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Jav917
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Our Chinese dwarf hamster died all of a sudden. She was

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Our Chinese dwarf hamster died all of a sudden. She was about one and one half years old, at least that is what we think. She was running around yesterday with lots of energy and my daughter found her dead today. The only sign we can see of anything is that her front paws are bloody. She has had the same wheel she has always had which was smooth plastic. Any ideas. We have another chinese dwarf who lives in a separate cage and would like to figure out anything we need to be aware of. Thanks.
Jav917

Hello,

My name is ***** ***** I am a Vet Tech with over 35 years of experience in Pet Health and care.

I am sorry for the loss. I need to ask a few questions to best assist you.

Was the hamster drinking alot of water?

Did the hamster urinate a lot?

Any tooth grinding?

Any open mouth breathig?

Joan

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Customer: replied 8 months ago.
The hamster had a water bottle and appeared to be drinking, maybe a little more than normal but it didn't strike us as unusual. We are not aware of extra urination because she has a very large cage which was fairly clean so it was hard to tell. Did not see any unusual tooth grinding or mouth breathing. She did not appear sick. The day before she was very high energy, running normally.
Customer: replied 8 months ago.
When we found her dead her feet and nose were dark red. I have since learned that that happens after a hamster dies.

Thank you for the information.There are severa; ailments that can abruptly take a hamsters life.

The first issue we see is dibetes which in Dwarf hamsters is a predisposed condition. I think we can rule that out, since you mentioned the reddened nose.

I am leaning to a Heart attack in this case. The fact the hamster was active and running around and was very active whne last seen.

My suspicion would be you lost the hamster to a Heart attack since there were no outward signs of what could have caused the loss.

Please reply to discuss this information and questions.

Joan

Other possibilities are a stroke, but Hamsters generally can recover from strokes and the other possibility would be cancer, but there was no outward signs.

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Customer: replied 8 months ago.
Thanks for the information. How does the reddened nose rule out diabetes? What is the best diet to feed a hamster to prevent diabetes? Thanks.

I rules out dibetes becuse of the Thirst and urination which are two of the major symptoms other then extreme weight loss. He was also active that we do not see as much with diabetes.

Diet stay asay from treats. Use a good quality food of seed and preferallimited sunflower seeds. Fesh veggoes and Hard boiled egg yolk are good sourcesof Protein.

The Red nose is telling me blood pressure was high.

Please let me know if you have further questions. If I have addressed your concerns, please take a moment to rate my service 5 stars. This alerts Just answer I have assisted you and I will be compensated for time and answers.

Joan

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