I put together an article about 'Star Gazing' in hamsters (found here: Star Gazing) back in December 2011 and I wanted to update on a couple of things in regard to it.
On the forum, 'HamsterHideout' a member under the username of 'Luci' began treatment of her star gazing hamster, Mirabelle, with the drug Trimethoprim Sulfa (mentioned in the original article) and within days reported a noticeable difference in Mirabelle, namely walking normally and capable of better balance. Mirabelle has since passed away, though as far as I know, her death is not believed to be caused from the drug.
The member, 'missPixy' also mentioned recently that some people have noticed that switching from tap water to bottled water has made a notable difference in the extremity of the symptoms associated with star gazing. I have no evidence to back this up, but it is certainly not something that would be of harm to try.
On a side note: I hope to become more active now that school is out, I am still working on a nutrition article though it may be awhile. In the meantime any suggestions for any thing that I should cover would not be unwelcome. Happy Hamstering and I hope everyone had a wonderful Hamster Day on April 12!
So glad you posted this, I hope this information helps more people with stargazing hamsters. Mirabelle's last days were happy and the meds truly helped her much more than I had thought they would.
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