Pyometra

[Spacemonkey]

My 20 month old Syrian Hamster Romy has been diagnosed with Pyometra by my vet. We have been treating her with Baytril for a week with little or no improvement. She is still eating and drinking Lactol but has lost a lot of weight and is pretty cold most of the time even though I have provided a water bottle for her under her cage.

Basically... does anyone have any suggestions what more I can do? She is fighting the infection like a trooper and is still eating and drinking, I'm giving her pro biotic yogurt to counteract the Baytril effects to her gut.

I want to give her a shot at life rather than just putting her down. The vet quoted me £200 for a spaying op, I'm still trying to recover from the shock... :shock:

Also, I was wondering if its contagious? I have 2 other female Syrians, both have never had a litter and are aged 10 and 3 months and would hate cross contamination. I am using anti bacterial wash after handling Romy just in case.

[souffle]

Sadly this problem is becoming all to common in female hamsters. I have never pulled a female through this condition and actually know only two who have and both hammies had to be spayed to make it. Antibiotics do bring temporary relief but I have never found a cure. I am so sorry to have no help for you here. It seems the more cycles a female has gone through ie the older she is the greater her chances of getting this. It is quite a strain on females to have such a large number of cycles in their lives really. We made the decision that unless the hamster was young we would not try and pull them through this infection as it usually results in them being so unwell that their lives are not a pleasure to them anymore. Many people will try and with a youngster we would opt of surgery. This is a very personal decision build on many years experience and seeing a number of females with this condition. Is the pyo open with a discharge or closed with the swollen belly? I am sure when the time comes you will know she is unable to cope spacemonkey and I hope her path is gentle when she is called.
I believe this can be infectios so take all precautions with your others. The older hamsters have weaker immune systems so are more at risk.

[Spacemonkey]

Thanks for the reply, she has quite a discharge so I'm guessing it isn't closed, but the vet did say she has a fair amount of pus in her womb.

I'm aware its pretty nigh on impossible to treat with antibiotics and like you say age is a factor, she is late to middle aged. I'm just shocked how quickly it came on, she was fine one minute then this :roll:

I guess I do have to make that difficult decision sooner or later, its such a shame, like losing a family member but I don't want her to suffer :(

[I_am_plankton]

I had a hamster with pyo earlier this year. I had no idea what to do when I saw so much blood, she had been fine running in her exercise ball and the next minute it was like a blood bath in it, it was just awful. She was booked into the vets straight away and they said it was pyo or an internal tumour bleeding out, but more than likely pyo. She was given Baytril and also Bio Lapis to help her gut (which helps with good bacteria and should be given with this instance). We managed to get it into her twice a day for a while, and then stopped taking it because it was stressing her out and the blood would come and go in waves but in herself she was OK so we kept her alive. She went back on Baytril after a while when she started accepting it again and we managed to keep her going for about a month, before she passed away in her asleep after about 3 days of wondering if she was on her way out as she was just sleeping a lot.

She was a year and 10 months so I decided not to risk an op as there is no guarantee it will stop it and she could have died on the table, so I just managed it as best as I could.

I hope that your hamster isn't in too much pain :(

[souffle]

That is the problem with pyo in that often the hamster appears quite spritely and is eating and drinking OK. The first signs we usually see to make us suspect are drinking a lot, a change in the way the animal moves to a sort of waddle and a change in the 'smell' of the female. even though the hammy may have no discharge there is often a smell about them which for some reason I can detect early! If you can catch an infection early the animal has a better chance of some temporary remission on antibiotics. Yoir little one seems to have a lot of discharge and the toxins from the womb will start to get in to the blood stream which makes them very poorly.
I am so sorry. We lost our dear Bailey very suddenly with this a few months ago. She was running about one night and I noticed 'the waddle'. By the next day she was so ill we took her to the emergancy vet and she had to be given rest. We feel this is the greatest gift you can give you little one to know when the time has come and to release them from their pain.
I am thinking of you and your little lady.

[Spuds Mum]

Oh how sad Space Monkey, I do hope little Romy is not suffering. I have no practical advice to give I am afraid, Souffle is much more knowledgable on this, but just to say I've just looked at your photos and thought what a cutie she is. Best wishes to the little girl x

[Spacemonkey]

Just to let you all know, Romy died this morning.

She fought with courage but in the end it was too much for her :cry:

She was only a small critter but shes left a big hole in my furry family, I'm sure going to miss her :(

[Basia]

Oh I'm so sorry to hear your sad news. RIP Romy. :cry:

[Spuds Mum]

So sad to hear about poor Romy. I'm sure the place in your heart that feels currently so empty will soon be filled with all the good memories of her.
At least she is no longer suffering.
Rest soundly Romy x

[souffle]

I am so sorry to hear of your loss. She is playing happily at the bridge now and may her memories comfort you. RIP Romy :cry: