meezers Posted December 26, 2009 Share Posted December 26, 2009 Have just helped my son do his weekly clean out of his hamster and she doesn't seem to be her usual self. He has had her 3 months, so I guess she is about 4-5 months old. Her cage smelt (alot ) before the week was up, but her toilet (where she wees) was unused lots of poos in the shavings- all normal looking, but she looked a bit messy around her tail - no evidence of diarrhoea anywhere else though. She doesn't seem to be drinking much - the water level has dropped less than a cm all week. She looks fat and we've all commented on the weight she has put on in the last few weeks. She is fed on hamster muesli from Petsathome, nothing else, we tried her on fresh food when he first got her and she wasn't interested, so just muesli, nothing else. Any ideas ? I thought wet tail , but she doesn't seem to fit the symptons , apart from being smelly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted December 26, 2009 Share Posted December 26, 2009 I know little girl hammys get very smelly when they come into season. Mine also used to get a messy cage - she squirted her wee up the walls!! She also got a lot more active - running about looking for boys. But that's only one possibility. I think they can also be prone to diabetes but not sure what else could be the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meezers Posted December 26, 2009 Author Share Posted December 26, 2009 hmm, I've read about that, but she doesn't seem that active- maybe that's why she's putting on weight ? it's the not drinking that is puzzling me, her water has gone down about half what it usually does. I was thinking if she isn't drinking then her urine would be more concentrated which would account for the smell & lack of diarrhoea and maybe also the messy bit near her tail, but why isn't she drinking ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted December 27, 2009 Share Posted December 27, 2009 If she's not drinking it could be a problem so you might want to get her drinking to start off with ... we used to wet Rice krispies and our hamsters would always eat them when they were ill. I'd also say check her teeth, but if she's putting weight on, might not be that causing any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meezers Posted December 28, 2009 Author Share Posted December 28, 2009 We took hammy to the vets this morning and she recommended we have her put to sleep. Apparently it was a tumour filling her abdomen that made hammy look so fat and it was obviously interfering with her digesting food and water. Felt sorry for my son, though he's been very good about it, I had told him that hamsters don't live too long , but he expected to have her for longer than 3 months Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura & CTB Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Aw - sorry to hear that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Couperwife Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 awww, sad news cathy x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickvic Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Sorry to hear that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Oh no, how sad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raina Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Sorry for your loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted December 28, 2009 Share Posted December 28, 2009 Sorry she didn't make it, poor little thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seagazer Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 Oh I'm so sorry about Hammy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 I'm sorry I remember when my first hamster had to be put down at the vets ... can see the surgery room now and it was years and years ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
