What could be the cause of a hamsters bleeding eye and what can we do to stop it

My friend woke up this morning, and her hamster had a bloody eye (her eyelids we stuck shut) ands diarrhea (which has since been solved). We were wondering if there is anything we can do in the meantime leading up to a vet appointment.

There could be a lot of causes of a bleeding eye, trauma to the eye comes first to my mind (usually as a result of fighting) but the fact that the hamster also had diarrhea, even if it seems to have cleared up, is a concern. Diarrhea, no matter what the cause, is very hard on a hamster. They concentrate their urine so a healthy hamster does not drink a large amount of water. Diarrhea dehydrates them very rapidly.

Leading up to a vet appointment, I would put a 50% plain, clear Pedialyte rehydration solution (the same kind of babies but no colors or fruit flavors) and 50% water mixture in the water bottle to help her rehydrate.

As for the eye, that's tricky. If it really is bleeding, you could cause more damage to the eye trying to help her than if you just left it alone, simply because hamsters are very tiny and can be hard to handle, especially if they are in pain.

If she will sit quietly and let herself be handled, the most I would do if it were one of my hamsters is to gently wash the eye with a warm water soaked paper towel.

Use another paper towel soaked in warm water to gently wash her hind area. Since she has had diarrhea, she may try to clean herself and reingest some of the fecal matter and thus the bacteria that made her ill, and the diarrhea cycle could start again.

Good luck, I hope everything turns out alright until the appointment.