Hamster is convulsing

[alariac]

I really need help. This morning my hamster was fine. I picked him up and gave him some sunflower seeds and a small piece of cheese like I do every Friday. I come home from work and he is in the middle of his cage jerking real bad from his front legs. Rear legs seem to be just fine. His face is wet and the under side of his chin is wet. As I wiped his mouth it looked as if a little blood was on the towel. Right now he is sitting with my wife and seems to be calming down. There does appear to be a little bit of an odor. It is late and the vets have not returned our call. Is there anything we can do? Sammy has been a member of our family for almost a year now and has been great. I don't want to lose the little fella.

The sunflower seeds were peeled.
He does not seem overly cold or hot
his breathing does not seem irregular
his eyes are shiny.
face is wet and under chin is wet.
We have used an eye dropper to give him water and he has eaten a pasta noodle.

[alariac]

My wife continues to hold him and keep him warm. The convulsions are not as severe and he seems to be sniffing around. His eyes are still glassy and defined. He seems to be trying to swallow hard so I am wondering if something got stuck in one of his pouches. We are loading him up with water just in case he needs help passing something. We are very nervous and the doctor still has not returned our call.

[TiaMaria]

Does he have any signs of diahrea? Is he a syrian...could he have wet tail? More details please..

[TobyRat]

It might be a stroke. They seem to recover well from first strokes. Continue to give him water from the syringe but don't forse it into him. Keep his cage warm and keep offering him food. Also, take the wheel out of the cage until you can talk to a vet who is experienced with hamsters.

Good luck.

[alariac]

The Vet never returned our calls and I am to the point to put him (Sammy) out his misery by myself. A couple of times the convulsions were so bad he would stand on his hind legs and scream. He bit one of his legs really hard breaking the skin. This morning he is just laying in his cage still breathing and seems still alert but not moving. Maybe a twtich here and there. I do not know what type of hamster he is. He's just a typical short golden haired variety. I am fearful that I caused this to him because of using the safe fluffy bedding which I learned last night isn't safe at all. I don't want the little guy to be in so much pain.

[TobyRat]

I say forget waiting for the vet to return the call and take the hamster down there yourself. It sounds like he is in a lot of pain.

[LilWurm]

I agree. Take your hammy into the vet yourself.

You need to take fast action if your hammy cannot breathe properly and is biting himself. It indeed does sound like he's in a lot of pain.

Keep up with the water and make sure he had a soft, warm towel to lay on/in.

I know a lot of vets do not take care of hammies, so make sure your vet will give your hammy the time of day AND know what he/she is doing.

I wish you the best of luck for your hammy.

[alariac]

Well, it's a sad day. Sammy died today because I couldn't find a vet to take him serious enough to save his life. One actually said he was a simple rodent. I'm sorry but Sammy was a part of our family.

They all will sure do an after death review for a good amount of money though. I know he died because of that stupid fluffy bedding. His stomach was swollen and hard. They need to outlaw that stuff. My son doesn't know about Sammy yet. I am uncertain if I am going to tell him. He has had a bad streak with pets this year. One puppy died of diabetes, and the other puppy attacked him and bit his neck so we had to have him put down. Our cat, I think was taken by our next door neighbor and subsequently taken to the dog pound...rumor mill though. Then after hurricane Ivan, his grandfather passed away due to the stress. My wife and I are thinking of just replacing Sammy and not telling him. I don't know if that is a good idea or not. This close to Christmas I would hate to do the "fatherly" thing and tell him. It's a tough tough thing to do.

[sn0wball]

I am deeply sorry about your loss. I agree, they should get it out there that the bedding is not safe. Toilet paper is almost free and tons safer. Sounds like it most likely is the bedding, although there are other causes. Don't blame yourself, they market that towards hamsters and owners buy it thinking they are giving their little pal a special treat. I don't know if a surreptitious replacement is going to do the trick for your son because he will surely know the difference after a year of having Sammy. I'm really not sure how to deal with that I have no children of my own, but my advice wouldjust be to talk to the boy and let him decide if he wants another one. Good luck and you did the best you could.

[TiaMaria]

Id do the swap...Find the closes and biggest one, that looks more like sammy, you could probably find big ones at the humane society..they need loving homes, and are adult hams, so are rarely adopted...by u doing this you will be giving another ham a chance to live and be free with you guys...-OR- you could tell him about it and promise him 2 in return lol...double or nothing always works for children. If your up for 2 hams that is.

[alariac]

I scoured every petstore in my area and I found one that looks almost exactly like Sammy. His eyes are quite a bit different and he is a bit more active on the wheel but my son is none the wiser. I made sure the temperment of the new Sammy was good and I tell you...this little guy seems like he was hand raised because he took to me and my wife holding him like no business. I was fearful that we would have to do a lot of training so he would be like Sammy but all in all I think God gave us a good guy.

[OddCouples mum]

My husband and I are sorry for your loss... our hammies are like our kids, we love them both very much. I am just wonderting though, this fluffy bedding you speak of, is like a whitish cotton sort of thing you put in their home, along with their wood bedding? We have a little bit in there, but if it's unsafe, pls let me know... I'm going to take it out as a precaution anyway.

[CatieCats]

I am so sorry for your loss!!! We lost one of our dogs about 4 years ago and it still makes me sad to think about Gizmo.What was the name brand of bedding that you were using? I want to make sure that i am not using it. I am truely sorry for your loss :*-(