Rabbits & Other Small Animals

An update to the diabetic testing....I bought some keto-diastix testing strips and used them to test the 5 remaining hamsters. The one I was most concerned about has very high glucose and no ketones. Three of them had high ketones and no glucose. The last one was negative for both ketones and glucose. I was surprised about the 3 with the high ketone levels as they have no signs that there might be something wrong with them.

I switched the obviously sick one to Healthy Handfuls food made by Oxbow Hay Company. This was the only food that didn't list corn or sugars and was high protein, but other than that I have no idea if it is a good food for diabetic hamsters. Any advice?

Hello,

I'm sorry about your hammy. I know very little about their health (I'm a rat owner) but I will see what I can find online. I also see if Faith, one of the other Cl's might be able to help since she was a hamster owner for a long time.

Please keep us posted.

http://www.zazzle.com/itsaratsworld/

Hello and welcome!

I am a chinchilla owner but I recently had one who was suspected of having diabetes at the vet's and she is having me change from Mazuri over to Oxbow chinchilla food and to avoid treats such as raisins or anything with sugar. I also got those glucose test strips to test her urine often to make sure there's no glucose. If she has positive glucose again I'll have to retest her blood under anesthesia to confirm the diagnosis.

It sounds like you're doing the right things. I couldn't find the ingredients to the Wild Harvest food you mentioned so I'm unsure if it's good or not.

I am so very sorry for your loss of your DS's dwarf hamster. I hope all your other hamsters do well and it's so nice they have a caring mom like you to look after them. :-)