This can help them in their older years. He sounds like he is doing very well otherwise.

This is a link to an article about caring for an older hamster.

Caring for an older hamster

Caring for a hamster in old age can be very rewarding. They may need some extra attention. The hamster cage may need adjusting to remove levels and they need their teeth and nails checking plus often some supplementing with soft foods.

www.thehamsterforum.com

 

[Maz]

Hello and welcome. I'm sorry to hear William is having some issues. Sticky eyes are quite common when they get older. Assume he hasn't had any falls or anything, for him to be dragging his back legs. That and being wobbly are all signs that he is perhaps in his later time of life. Three years old is actually very very old for a hamster. It's the equivalent of about 120 in human years! As they get older their organs gradually don't function as well, and they can get arthritis and toothache just like humans.

I don't think there will be any specific diagnosis, but if you think he is suffering, then they can have Metacam for pain relief - he may have some aches and pains. The wobbling about seems a bit more serious perhaps, and unfortunately you may need to prepare for the fact that he is dying.

Sometimes they suddenly come around again for a while and have some good days, then get a bit worse again.

 

[Member ID2]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

William has reached a very old age and may benefit from some metacam/loxicom. It's a liquid medication from the vet that tastes sweet and hamsters like it.

One of my Syrians had stiff legs from arthritis when he got old and the pain relief got him up and running again for a few months.

 

[William]

Hello and welcome to the forum!

William has reached a very old age and may benefit from some metacam/loxicom. It's a liquid medication from the vet that tastes sweet and hamsters like it.

One of my Syrians had stiff legs from arthritis when he got old and the pain relief got him up and running again for a few months.

Thank you. I have some metacam would you know how much I should give him.

 

[Maz]

Is it dog or cat metacam? I think dog metacam is the usual one for hamsters. Something to do with the dose being easier to work out due to their fast metabolism. It's not easy to work out the dose for a hamster - the vet would normally do it. It's partly based on their weight, but an extra calculation as well to factor in their Metabolism. Do you know how much he weighs?

 

[Frida]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

 

[William]

Is it dog or cat metacam? I think dog metacam is the usual one for hamsters. Something to do with the dose being easier to work out due to their fast metabolism. It's not easy to work out the dose for a hamster - the vet would normally do it. It's partly based on their weight, but an extra calculation as well to factor in their Metabolism. Do you know how much he weighs?

I have cat metacam he weight 120 grams

 

[William]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Thank you.

 

[Maz]

Oh he is gorgeous Just seen your Avatar. I wouldn't know the possible dose for cat metacam. Dog metacam is stronger and my last Syrian weighed double what William weighs (he was a big hamster). But I seem to remember he was on 0.02ml of dog metacam. But it's not something you can guess at really. If you phone the vet they will probably want to see him first. Which might be an idea anyway, to get him looked at and the correct dose prescribed. It's difficult when you don't want to have them have the upheaval of a vet visit, but if you can speak to the vet on the phone and say you have some and would like to try him with some and explain how old he is, then they might work out the dose for you. It isn't as simple as just by weight as it is with other animals.

 

[elusive]

Hello & welcome to the forum.
William looks lovely & he really is a very good age, the things you describe are just signs of aging, being a bit wobbly & stiff are quite normal as are the eyes problems but I would be a bit concerned about him dragging his back legs. It would probably be best to just get him checked by the vet & get some advice about that & the vet will be able to prescribe the correct does of metacam if he needs it.

 

[Maz]

I'll just add to that, my first Syrian started dragging his back legs in his latter time also. It started with weak back legs and was likely to have been some muscular degeneration initially. Whatever is causing it, there isn't much you can do apart from give pain relief. It would be different if he'd had a fall and spinal injury but that sounds unlikely. Our first Syrians would still zip about the room fairly speedily, dragging his back legs behind him. so he was happy and energetic enough. What is he like out of the cage?

 

[William]

Hello and welcome to the forum. William is a lovely name for your hamster. I am sorry to hear he is showing signs of age. Some people take older hamsters to the vet to get pain relief. This can help them in their older years. He sounds like he is doing very well otherwise.

This is a link to an article about caring for an older hamster.

Caring for an older hamster

Caring for a hamster in old age can be very rewarding. They may need some extra attention. The hamster cage may need adjusting to remove levels and they need their teeth and nails checking plus often some supplementing with soft foods.

www.thehamsterforum.com

Thank you so much for the link. I have called the vet today and they have told me what dose of metacam to give William because I already had some. She was happy to tell me over the phone as did not want to stress him with a journey to see her. He took the first dose today.

 

[William]

I'll just add to that, my first Syrian started dragging his back legs in his latter time also. It started with weak back legs and was likely to have been some muscular degeneration initially. Whatever is causing it, there isn't much you can do apart from give pain relief. It would be different if he'd had a fall and spinal injury but that sounds unlikely. Our first Syrians would still zip about the room fairly speedily, dragging his back legs behind him. so he was happy and energetic enough. What is he like out of the cage?

Hi, thank you for your help. William is good out of his enclosure he likes a run around and does so for a fare while before he pops back in his little pod I lay out for him. He eats really well and is drinking. I gave him his first lot of metacam tonight after consulting the vet. I feel much better now that Iam doing something for him. I do love him as he is just so sweet.

 

[William]

I would like to thank everyone for your advice and for taking the time to write to me. I had a good chat with the Vet today and she is confident that its is just age related and she worked out the dose of Metacam for me. He did not mind taking it at all. I love this forum.

 

[RainbowBrite]

That is so good to hear.

 

[Member ID2]

Is William the beautiful hamster in your avatar? That's good that he's on metacam now.

 

[Maz]

Aw he sounds like he's doing amazingly well. Glad the vet could help with the metacam dose. I'm sure that'll help any aches and pains.

 

[Riven]

Hello and welcome to the forum! What a brilliant age for a hammy to get to. I am so glad to hear that most of Williams problems are age related and may be easily managed with metacam. For his sticky eyes have you thought about an eye lubricant? My RB Lilith was an older hamster when I adopted her and had sticky eyes while in their care (something I knew before adopting her). It really did help keep her eye more comfortable so may be worth mentioning to your vet. As many animals age, including people, they can develop dry eyes as the tear ducts don't work as well as they once did. Eye lubricants and tear stimulants can be used to manage this. Lubricants typically need to be used about 4 times a day, which for a nocturnal animal like a hamster, is pretty difficult. I managed 3 times daily with my Lilith.

 

[William]

Is William the beautiful hamster in your avatar? That's good that he's on metacam now.

Yes he is thank you for saying his is beautiful.