Sneezing hamster

[ruzzian]

Hi everyone,

Its been a while since I last came on here but I have a problem with my little guy, Ray. For the last few months he has been having little sneezing fits, on and off. He doesnt look in any distress but he has had a tendency to run around his cage frantically for a few seconds whilst sneezing. Well... I think he is sneezing. It sounds like a little squeek but I am pretty sure its a little sneeze. Only in the last week has it become more common and wasnt sure what to do about it as he looks and acts fine.

I have had a little hamster die of a lung infection and can safely say Ray is not showing any of the symptoms that Holly did. Is it possible he just has a little cold or something which will disappear on its own? He is over 2 years old now so I dont expect him to be 100% all the time but wondered if there is anything I can do to help him?

Thanks!

[hitbystars]

What bedding are you using? Has he been in that bedding all of his life?

[ruzzian]

Yeah, he has always slept in nestle-down and toilet paper which we tear into strips. When Holly died earlier this year we changed from using Wood clippings to CareFresh and he has been fine with it. We tried to change all bedding to non-allergenic after the loss of Holly. The only other change in the last few months for Ray is I have started sprinkling a pro-biotic over his food as he has quite wet poo's. He has been pooing like this for over a year now but recently he does seem to have less control over his pooing. But dont take my work for that as I only noticed it today.

[hitbystars]

If any of the bedding items have fragrances, remove them first & monitor his sneezing.

if not improved, do you have a small animal vet around your area? it sounds like a respitory problem if hes constantly sneezing.

[ruzzian]

There are no fragrenced objects in there but a disinfectant spray we bought just recently has been the first spray ever which has had quite a strong smell. But this sneezing problem did start before we got this.

The weird thing is he is not sneezing constantly. I would say that 85% of the time he is fine and acts as normal but then all of a sudden he will have a little sneezing fit which will last at most about 20 seconds. It has been a little more common this week but still he doesnt act like he is in any distress. With Holly's respiratory problem when she was having a bad spell she would sit still and look very uncomfortable and Ray isnt doing this. He is just acting like a human would if they had a sneezing fit. Its very strange.

[hitbystars]

How often does he sneeze... like once a day, or week like this? It seems normal if its not every other 20 seconds :p

[ruzzian]

Normally I would say it was about once a day but today he has had a few. It might be less again tomorrow.

[hitbystars]

Do you have any vitamins for him? Peanut had a *walk-sneeze-walk-sneeze* problem and it went away when I started putting these liquid vitamins in her water. (of course yesterday I was stupid & knocked over this 7 dollar bottle of liquid vitamins all over my floor).

[ruzzian]

I dont have any but I'll go and get some. Hopefully it'll do the trick. Although I have a tendency to spill things too so I better not copy you at that price :p

[hitbystars]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y113/pinkchrome/etc/vitamins.jpg

I just didn't screw the top back on after using it.. then I knocked it over picking it up BY the top haha.

[ruzzian]

Hah ah no! That sucks! I spilt a bottle of £30 antibiotic drops over when Holly was ill and I also spilt a £25 bottle of special wash for Millie when she has Cushings. I'm a moron so your in good company!

:highfive:

[TiaMaria]

It sounds like a cold to me, as they get older there ammune system doesnt work as well. I would get some dri-tail or vitamins as suggested and place them in his water. Also my dwarfs at one point would sneeze when they got running around. I dunno why but it happened every once in a while. It was kind of a cute little noise. A vet check is recommended though as they get older more fluently, such as every 3 months. I'd try vitamins and if it still continues take him to the vet.

[pixibubbles]

i do have a question ruzzian if ya dont mind me being cheeky... my pearl Syrian Rocky has a form of cushings (touch wood she is holding her own) but i was wondering if you could remember what the wash you used for millie was and how effective it was... i'm always on the look out for new ways to help my ham in case she worsens...

Would appreciate any info you can remember.

About the sneezing... could hammie have got some dust or something up nose thats bugging them? i lost a hammie under the floorbaords and when i got her out she sneezed for weeks afterwards... just every so often and the vet decided she had had got dust in her nose so we irrigated it and she was fine. Does he sneeze more after drinking? maybe his bottle is a bit drippy and he sniffing up water? (had that too) its more likly old age and a cold... but it could be something simple.

As to the lose droppings... one vet once recomended me gving high fibre breakfast cereal to a hammie of mine... just make sure it's not all sugered and stuff... so if you have allbran or shredded wheat type things in your cupboard...

[ruzzian]

Its no problem about the question pixibubbles. When Millie had cushings we tried the wash but it didnt help at all. She just got wet and looked very sad. We thought it ended up causing her more stress so we didnt do it more than once.

Millie was very far along into Cushings though and I know you can get some washes that help stop the hamsters skin getting infected when they lose fur but I'm sorry I cannot remember the name of it. Best bet is to ask your vet.

As regards Ray Ray and his sneezing i think it is a cold of some sort but the water bottle dripping also fits the bill as he usually sneezes after drinking. I will take him to the vet though, as much as he hates it.
:worried:

[TiaMaria]

Keep us informed about the vet..

[Stevie]

i dont know what cushings is, but you might wanna get some vitamins or take him to the vet and see if theres a hammy medicine for him or her.

[pixibubbles]

we've been to the vet frequently... that's how we know it is cushings or similar... the problem is the medicine you would treat a dog or cat with is far too strong and would almost certainly kill a hamster... but there are other things like diet changes and washes that can help so i am always looking for new ideas as even my vet who's really very good has never seen it in a hammie before.

[ruzzian]

Cushings Disease is very common in hamster. Its a hormone condition that can affect the adrenal glands. It is more understood in dogs but not hamsters. With Millie she ended up having adrenocortical cancer which is a common side affect of cushings. She lost all her hair and became really weak.

It can indeed be monitored by diet control but you have to make sure that you keep a look out for cancerous lumps under the skin on your hammy. I know for a fact there have been a few owners on this forum in the past that has had a hammy die of it and all of them will say the same. But I dont think the wash I used will help at all in your case pixibubbles. Sorry :(

[HandcuffedAngel]

Good luck with your sneezing ham.

And Pixibubbles, good luck with your ham as well.

[ilovepink]

awww
Goodluck with both of your hammies
from me Talulah and Talilah:D