ISO Hamster advice

[Maverick2272]

A couple of weeks ago we got my son a female hamster and a nice new cage for it to have fun in. It has done pretty good, exploring the three tier cage and making nests and exercising etc, except for a couple of times:

One where the youngest kicked the cage off the dresser. The hamster seemed OK afterwards even thought the dog tried to run off with it. I put the cage back together for the most part, some pieces have cracks or chips but it all works. That was just over a week ago.

The second was yesterday when the 3 yrd old got it out of the cage despite our locking 2 out of 3 doors for just this reason, and took it swimming in the bathroom sink. It seemed fine afterwards and active.

Today, all was fine until a couple of hours ago when suddenly it fell over on its back and started convulsing. It is now laying on a cushion while my son holds it, sometimes she stays still and breaths fast, sometimes she starts to twist around a couple of times in convulsions. She also seems to favor her left arm, but I can't seem to find any problem with it.
Anybody have any ideas on what is wrong? I can't tell if she suddenly took sick or broke an arm in a fall or something?

 

[texasgirl]

hmm, I don't know. It may have been hurt the other times and just now showing brain damage{convulsing} Or, something else could have happened without your knowledge. I wouldn't get another small pet like that until the kiddos are all bigger though. Your poor son can only really do what he is doing, I think. Good luck, Mav!

 

[Maverick2272]

Yea, it was a huge mistake on my part there. He had been very responsible, but the 3 year old is causing major problems.

 

[pacanis]

Anybody have any ideas on what is wrong? I can't tell if she suddenly took sick or broke an arm in a fall or something?

Yes..... but you probably don't want to hear them

After I was done laughing reading the first part, I get somber thinking of all the pets in the world who fall victim to kids' best intentions. And I'm sure they were best intentions (aside from kicking the cage off the dresser). Just like I'm sure you did with your poochies and the kids, you need to teach them that hamsters, even though they are rodents, are pretty fragile life forms.
Think about it, how gentle can a three year old be?
Sorry about the hamster I doubt it's going to make it but I'm pulling for you/him.

 

[texasgirl]

Yea, it was a huge mistake on my part there. He had been very responsible, but the 3 year old is causing major problems.

Yeah, well, we learn as we go We cannot be perfect in every choice we make and we never will. lol

 

[babetoo]

i don't know either. i killed one once. was watching three of em for my neighbors boys. had them at my house. we had some as well. it was very very hot, so i took all the cages out on the patio. when i came out later, one was not moving.

now i will never know why i did this, but i took it out and turned the hose on it. needless to say it did not help. all i had was a wet dead Guinea pig. so we buried it. every night til they came home i dreamed about how upset they were going to be.

all the mom said was "well that's one" the boys just wanted us to dig it up and have a grander funeral. we did so.

never ever took care of others peoples pets again.

babe

 

[Maverick2272]

My son is very broken up about it right now, been crying for awhile. He was very responsible with the hamster, made sure it had plenty of food and water, even locked two of the three doors on the cage as a precaution against the 3 year old as she seemed to have developed a fascination with it. Now he has the cage lashed down so it can't be kicked off or moved at all. All in all very responsible and he loves his new pet. Keeps the cage clean, and has a hamster ball so she can roll around on the floor and explore safely.

I just made a serious mistake thinking Abby would not be a problem and could be kept controlled or away from the hamster, I hate to think it is suffering or even going to die because of my miscalculation concerning Abby's persistence. Katie and Mitch both have been very good about being gentle with it, so I know they learned from what I taught them which is to have respect for living creatures in their care.

 

[Maverick2272]

i don't know either. i killed one once. was watching three of em for my neighbors boys. had them at my house. we had some as well. it was very very hot, so i took all the cages out on the patio. when i came out later, one was not moving.

now i will never know why i did this, but i took it out and turned the hose on it. needless to say it did not help. all i had was a wet dead Guinea pig. so we buried it. every night til they came home i dreamed about how upset they were going to be.

all the mom said was "well that's one" the boys just wanted us to dig it up and have a grander funeral. we did so.

never ever took care of others peoples pets again.

babe

Heat. When I bought the hamster they actually kept him in the store until I had started the car and run the AC in it long enough to cool it off. They said the heat will kill em fast.

 

[QSis]

Awwwww, Buddy, I'm sorry. I can't offer an explanation or advice on what to do for the hamster at home. If it were me, I'd take her to the vet, though I don't know whether he/she could or would do anything.

Must be breaking your heart and your kids' hearts to watch her suffer.

Lee

 

[urmaniac13]

Your little one may have had a stroke. My Napoleone had one once and it was frightening, and it also came with a temporary partial paralysis. It passed after a few hours, but I would have a vet check on him just to be on the same side. (I hope you know a vet who specializes in small animals.. not all vets handle little hamsters very well)
They are tiny little troopers and much tougher than they seems, but be careful with your 3 year old and be sure to supervise them whenever they are together!! They still tend to think Hamsters are toys!

 

[Maverick2272]

I didn't think vets could do anything with hamsters?? OK, I will look around then and see if I can find one that deals with small animals. Maybe I can call them and seek advice on what to do as well.
For now she is in her travel cage which is darker and homier than her full cage. She appears to be just laying there but still breathing. We thought she would be more comfortable there and easier to keep an eye on her.
Thanks!

 

[jkath]

Something else to consider - we got a hamster for my boy some years ago and it died in 2 days. Not good. So we got the second one and it died in 2 days. Again, not good.

Then we went to another pet store and they told us that VERY often, hamsters don't live longer than a week after folks buy them, due to poor breeding and handling BEFORE they are purchased! So, we finally got hamster 3 at that place and she lasted 2-1/2 years.

When she finally went, our vet (who does wonders on animals of all sizes) told us the same thing the pet store had, about some hammies not lasting long.

 

[Maverick2272]

I wondered why the store filled out this 'guarantee' paper saying if the hamster died in 15 days for any reason I get a new one free... your experiences would explain that.
I think I am past the 15 days, but I have to find the paperwork to make sure. Right now I am hoping she pulls thru...

 

[pacanis]

I wondered why the store filled out this 'guarantee' paper saying if the hamster died in 15 days for any reason I get a new one free... your experiences would explain that.
I think I am past the 15 days, but I have to find the paperwork to make sure. Right now I am hoping she pulls thru...

Whoops, time for another interjection

Many pets are sold with a guarantee. I do not know the motives of your particular pet store, but speaking from knowing a little about dog and cat breeders, a reputable breeder would not sell a pet without a similar guarantee, usually it's one year for cats and dogs. They feel that strongly about their breeding practices and the health screening they have done of the breeding pair before producing a litter.
Since hamsters only live a couple of years, I think a 15 day guarantee would be acceptable, not that it eases anything .
No guarantee would be more an admission of something "going on" or them only being in it for the money. IMO.

 

[Maverick2272]

Whoops, time for another interjection

Many pets are sold with a guarantee. I do not know the motives of your particular pet store, but speaking from knowing a little about dog and cat breeders, a reputable breeder would not sell a pet without a similar guarantee, usually it's one year for cats and dogs. They feel that strongly about their breeding practices and the health screening they have done of the breeding pair before producing a litter.
Since hamsters only live a couple of years, I think a 15 day guarantee would be acceptable, not that it eases anything .
No guarantee would be more an admission of something "going on" or them only being in it for the money. IMO.

I did not know that, it is the first time I have bought a pet from the store. Our dogs came directly from private individual breeders (actually in Iowa) so we have AKC papers on them and their histories etc but no guarantee.
Except Princess, she was given to us from someone else so no idea where she came from or anything.

 

[pacanis]

I'm not advocating getting a pet from the store, though for hamsters, what choices do you have, just that a guarantee is not so unusual or a sign that something is "bound" to happen.

Good luck with the little guy.

 

[Maverick2272]

I understand, thanks for the info. So far she appears to be sleeping, still breathing, occasionally rolling over, twitching some, then rolling back over and lying still.

 

[Barbara L]

I agree that the swimming incident may have been instrumental in the hamster's convulsions.

I just did a search (hamster convulsions) and found a few things. One article, Your Little Troublemaker - Hartz.com, talked about various small pets and mentioned, not hamsters but gerbils, and said that gerbils often go into what looks like a seizure and convulsions if they are upset or mishandled, but it gave the impression that this didn't last very long. Here is a really stupid question, but what did the hamster eat? Just its hamster food, or could it have gotten into something really fatty. I'm sure there is nothing to that, but here is an article I read about hamsters going into convulsions if eating butterfat, Production of Convulsions in Hamsters by High Butterfat Intake. Another article discusses hamsters chewing batteries, etc., Heavy Metals. I couldn't believe how many articles there are discussing hamster convulsions.

Barbara

 

[Maverick2272]

As far as I know, just its hamster food. I will double check with the kids in the morning and make sure they didn't try and feed it something else. Hopefully it is over the swimming incident and she will recover from it.

 

[jkath]

fingers crossed for your little fuzzy friend!