Update: Balto

Balto seems much better after the abscess was removed :)
He's got his energy back, and it's a little more difficult to apply salve to the wound.
When it comes to the antibiotics I'm really impressed by how easy it is to give it to him, he swallows it without much fighting and doesn't spit out even a little droplet ^^

His eyes or rather his pupils is still white, thought. I can see that the whiteness in his eyes is dependent on the light and therefore the size of the pupil. And when I think back on the night I found him lying in the cage it was very dark so his pupils should be extracted so the whole eye would seem white to me.

I've tried to ask on a Norwegian hamster forum, but I've haven't got any answer, so I think I'll ask on an international forum to see if anyone seems to know what this is. I also think I will send some photos (the two bellow) to the vet, as it seems to me like they diden't check his eyes properly.

After surfing on the net a little searching for his symptoms I've begin to suspect cataract, as I he doesn't have problems with runny or sticky eyes I don't think is an eye infection, but I'm not an expert. And since he is on antibiotics shouldn't any infection been better by now? To me it seems like Balto has no problems with his eyes hurting, but it seems like he has lost some of his eyesight, as it seemed as he had some problems finding water in his cage, but I think that's solved after I gave him a water dish in addition to his water bottle).


Some pictures were you can see his white pupils (they were taken while he explored the bathroom after last evenings dose of medicine). Please click on the pictures to make them bigger.

Balto is sick :(

About 02:00(am) 17. august in the middle of the night I found Balto lying in his cage and his eyes were turned completely white. At fist I thought he was dead, then I lifted him up and he moved. It was to late to call the vet so I found a 1ml syringe and got him to drink about 2ml of water. I checked him lots of times during the night and it seems like his eyes got a little less white.

Next day I called the vet and had to leave him there since they ware really busy. Some hours later I got a message that they had found a abscess and removed it. When I come back to get him he seemed like he was in a little shock but fine, and his eyes seemed fine. I asked if they found out why his eyes turned white, and they told me that they hadn't found out and that probably it was because hamsters had a white transparent set of eyelids that had made his eyes seemed white. When we leaved we got some antibiotics (he's having 0,03ml twice a day for 10 days) and some salve for the wound.

When I came home I cleaned his cage and have used some kitchen paper as bedding. After a while I saw his pupils turning white again, so I gave him some more water and it seems like they became clearer again. I've also given him some Critical Care and some cockroaches since they contain lots of goodies (B. dubia). It seems like his eating, but not drinking by himself, so I've given him some cucumber (changes it every night) since it contains loots of water (and he eats it) in addition to giving him water with a 1ml syringe.

This is really scary since it's the fist time ever that Balto has been sick. Especially since he tends to sleep when I'm awake and wake up when I turn of the lights and go to bed when I turn it on. So it's was really luck that something kept me awake Tuesday night. I actually think Aristoteles have tried to tell me that something was wrong with Balto (he's laid in front of Baltos cage every night instead of under the table as he tends the, he's also spent loot of time in front of the cage), but as I'm just a stupid human I didn't get it... So I think Balto has been sick for maybe one or two days before I reacted as that's when Aristoteles "weird" behaviour started.




Balto after given water the night before the vet. Do you see the little white dot in the middle of his eye? That's not the camera. Before he was given water everything black in his eyes were white/greyish...