Can a hamster have a stroke/seisure?

Syrians live 2-4 years with some living up to 5 years. We have 2 that are 3 or over. They can suffer strokes and seizures. Hamsters can suffer from strokes and these most often occur overnight when the hamster is active. The hamster may appear uncoordinated with semi-paralysis on one side of the body resulting in a head tilt and inability to walk straight. The hamster may also fall over repeatedly or be unable to sit up.

Many hamsters do recover well from strokes but it is essential in the early days following a stroke that the hamster continues to eat and drink and depending on the severity of the stroke it may be necessary to hand feed the hamster and take it to the water bottle to enable it to drink, or place the hamster in the nest with some food and move the water bottle close to the nest.

Hamsters that have suffered strokes usually show some improvement within a couple of days and will continue to improve over the next few weeks, regaining their mobility and co-ordination. However, some head tilt may remain.

Seizures affect the brain and can be even more serious. Minimize stress in your pet's life. Try to avoid sudden changes in his environment, loud noises, and other stressful situations. What can you do while your pet is having a seizure? Try to stay calm. This is hard to do, but using a calm, reassuring quiet voice will comfort your hamster. Hold the hamster, but be sure to keep your hands and face away from his head so that you don't risk a possible bite. You can gently stroke his hip or side. Dim the lights, and keep the environment as quiet as possible by turning off the TV and loud music.

A few months ago, we rescued a Syrian hamster actively having multiple seizures. He was having them so frequently that he passed form them before I could make it to the vets office, I was on the phone with the vet at time of death. The owner refused to give any medical care including being seen by a vet.

Thinking about this, he may have broken his leg somehow. If a slatted wire or plastic wheel is used, this can easily happen. Use of a solid plastic 6-8" wheel is necessary for them to prevent this. Also if you have a multiple story cage, he may have fell and broke the leg this way.

To determine the cause of the leg problem take him to the vet first thing. We just rescued a dwarf hamster with a broken leg this week and she will be fine in a couple of weeks. She is expected to regain full use of her leg.

Hamster Stroke

Any animal can have a stroke or a seizure.

A stroke is caused from a blocked or ruptured blood vessel in the brain and can frequently result in paralysis on one side of the body.

Seizures have a variety of causes from head injuries to chemical imbalances. It's not unheard-of for old age to create these imbalances in animals.

I'm sorry he is having problems. I hope things work out for both of you.

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If this has been going on for 2 days, you can't possibly have even had the hamster on the antibiotics for more than 1 or 2 and you've already stopped? If the vet prescribed antibiotics, you should give them to her! They haven't even had a chance to start working!

awww'poor lil fellow ,could be a stroke course it could be from a fall too !

maybe he fell off his wheel and hurt even broke his lil leg?

take him to the Vet asap!!

best wishes!

This same thing happened to my rat and he died he was old and it seemed like he lost his memorie. He was my favorite pet and right before he died he would try to bite me and excape from his cage and walk funny and fall over. The best thing for you to do would be to take pictures of him and love him until the day he dies.

i think so :S i hope your hamster gets better though :)