I think my hamster has wet tail

[buddy01]

Emergency
Buddy is the first hamster i have ever had and i think he has wet tail. I know you will say take him to the vet but i don't have the money to take him. I am so scared and i don't know what to do. I love him so much

[hamham20006]

is stuff stcking(sp) to his butt/tail is he eating/drainking ok.does he play at all and if he does how long answer these and i will try and tell u if he does or not and if so(not saying he does have wet tail) please try and take him to the vet :sad:

[dwankrista]

if you do not take him to a vet he will die. there is no other way to save him. if you can't afford the vet, you can't afford the pet. he needs a vet immediately and to deny him one is cruel.

[buddy01]

im not denying him i don't have money. You don't know how long i cryed thinking he has wait tail and hoping he doesn't. sometimes stuff sticks to his butt but it is dry. He is drinking and eating but not eating as much. Hes running in his wheel but i just noticed the dirtiness on his butt/tail today. The internet said dirtyness on the tail is a symptom. he might still have it considering i just noticed the symptoms today. I will say how he is doing again tomorrow

[dwankrista]

he needs a vet and will go downhill VERY quickly. often, when symptoms of wet tail show up it is already too late to save them. the hamster needs treatment or he needs to be euthanized to spare him the suffering and pain of the disease. if you do not have money for vet visits you should not have the pet. i'm sorry if it sounds harsh but it is a fact. you should always have a surplus amount lying around as a vet fund, as animals will need care and we cannot always predict when. just like humans with an illness will find ways to get money, it is your responsibility to get money and take your ham to a vet.

[buddy01]

well im sorry for having a family who is having some money problems right now. But now i don't need any comments except addvice so stop posting if thats all your going to say

[dwankrista]

what advice do you want??? the hamster needs a vet and there is no other treatment outside of a vet visit that can help him. the truth hurts and it is not what we always want to hear, but it does not change the fact that the hamster is almost certainly going to die if you do not get veterinary care for it immediately.

[Caitandcritters]

I'm going to say something that will have me shot down or flamed, but there is something else that CAN help. I have a breeder friend, she has used liquid Imodium for wet tail, and, if administered early enough, it can save lives.

Give 1/3 of a TEAspoon today and tommorow. On Thurday give about 5 drops and on Friday give the same.

Remember, no veggies or fruits for two weeks, and feed him cherrios, as oat is binding. Heck, oatmeal even.


Hope that helped.

**Edit: If he is hunched and not moving, don't bother with the treatment. It only works if you catch it EARLY. Imodium cannot help with rectal prolapse if it has gotten that far.

How long has he been sick?

[buddy01]

i don't know if i want to trust that medicine and i don't have the medicine so why are you telling me when to take it?

[buddy01]

first of im sorry i don't have the money but i don't and stop posting if your not helping me. I don't even no for sure if he is sick so i am waiting for hamham to answer

[Caitandcritters]

Hey, I was giving you advice, proven solution, if you want him to die because you can't do the only other thing that can help him, fine.

[Caitandcritters]

Well how long have you noticed these symptoms? If he smells really bad and the feces is wet and runny, then you have a sick hamster.

If he is long haired and it is dry feces, you just need to brush his fur out.

[hitbystars]

i don't know if i want to trust that medicine and i don't have the medicine so why are you telling me when to take it?


erm.. you need to re-read some things.:yes:

[LuVaLLcreatureS]

Hi, buddy01, Im very sorry to hear about your sick hammie but maybe I can offer you some insight and advice..I work at petsmart with the small and furries and I have a hammie myself, so wet tail is something I am quite familiar with. It is VERY treatable as long as you catch it in time...the most obvious signs of wet tail are loose stool( so if you were to pick up a piece of feces, you would be able to smush it very easily unlike a normal piece which is generally harder) a general lack of energy is the other most obvious sign, usually from what I have seen in my experience, they will often curl up in a ball and just sleep in the corner of the cage(this is due to dehydration which sets on quickly b/c of their small size). Some other signs are if the tail looks "wet" like you dipped it in water or like you mentioned before, if the butt is dirty or has feces stuck to it. There is a product called DriTail, which is administered orally either directly into the mouth with the provided eyedropper or can be added to the drinking water. I know it is sold at petsmart but if you are not able to get to a petsmart, there should be another pet store in your area that carries it. Another treatment you can use is pedialyte which can be bought at your local drug/grocery store, it will help to quickly counter the dehydration. Hopefully this is helpful info for you. Hang in there! If your hammie has wet tail, you can surely treat it w/o vet care and he should be just fine ;-)

PS--it IS safe to use both pedialyte and DriTail at the same time fyi

[LuVaLLcreatureS]

Hi, buddy01, Im very sorry to hear about your sick hammie but maybe I can offer you some insight and advice..I work at petsmart with the small and furries and I have a hammie myself, so wet tail is something I am quite familiar with. It is VERY treatable as long as you catch it in time...the most obvious signs of wet tail are loose stool( so if you were to pick up a piece of feces, you would be able to smush it very easily unlike a normal piece which is generally harder) a general lack of energy is the other most obvious sign, usually from what I have seen in my experience, they will often curl up in a ball and just sleep in the corner of the cage(this is due to dehydration which sets on quickly b/c of their small size). Some other signs are if the tail looks "wet" like you dipped it in water or like you mentioned before, if the butt is dirty or has feces stuck to it. There is a product called DriTail, which is administered orally either directly into the mouth with the provided eyedropper or can be added to the drinking water. I know it is sold at petsmart but if you are not able to get to a petsmart, there should be another pet store in your area that carries it. Another treatment you can use is pedialyte which can be bought at your local drug/grocery store, it will help to quickly counter the dehydration. Hopefully this is helpful info for you. Hang in there! If your hammie has wet tail, you can surely treat it w/o vet care and he should be just fine ;-)

PS--it IS safe to use both pedialyte and DriTail at the same time fyi

[Caitandcritters]

In my experience, Dri Tail is not worth its weight in feathers when it comes to treating wet tail.

Pedialyte is a good idea, though. I will have to write that down.

[LuVaLLcreatureS]

As I said in previous post, dritail is most effective id symptoms are caught IN TIME....Im sorry that you have not had good luck w/ it Caitandcritters...we have saved many a hamster at my store w/ it, so I trust it wholeheartedly as long as it is adminstered quickly ;-)

[AnimalOverload]

When both my hamsters had wet tail I gave them the dritail it worked wonderfully. They are both alive and healthy today.

[buddy01]

Caitandcritters: hes not long hair and he does have a dry fured dirty tail and he never had that before. I just noticed the symptoms yesterday. he always has a little bad smell but he doesn't smell worse. For some reason he slept in his wheel all night i think. He is sleeping more. He also is not sleeping in his tower. I think he might not have the effort too

[buddy01]

thank you soo much after school i will go there right away. Thank you sooooooo much. I can't thank you enough

[LMDH]

So you can afford to buy medicene but not go to the vets? That seems odd to me, unless vets in the USA are very exensive. Here in the UK, it would be cheaper and easier to go to the vet than to the petstore.

Anyway, Some good advice was given there from Cait and LuvaLL. These will help wet-tail if it is caught in time. The hamster will need some food to build him back up again, such as millet or bird rearing food - they can lose a lot of weight and condition with wet tail.

I hope the hamster is ok.

[buddy01]

he is definetly getting worse and he has been sleeping all day. I am trying to get to the store. Yes the medicine is much cheaper to buy than the vet

[buddy01]

how much does the pedialyte cost

[buddy01]

how much does the pedialyte cost

[dwankrista]

pedialyte is relatively cheap, around $2.50 here

[buddy01]

I have great news. I didn't get the medicine or take buddy to the vet. He seems great an dnormal now. He must have sat in some water that dripped from the bottle and then sat in his dropppings. I am so happy so very happy. Thanks anyways for all your help and support. But buddy has never bit me before. I just went in the room and he bit me when he was walking on my hand why?

[PetLuver21257]

Possibly because you put your hand into his territory and it startled him or made him think that it was a predator and bit you only for protection...

[buddy01]

but he never bit me before and he might have been startled i guess

[PetLuver21257]

Yea, if he was startled, it was your fault he bit you.... So next time, don't startle him.

[Frostking9]

Such a sad ending to a story.....

[PetLuver21257]

What? There was no ending to the story... What story?

[MouseyMari]

I'm glad your hamster is ok.

In response to some of the earlier posts-

Please realize that it's not always possible to get to the vet. A lot of vets don't treat small animals, and often it's hard to locate one that does. There are home remedies, as Cait and LuvaLL listed. A vet is a good option, but there are some that are just in it for the money and don't know **** about small pets.

[LMDH]

It should ALWAYS be possible to get to the vet. If you child was sick would just just leave it and say it wasnt possible to get to the doctors? No, I dont think so and the same should apply to animals.

If you do not have a vet local to you, or money is tight, then you should research alternatives BEFORE getting a hamster (or other pet). Something like wet-tail can kill in 48hrs, if you had researched it and know what to do,(or had a vet) then it can be treated quite successfully but if you hadnt done this and decided to find a solution after the hamster gets sick then it it likely the hamster will die.

What seems fair to you?

[dwankrista]

^ exactly. if you research before acquiring an animal you should make sure proper medical care will be readily available should your pet need it. if there aren't any exotics/small animal vets in the area you should simply not adopt the animal(s). in too many cases people will adopt animals to satisfy their own want of a certain animal and the critter has to suffer because of it. your wants and needs animal-wise should come second to the animals' wants and needs, in my opinion.

[buddy01]

well he never had wet tai. I thought he did but he doesn't. So even if i couldn't get him to the vet (which i couldn't) he doesn't need it

[MouseyMari]

Personally, I'd rather give the animal a better life than the one in the petshop *shrug*

[Mousey11]

If it did have wet tail, you could give it a medicind you can find at a petstore called DriTail. :)

[iwuvmyhamsters]

I really hope your hamster does not have wet tail, and since you situation limits what you can do for the hamster, have you thought about looking to a kennel or shelter, where they might be able to look at your hamster, offer some help, or maybe even offer up some more ideas?? Hope it works out for the best!!

[spiro]

doesn't someone of your family know a person who is a vet or something?

[LuVaLLcreatureS]

Just want anyone reading this to know that it has already been determined that this hamster DOES NOT have wet tail...this is an older thread, just fyi for everyone ;-)