My Hampster's Eye Was Injured...Please help!

[MG Jumper]

When I came home from school today, my mother informed me that her cat got a hold of my siberian dwarf hampster. She is still alive and does not seem to have any wounds on her body, except for her eye. One of her eyes is bulging and bloody and she is shutting her other one.

Is there any way I can prevent infection of her eye? Should I rub it with saline solution or warm water or but antibacterial ointment on it? I want to her to stay alive and not be in pain. Please help :(

[kwitty]

Do you have a vet that you could consult with first?

[Magnum]

Sorry to hear this MG.. :( I would try and call my vet, like Kwitty has said, to see if they can suggest something.

[Jerica]

If her eye is bulging it probably means that she can't see out of that eye as the eye has probably been extremely damaged. Your hamster is probably in a lot of pain and unless your vet can do surgery to remove the eye, I am sorry to say, but it is probably better to put your hamster to sleep as she is most likely in tons of pain. Is your hamster acting normal or seems kind of frozen not wanting to move? If she won't move she is probably in shock and can die quickly. For her eye there really isn't much you can do. I don't see that just putting saline solution or ointment on it can help her feel any better. It may not even help infection because the eye is bulging. I hate to say all of this and sound like a bad person, but there may not be much hope, a vet could tell you for sure. If you want your hamster to not feel pain, go to the vet and they can better tell you what to do. Best of luck to you.

[MG Jumper]

I called the vet earlier today and he told me to put saline solution on her eye with a cotton swab. I did this and I think it irritated her more, because she started scratching at the eye and making it bloody.

So I just put her back in her cage with a ton of soft tissues so she would leave it alone. She's been eating, drinking, sleeping and walking around perfectly fine. She's opened her other eye now and it's perfectly fine. She's been cleaning herself and it seems like the swelling has gone down a lot. I have little doubt that she cannot see out of that eye any longer. She seriously does not seem to care though.

She let me pick her up and pet her like always. I even was able to touch her between her ears above that eye.

Do you think she'll be okay? Are there any extra precautions I should take? I don't want to put anything more on her eye because I want her to leave it alone. She seems to be getting better though :)

[krazy4birds]

If that is what your vet told you then I guess that is all you can do unless you get a second opinion and quite frankly if it were me that is what I would do. It is good that she is eating and otherwise acting like she is not in alot of pain. I would be very carefull to keep infection out because right now that could be bad. Good luck and please keep us posted. And by the way....welcome to Petlovers...glad you are here.

[shorty]

I'm glad to see that your hamster is improving! It sounds like she is going to be fine :) i hope she is....its so hard to see somewon you love in pain.
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