My hamster has been kept over a year; last week its eye was slightly inflamed. I read online to use saline, but none was available locally, so I bought levofloxacin eye drops and used them three times daily. It worsened, and now the eyeball is shrunken, probably blind, the eye stays open and protruding. Last night the saline arrived and I applied some, then it seemed to bleed. I am a student and just want to know how long it can live; there is no vet nearby and I can only use saline and eye drops.

From your description and the photo, the hamster’s eye may be conjunctivitis with secondary adhesion of eye tissue, usually a complication after inner-eye inflammation, and poor later care and wrong medication worsened it. If the adhesion is tight, the pupil may not dilate or contract, and without professional eye examination and separation surgery, the hamster may die after some time. Hamsters are very small with low self-healing ability.

If you find a hamster’s eye inflamed, buy a pet-specific cleaning solution to wash it; human eye drops are not advised to avoid side effects. If the inflammation does not improve with this method, take it to a vet promptly for examination and treatment.