Please Help!!!!!!!!

[calikid]

Please help me!! there is something wrong w/ my beloved hammie Kiwi!! her eyes are watery and red and puffy is she catching a cold or dose she have allergises she will be okay RIGHT :(

[tvrodents]

without seeing its impossible to diagnose but this sounds like either an allergy or conjunctivitis. either way, lean the hamsters eyes with warm salty water, just wipe them GENTLY with a piece of cottom wool soaked in the solution.
What are you keeping her on? what species is she? Wood shavings are terrible for causing allergies and I have seen animals that have never been allergic to them before suddenly react to pine shavings.

Kat

[ratbrat21]

if you have your ham on pine or cedar get it off now...those are both very toxic and should never be used. If you wanna use wood shavings i suggest aspen or if your worried about alleriges use carefresh or newspaper. If the problem gets worse or doesnt go away the ham needs a vet then.

[rodentparadise]

Someone else on the forum is experiencing troubles with a hamster and a cold, visit the post by clicking on the "Emergency help please!!!" post by hammieluvr on the main hamster forum page, should offer you some help.

[calikid]

My hammie is a syrain i have her using CareFresh bedding allready but i just got her a few days ago so she might be allergic to the food she is using :( i used the salt water solution and it helpped w/thee reddness and most of the swelling :) so thanks you for all your help every bit of info helps THANKS

[pixibubbles]

if the salt water helps it definately sounds like a reaction to something. especially as she is new to you. Do you have any air fresheners or scented stuff in the room? has she got fluffy or paper nesting material? i;ve never heard of hamsters being allergic to care fresh but i suppose it COULD happen. you could take it all away and give her shredded up tissue to see?

did you use a cage disinfectant? it could be that if you did. i would clean the cage from top to bottom (use hot water instead of any disinfectants). give her soft tissue bedding and remove any toys that could have allergies or she could poke herself in eyes or anything. i;ve seen lots of chew toys made from grass... ui dont see why a hammie cant have hayfever in theroy.

re-introduce stuff to her cage over a few days and keep an eye on her. maybe you can figure out what it is bothering her.

Just as a note baby syrians often get gluey or sticky eye, where it's usually the eye just looks sticky and stays closed and isnt usually swollen.

if she gets worse or starts panting, wheezing or whistlign as she breathes rush her to vets as it is cold and not allergy x

[CookieDough24]

Take her to the vet!! It would be difficult to diagnois the problem without actually seeing the hammie. Good luck and keep us posted! :)

[hammieluvr]

hi calikid,

I was the one who posted the "Emergency Help Please!" Thread. Follow the advice on those pages. Within 1 day Jazzy was up and running around again, no water/puffy eyes, no tiredness, no gunk in eyes, NO SNEEZING!!! She was so much better! Everyone on PetsHub gave me great advice. So, if you follow that advice, you should be okay, but PLEASE, if it is not better in probably 2 days or worsens by tomorrow, PLEASE go to the vet! If colds get worse they can develop into pneumonia and kill the hamster, so please take it to the vet if it worsens.

[calikid]

I took Kiwi to the vet and they said it's allergise and give my some "special" food and drops to put in her water to keep her healthy thanks for everyones great advice and help :)

[hammieluvr]

Oh, I'm so glad she's doing better! :D I hope she heals completely. Thanks for being responsible and taking her to the vet! Hive her a hamster-sized :hug: for me!

[hamstermoo]

i would put human artificial tear eyedrops on her eyes just to flush out any bacteria to prevent more infections from forming in the meantime

[CookieDough24]

That's great news! I'm so glad you were a good owner and took her to the vet! Good job and I know she'll be her old self sooner than you know!! :)