Have you noticed anything weird about your hamster’s eyes? Are they bulging or stuck shut? Those symptoms might indicate infection but could also be caused by other conditions.
An eye infection that’s left untreated can kill a hamster, but this is perfectly preventable. Symptoms like sticky and protruding eyes, swelling, and redness around the eyes can be the first indication of infection. The infection should be manageable if you take your hamster to the vet immediately.
This article discusses different eye infection symptoms, other causes, and how to deal with them. We’ll discuss the treatability of an infection of your hamster’s eyes.
Which Symptoms Can Indicate an Eye Infection In Hamsters?
Many co-occurring symptoms can indicate an eye infection. However, those symptoms can also be caused by something else, like aging, underlying diseases, trauma, or pressure. Most of these symptoms require an immediate doctor’s visit, and swift treatment must be necessary in some cases.
An Eye Infection Shows Up As Sticky Eye
A sticky eye is most commonly a separate condition, but it can be a symptom of an eye infection.
There will be crusts in and around the eye, alongside eye discharge which eventually dries up to form more crusts, which makes it harder to open their eyes because they are stuck shut. The secretion of fluids usually happens when they are sleeping.
Other Causes of Sticky Eye
- Aging: Increased production of fluids in eyes to keep dry eyes moist.
- Foreign object: Increased production of fluids to rinse eyes.
- Exophthalmia: Eye bulging
Can Sticky Eye Kill a Hamster?
A sticky eye cannot kill a hamster, but some of the causes can. When a sticky eye arises, you can easily help your hamster with tissues, cotton wipes, and lukewarm water.
The water softens the crusts, making it easier to get them out of your hamster’s eyes without hurting them, but never force the eye open. The underlying cause should be dealt with swiftly.
Protruding Eyes Can Indicate an Eye Infection
A protruding eye can occur when a hamster has an eye infection or when the eye is directly harmed. Your hamster’s eye can pop out of the eye socket, which is relatively easy to identify by simply looking. This usually happens to only one of the eyes and should be treated immediately.
Take your hamster to a veterinarian, don’t try to fix it yourself, and above all, don’t touch the protruding eye.
Redness and Pink Eye Indicates Infection
Redness around the eyes can indicate that your hamster might suffer from an eye infection. It is usually an indication of pink eye, which humans and other animals can also suffer from. When we get pink eye, we can see the redness of the sclera, but hamsters don’t have that.
A Buildup Of Fluids Can Lead To Swelling
Swelling is a common symptom of eye infections because infections can cause a buildup of fluids. It can also be caused by illness or trauma to the eye, which can lead to an infection.
If your hamster’s eye is swollen, but there’s no infection, you should have your pet checked out by a veterinarian. Trauma can lead to eye loss because of pressure behind the eye. It can also cause blindness, but both can be prevented with timely treatment.
Is an Eye Infection in Hamsters Treatable?
You should visit the veterinarian when you suspect your hamster has an eye infection because it usually doesn’t go away on its own. Try to make your hamster feel comfortable, happy, and healthy, which you can do by giving them whatever they need to heal.
Infections are mostly treated with antibiotics, and in the case of eye infections, antibiotic eye drops or ointment.
Eye infection in hamsters isn’t a death sentence, but it should be dealt with immediately. The same goes for humans and other animals, as infections can spread fast if not treated and cause organ failure.
Infections and organ failure are excruciating, even more so for animals, because they can’t explain the pain and contextualize it mentally. Pain is easier to deal with when you can reason about how long it will last and consider possible solutions or methods of pain relief.
Conclusion
Specific symptoms like bulging, sticky eyes, redness, and swelling can be signs of an infection. However, those symptoms are often caused by something else. Hamsters sometimes get sticky eyes when they age because their bodies try to keep their dry eyes moist, overproducing fluids.
It happens when there’s a foreign object stuck in their eyes to rinse it out.
Both bulging and swelling of the eyes can result from trauma, so direct damage to the eye or around it. No matter the cause of the symptoms, you should pay your veterinarian a visit to diagnose your pet and offer treatment.