Antibiotics? Natural remedies?

[mittensmalice]

It's been a while since I posted, but I really need some assurance from more experienced hammy owners. In a way this is kind of a rant too. Sorry if this comes off as super messy and yappy, I'm not in the right headspace right now.

So my family's baby (well but I'm the only one that looks after him so) choked on emeraid mix. I feel like absolute shit about it too because I feel like I could've prevented this. I fed him 0.1ml at a time but I'm pretty sure I went a bit too fast + he really did not want the syringe in his mouth and struggled.

Prior to this he had a bad eye infection (melting cornea in the left eye as it was scratched) and was an prescribed oral antibiotic, anti inflammatory and antibiotic eye gel. And before this infection, his eyes had already succumbed to cataracts. He also had blood in his eyes + some growth in them, which led to his eyes shrinking (the vet put him on permanent steroid eye drops for this). My mother hates going to the vet (she kind of thinks that vets are out to make as much money as possible off pet owners), and blames the vet for his eye infection because she thinks the steroid eye drops indirectly caused it.

So back to the present, I went into full panic mode as he had really bad laboured breathing and was making constant clicking sounds. He was also getting weaker after a few hours, so I made an emergency trip down to the vet. The vet said it was most likely the emeraid getting stuck in his lungs, and that he could have pneumonia. She put him on oxygen and his breathing improved, so we ended up renting an oxygen concentrator so that we could bring him home instead of leaving him at the clinic. She asked us to continue with the antibiotic (for both his eyes and lungs) and antibiotic eye gel for another week.

The lady we rented the machine from instructed us to use the oxygen concentrator for 30minutes, then turn it off and open the tank lid for 15minutes then repeat until our hamster can breathe properly again. She also said we shouldn't put in any of his bedding (and paper/sand) as it could result in dust getting into his lungs. She then told my mother that vets only want to sell chemicals to pet owners, and that the antibiotics are terrible for our hamster as he's too weak to handle them. She instead advised us to use natural remedies like herbs, honey and yoghurt. So now my mum is fighting with me over administering antibiotics.

I'm really frustrated as my mother's kind of a boomer, and I'm not totally dismissing natural cures but I personally feel that medicine is supposed to help. Also because our hamster has already been on this antibiotic for a week and I'm pretty sure you're supposed to finish the whole course (at least for humans right)? My mother is really guiltripping me hard on this and I guess I really need some assurance/clarification now on all this conflicting information. My vet is an exotic vet who does specialise in pocket pets, so I do believe that she knows better.

The prescription (Could someone reassure me on the dosage):
The antibiotic he's been given is Baytril 10% (0.2ml in 1.8ml glucose), to be fed 0.03ml twice daily.
The antibiotic eye gel is Tricin eye and ear ointment, to be applied twice a day to heal scarring (the vet said that the ulcer in his eye has healed so I'm pretty sure the gel is effective)
We were also advised to feed him 3-4ml of emeraid omnivore per day as he has had a loss in appetite. He's also dehydrated, so I'll be using the electrolytes recipe from this forum! Could anyone kindly advise how much I should give him? For reference, he's a dwarf hamster and currently at 31grams.

Thank you so much ;-;

[brownies_buddy]

I'm really frustrated as my mother's kind of a boomer, and I'm not totally dismissing natural cures but I personally feel that medicine is supposed to help. Also because our hamster has already been on this antibiotic for a week and I'm pretty sure you're supposed to finish the whole course (at least for humans right)? My mother is really guiltripping me hard on this and I guess I really need some assurance/clarification now on all this conflicting information. My vet is an exotic vet who does specialise in pocket pets, so I do believe that she knows better.

The prescription (Could someone reassure me on the dosage):
The antibiotic he's been given is Baytril 10% (0.2ml in 1.8ml glucose), to be fed 0.03ml twice daily.
The antibiotic eye gel is Tricin eye and ear ointment, to be applied twice a day to heal scarring (the vet said that the ulcer in his eye has healed so I'm pretty sure the gel is effective)
We were also advised to feed him 3-4ml of emeraid omnivore per day as he has had a loss in appetite. He's also dehydrated, so I'll be using the electrolytes recipe from this forum! Could anyone kindly advise how much I should give him? For reference, he's a dwarf hamster and currently at 31grams.

Thank you so much ;-;

Firstly I'm so sorry you are going through this!

Before I can offer any suggestions, how old is your hamster and what species? (Syrian, Winter, Campbell, etc?)

I do actually use both natural remedies and pharmaceutical medicine, I think they both have their place!

Is your hamster eating anything on his/her own? Slices of cucumber are great natural hydration (but only if they are eating themselves)

[Kikya]

It's been a while since I posted, but I really need some assurance from more experienced hammy owners. In a way this is kind of a rant too. Sorry if this comes off as super messy and yappy, I'm not in the right headspace right now.

So my family's baby (well but I'm the only one that looks after him so) choked on emeraid mix. I feel like absolute shit about it too because I feel like I could've prevented this. I fed him 0.1ml at a time but I'm pretty sure I went a bit too fast + he really did not want the syringe in his mouth and struggled.

Prior to this he had a bad eye infection (melting cornea in the left eye as it was scratched) and was an prescribed oral antibiotic, anti inflammatory and antibiotic eye gel. And before this infection, his eyes had already succumbed to cataracts. He also had blood in his eyes + some growth in them, which led to his eyes shrinking (the vet put him on permanent steroid eye drops for this). My mother hates going to the vet (she kind of thinks that vets are out to make as much money as possible off pet owners), and blames the vet for his eye infection because she thinks the steroid eye drops indirectly caused it.

So back to the present, I went into full panic mode as he had really bad laboured breathing and was making constant clicking sounds. He was also getting weaker after a few hours, so I made an emergency trip down to the vet. The vet said it was most likely the emeraid getting stuck in his lungs, and that he could have pneumonia. She put him on oxygen and his breathing improved, so we ended up renting an oxygen concentrator so that we could bring him home instead of leaving him at the clinic. She asked us to continue with the antibiotic (for both his eyes and lungs) and antibiotic eye gel for another week.

The lady we rented the machine from instructed us to use the oxygen concentrator for 30minutes, then turn it off and open the tank lid for 15minutes then repeat until our hamster can breathe properly again. She also said we shouldn't put in any of his bedding (and paper/sand) as it could result in dust getting into his lungs. She then told my mother that vets only want to sell chemicals to pet owners, and that the antibiotics are terrible for our hamster as he's too weak to handle them. She instead advised us to use natural remedies like herbs, honey and yoghurt. So now my mum is fighting with me over administering antibiotics.

I'm really frustrated as my mother's kind of a boomer, and I'm not totally dismissing natural cures but I personally feel that medicine is supposed to help. Also because our hamster has already been on this antibiotic for a week and I'm pretty sure you're supposed to finish the whole course (at least for humans right)? My mother is really guiltripping me hard on this and I guess I really need some assurance/clarification now on all this conflicting information. My vet is an exotic vet who does specialise in pocket pets, so I do believe that she knows better.

The prescription (Could someone reassure me on the dosage):
The antibiotic he's been given is Baytril 10% (0.2ml in 1.8ml glucose), to be fed 0.03ml twice daily.
The antibiotic eye gel is Tricin eye and ear ointment, to be applied twice a day to heal scarring (the vet said that the ulcer in his eye has healed so I'm pretty sure the gel is effective)
We were also advised to feed him 3-4ml of emeraid omnivore per day as he has had a loss in appetite. He's also dehydrated, so I'll be using the electrolytes recipe from this forum! Could anyone kindly advise how much I should give him? For reference, he's a dwarf hamster and currently at 31grams.

Thank you so much ;-;

Hello there,

First off, I want to say that dwarf hamsters are prone to eye issues so it's extremely unlikely the steroids caused this issue. It sounds he already had eye issues and you are doing the best you can to help. I would follow that vet's advice on this. There's nothing about her advice that is alarming me. There is a time and place for home remedies and I use quite a few in my house but there is also a place for antibiotics and modern medicine. I think they go hand and hand. It's amazing she thought to use the oxygen chamber like that. She sounds like a good pocket vet.

.03 is a perfectly fine dose for a hamster weighing around 30 grams and baytril is a safe antibiotic for hamsters.
You would know very rapidly if the eye ointment was hurting the hamster. If it's an antibiotic that a hamster is sensitive to, you would see a rapid decline in health.
The electrolytes is good for dehydration for sure. You could also try something you don't have to force like baby purees, chicken or single vegetables/fruits with no added salt. I put a tiny amount on a spoon and my hamsters would lick it up. That will give him some hydration and energy. I like the Emeraid but some hamsters will not eat it. Have you tried Critical Care Omnivore? He might like that better if it's available to you.

Dehydration is tricky, because you want to go slow. Start with .3 of a 1ml syringe and then wait a while and recheck to see if the hamster is still dehydrated by doing the skin test.

I talk more about this on the health check guide, https://www.hamsterclubhouse.com/forum/ ... .php?t=149

Thank you for the reminder to update that post with the measurements for how much to give for dwarves vs syrians.

[mittensmalice]

Firstly I'm so sorry you are going through this!

Before I can offer any suggestions, how old is your hamster and what species? (Syrian, Winter, Campbell, etc?)

I do actually use both natural remedies and pharmaceutical medicine, I think they both have their place!

Is your hamster eating anything on his/her own? Slices of cucumber are great natural hydration (but only if they are eating themselves)

Tysm for replying! My hamster is a 2 year old dwarf winter white. His appetite has definitely decreased compared to when he was younger, but it's never been this low. I guess he just didn't feel like eating as he was sick. He's doing a little better now and eating a little more of his seed mix (not much though). He's really picky with everything right now. So far he's been quite receptive to freeze dried cottage cheese, moringa leaves, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and pine nuts. I've tried giving him fresh cucumber but he takes a few bites before tossing it away.

[mittensmalice]

Hello there,

First off, I want to say that dwarf hamsters are prone to eye issues so it's extremely unlikely the steroids caused this issue. It sounds he already had eye issues and you are doing the best you can to help. I would follow that vet's advice on this. There's nothing about her advice that is alarming me. There is a time and place for home remedies and I use quite a few in my house but there is also a place for antibiotics and modern medicine. I think they go hand and hand. It's amazing she thought to use the oxygen chamber like that. She sounds like a good pocket vet.

.03 is a perfectly fine dose for a hamster weighing around 30 grams and baytril is a safe antibiotic for hamsters.
You would know very rapidly if the eye ointment was hurting the hamster. If it's an antibiotic that a hamster is sensitive to, you would see a rapid decline in health.
The electrolytes is good for dehydration for sure. You could also try something you don't have to force like baby purees, chicken or single vegetables/fruits with no added salt. I put a tiny amount on a spoon and my hamsters would lick it up. That will give him some hydration and energy. I like the Emeraid but some hamsters will not eat it. Have you tried Critical Care Omnivore? He might like that better if it's available to you.

Dehydration is tricky, because you want to go slow. Start with .3 of a 1ml syringe and then wait a while and recheck to see if the hamster is still dehydrated by doing the skin test.

I talk more about this on the health check guide, https://www.hamsterclubhouse.com/forum/ ... .php?t=149

Thank you for the reminder to update that post with the measurements for how much to give for dwarves vs syrians.

Thank you so much! I've been secretly feeding him the prescribed medications, so hearing this is a huge relief. He's doing better now, and definitely not as dehydrated as before. To be honest I can't really tell with the skin test... his skin kinda does go down? But I'm not sure either because his fur is really oily right now (vet says he can't get any sand baths till his eyes recover) so whenever i pinch the neck skin the fur goes up and just stays there, I can't really see the movement of the skin. I've seen him reaching for his water bowl though, and I'm still syringe feeding him 0.1-0.2ml of water every hour. I've been giving him 0.2ml of the electrolyte solution several times here and there as well.

Regarding the emeraid, the crazy thing is he used to love it. He would grab the syringe from me willingly and not let go. Now the little bastard kind of hates it, he actually unpouches it (like how?? I swear I wasn't even aiming the syringe into his pouches). Maybe it's because I'm giving a large amount now? I used to only give him 0.3ml x 3 times a day. I'll look up other brands of critical care available to me. I'm still offering him his regular seed mix, and the porridge version of it. He's been eating a little bit of both now.

I've given him fresh cucumber and moringa leaves, both of which he likes (although he only takes a few bites from the cucumber, but I guess it's a huge improvement as he used to really hate cucumber too). I'll try giving him chicken again, not too sure how he'll react to it as he's hated chicken since he was young. Do you think salmon would work too? I have a pack of freeze dried salmon (it's one of his favourite proteins), I could go grab some fresh salmon and steam it for him since the freeze dried version could be too hard.