Hamsters, like other animals, are susceptible to various diseases. How to find out what your pet is sick with and how hamster diseases are treated?
Infectious diseases
Hamsters are most susceptible to infectious diseases. They are infected, as a rule, from sick animals. Treating contagious hamster diseases is quite problematic. Often, sadly enough, the only way out is to destroy the animal.
So, consider the most common infectious diseases that hamsters are susceptible to. In the case of the plague, the animal is characterized by lethargy, ruffled hair, seizures of muscles of the limbs, as well as cyanotic skin and mucous membrane. As a rule, such a disease leads to the death of the animal.
In infectious pneumonia in its acute form, hamsters lose their appetite, move little, their temperature rises. A frequent cough is observed, wheezing is heard in the lung area, and mucous discharge flows from the nose . In the chronic form, these symptoms are less pronounced. Fortunately, hamsters can be cured of this disease. Usually, with an infectious pneumonia, the veterinarian prescribes a course of treatment with sulfa drugs, antibiotics, and also recommends giving him glucose and vitamin C.
When hamsters become infected with a diplococcal infection, they can observe signs such as immobility, fever, pale mucous membranes, nasal discharge, cough, wheezing, and loss of appetite. If you suspect that your pet has been infected with this particular disease, then do not waste time and consult a doctor. In order for a fatal outcome, only a few days are enough. And for treatment, an injection of anti-diplococcal serum is necessary.
Perhaps hamsters have such a seemingly human disease as tuberculosis. With it, in animals one can observe not only an increase in temperature, pale mucous membranes and cough, but also in the case of intestinal damage - diarrhea, lack of appetite and disheveled hair. Unfortunately, hamsters cannot be cured with this disease.
Non-communicable diseases of hamsters and their treatment
Now we will deal with non-communicable diseases. Their cause may be poor living conditions, lack of vitamins or the activity of parasites in the body of the animal.
So, the cause of rickets, for example, may be a lack of sunlight or a lack of minerals and vitamin D. There are also cases when this disease occurs as a result of disturbances in the activity of the endocrine glands. A cage with a hamster that is sick with rickets should be placed in a bright room.
Poor respiratory conditions can also result from poor conditions. To prevent or eliminate them at an early stage, you need to place the cage in a warmer room and feed the animal with full food.
The activity of parasites, in particular, worms, leads to the depletion of the animal. At an early stage, what they are is imperceptible either in the behavior or in the appearance of the animal. But later, because of intestinal irritation in hamsters, diarrhea begins. In this case, you should consult with a specialist about which worm remedy will help your pet better.
Another dangerous disease that can be observed in hamsters is the wet tail. Symptoms of this disease are diarrhea, loss of appetite, and rectal bleeding. Another sign of a wet tail is tousled hair. Consultation with a veterinarian in this case is required, because the symptoms of the disease are very similar to the signs of other diseases. Antibiotics are used to treat the wet tail.
As you can see, the symptoms of diseases in hamsters are very similar. They do not differ too much depending on the breed - diseases of the Dzungarian hamsters, for example, can also be found in Angora.