waaaaaaaah

[wendyzski]

My hamster broke!

I was cutting his toenails and he wiggled and something went 'crack' in his little foot! I can't afford a vet, even if I could find one that takes dwarf hamsters. He's getting around okay, and eating, but definitely dragging it, and it just looks wrong somehow. waaah. I feel so guilty! I'm afraid to try and mess with it - that I'll hurt him more. I've moved stuff in his cage so he doesn't have to climb anything, and am supplementing his diet with extra protein & minerals. Also moving cage to a darker and quieter place to reduce stress.

::sobs::

UPDATE: I have a gig this weekend and can't call around to vets. I have $30 in my bank account, and no possibility of more unless I win this hearing on Monday. I've had no regular income since mid-july. That's part of why I'm so upset - I can't do anything for the little guy. It's my responsibility and I'm failing him. I'm a bad hamster-mom. ::sobs more::

Comments

[eacole72.livejournal.com]

I don't have any personal experience with hamsters of any variety, but I can tell you what the vet told my cousin when her hamster rolled his ball off the landing and fell 14 feet, breaking a bone in his foot. There isn't any setting a bone in a hamster's foot or leg, because there is no way to stabilize it. They had her do exactly what you are doing, with putting him where it is dark and quiet, so that he wasn't encouraged to move a lot, and they had her up the calcium content of his diet, to help him heal. (My aunt really hoped that they would set his leg, put him in a cast, and then set him up on crutches so she could take his picture. The vet told her that would be terribly cruel.)

Really, you're doing the best thing for him. You should probably make sure that his foot is consistent in temperature with the rest of him (not terribly cold or hot), but that is about it.

[capi.livejournal.com]

See? See what a *great* mommy you are, thinking of all the right things? I don't know if i would have thought of supplementing his diet! Nor even of keeping him in a darker place! You so good!!! *smoochonnacheek*