Problems again

[foxykitty911]

Well some of you might have read about the hamsters that we rescued from behind a dumpster. They are doing fine, thank goodness. But, I just started working at a petstore and someone brought in a mama hamster and four little babies. The mama had a really bad nipple infection and couldn't nurse anymore. The owners didn't want to deal with it so they left the five of them at the store. We finally got the mama healed but had to move the babies to a different tank because mama would attack them if they tried to nurse. Now the babies have wet tail. I brought them home to give 24 hour care. I died last night and the other two are still very active. I am giving them Baytril, an antibiotic from the vet. I also ordered some wet tail plus,if that is any good. I am giving them a little plain yogurt with rolled oats. They also have two water bottles, one filled with pedilyte(sp) and the other water with hamster vitamins. I have them on paper towels, with a cardboard hide and a wheel. What else should I do? Can I bathe them? They have poop on their fur. Thanx, I will upload pictures later.

[foxykitty911]

Here are a few pictures of them and a picture of the worst case of wet tail
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i313/ ... ers010.jpg (http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i313/foxykitty911/animals/hamsters010.jpg)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i313/ ... ers015.jpg (http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i313/foxykitty911/animals/hamsters015.jpg)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i313/ ... ers062.jpg (http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i313/foxykitty911/animals/hamsters062.jpg)

[SnuggleHam]

It sounds to me like your doing everyhting you can. I dont know anything about wet tail plus, is that anything like dri-tail?

[foxykitty911]

Wet-Tail Plus tablets are used to prevent and treat diarrhea in hamsters, rats, mice, gerbils and guinea pigs. Each tablet is enhanced with vitamins and electrolytes to offer continuous supportive care during the treatment period. The powerful formula treats diarrhea for the first 5 days then is followed by a probiotic to replace beneficial digestive bacteria lost due to illness or medication.
Simply add one fizzing antibiotic tablet to your pet's water for five days, then add the probiotic on the sixth day to restore beneficial digestive bacteria. All tablets are fortified with vitamins and electrolytes to support your small pet's health.

[SnuggleHam]

I would stay away from Wet-Tail plus, it doesn't sound safe to me. Unless its prescribed by a vet I wouldn't.

There is an article here on HC about wet tail, here is a snippet from it. http://www.hamstercentral.com/user.php? ... ticle&a=15 (http://www.hamstercentral.com/user.php?action=viewArticle&a=15)

Wet Tail is almost exclusively a disease of the Syrian hamster and is more common in long-haired varieties. Wet Tail also known as “Proliferative Ileitis” a life-threatening intestinal bacterial infection. The disease is spread by a fecal-oral route between hamsters, and is associated with stresses such as weaning and changes in environment or diet, so is usually seen in young hamsters, very often soon after the move from pet shop to home.

It is found that Wet Tail is misdiagnosed often by owners and veterinarians. In some instances the term “Wet Tail” is incorrectly used to refer to all diarrhea/enteritis in hamsters. It is important to remember diarrhea is a symptom of Wet Tail, not the disease itself. Wet Tail is a bacterial infection.

I just worry that this product Wet-Tail plus might do more harm then good, because its not for treating wet tail its for treating diarrhea. I know that Dri-Tail like products can actually worsen diarrhea symptoms by killing off the hamster's "friendly" or resident bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract. I can only assume Wet-Tail plus is similar, but maybe someone here can shed more light on it.

I would think that Baytril is enough, and keep up the pedilyte as well. I'm not an expert, I'm just going on what I have read. Like i said, hopefully someone with more experience will give us their opinion as well.

[souffle]

The babies look fairly well grown so should be able to cope without mum now however wet tail is a devastating illness even for a strong grown animal. I think you should stick with the vets treatment too and I would not try any over the counter medicines as Candace said. It is very difficult to nurse a hamster through wet tail. Very few will make it and even those few are usually left with internal damage sadly. It may be more a simple diarrhoea due to the shock of losing mum and her infection and change in surroundings. In this case your treatment should see an improvement fairly soon. I really hope so as they are such beautiful little ones. Good luck with them and hope they get well soon. Warmth is very important to aid recovery. Be very careful with hygiene and your other hammies. Gentle cleaning of their botties with a cotton wool ball and warm water should make them feel more comfy. Just watch not to stress them trying to do it or get them too wet so they get cold.