My old dwarf hamster lost weight after pet sitting. Is she okay?

Question

My dwarf Hamster has recently been at a petsitters house for 3 weeks, and she seems to have lost a significant amount of weight. A month ago she was 56 grams, and now she is 46. I think she is quite old. Is she ok? Pet's info: Exotic | Unknown - Exotic | Female | unspayed

Rebeccah Wood · Accepted Answer

Hello there! I'm sorry to hear that Willow has lost some weight. You're absolutely right - a loss of 10 grams is significant; in fact, it's about 18% of her body weight. That would be like a person losing 15-25 pounds in 3 weeks. While the stress of being away from home could be the cause of the weight loss, I highly recommend that you bring her to an exotic vet to be checked out if she doesn't start putting that weight back on in the next week. A hamster's lifespan is 1-3 years, depending on the species, so if she's on the high end of that range, it's even more important that she sees a vet, especially if she doesn't appear to be eating or acting normally. There are certain parasites, organ diseases, and cancers that hamsters can acquire, and the only way to be sure that she's healthy is to see a vet. If you don't already have a regular vet, there is an exotic specialty practice near you. Here is their information: allCREATURES VETERINARY CLINIC 10305 San Pablo Avenue El Cerrito, CA. 94530 (510) 524-4551 I sure hope that little Willow gets better soon!

My old dwarf hamster lost weight after pet sitting. Is she okay?

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