Coldilox
07-04-06, 11:51 AM 07-04-06
Hey guys, you might remember me, I posted a few weeks back about my hamster Kylie who was ill, and she unfortunately died a few days later. Well, I thought I'd tell you my latest hamster story.
After a little while, we decided to get another hamster (the dining table looked so empty!). So we bought Elton, another syrian, a dark brown colour (Kylie had been sandy and we wanted one that looked different). But after about a week, Elton started showing signs of wet tail. We had left him alone in his cage and everything, as far as we can guess, we think it was the trauma of being separated from his mum and then being sold to us and transported home etc (even though we took a little carry case so he didn't have to be in a little cardboard box).
Anyway, I feared the worst and was very upset having recently lost Kylie, and also my beloved 20 year old cat that I'd had sisnce my 5th birthday had died just a couple of days before. But we took him down to the vet, who said it was indeed wet tail. He gave him a shot of antibiotics,a nd gave us 4 more to give him once a day. I don't know if you've every tried to inject a young squirmy hamster, but let me tell you it's not easy! But we managed it without major mishap!
He never stopped eating or drinking, which was good because I was worried about dehydration. After a day or two, he looked a little perkier and his ears were pricked up again, and he started going on his wheel again. We didn't clean out his cage while we were treating him, because we thought it might be too stressful for him. We changed the bedding every day in the little house he sleeps in because the shredded paper got dirty, and we scooped out any dirty carefresh.
On friday, we took him ack to the vet. He gave him one last shot, and also a vclean bill of health - he'd even gained 5 grams! Elton is happy and healthy again, his tail is clean, he's on his wheel constantly and he's curious about everything. We disinfected his cage to be on the safe side, and we're avoiding fresh fruit and veg for another week or so. Now we just have to tame him properly - we didn't get the chance before! He's very good natured though, he didn't try to bite us once when we injected him!
Anyway, i know a lot of people lose hamsters to wet tail, so I just wanted to tell you my story to show it can work out, and it really is worth taking them to the vet. Here's to a long healthy life for little Elton!:)
After a little while, we decided to get another hamster (the dining table looked so empty!). So we bought Elton, another syrian, a dark brown colour (Kylie had been sandy and we wanted one that looked different). But after about a week, Elton started showing signs of wet tail. We had left him alone in his cage and everything, as far as we can guess, we think it was the trauma of being separated from his mum and then being sold to us and transported home etc (even though we took a little carry case so he didn't have to be in a little cardboard box).
Anyway, I feared the worst and was very upset having recently lost Kylie, and also my beloved 20 year old cat that I'd had sisnce my 5th birthday had died just a couple of days before. But we took him down to the vet, who said it was indeed wet tail. He gave him a shot of antibiotics,a nd gave us 4 more to give him once a day. I don't know if you've every tried to inject a young squirmy hamster, but let me tell you it's not easy! But we managed it without major mishap!
He never stopped eating or drinking, which was good because I was worried about dehydration. After a day or two, he looked a little perkier and his ears were pricked up again, and he started going on his wheel again. We didn't clean out his cage while we were treating him, because we thought it might be too stressful for him. We changed the bedding every day in the little house he sleeps in because the shredded paper got dirty, and we scooped out any dirty carefresh.
On friday, we took him ack to the vet. He gave him one last shot, and also a vclean bill of health - he'd even gained 5 grams! Elton is happy and healthy again, his tail is clean, he's on his wheel constantly and he's curious about everything. We disinfected his cage to be on the safe side, and we're avoiding fresh fruit and veg for another week or so. Now we just have to tame him properly - we didn't get the chance before! He's very good natured though, he didn't try to bite us once when we injected him!
Anyway, i know a lot of people lose hamsters to wet tail, so I just wanted to tell you my story to show it can work out, and it really is worth taking them to the vet. Here's to a long healthy life for little Elton!:)