Possible wet tail.

Nyxietrixx · 10-04-2015, 03:26 PM

I picked up Elsa today from his house and he had diarrhoea all over his wee bum. I tried to clean it but it just kept getting caught up in his fur.

I'm worried it's wet tail. He's well over 10 weeks, I'd say easily 20 or so. He drank a bit when I held the bottle up to his mouth. He has also been eating alot of watery fruits and veg lately, as well as natural yogurt to combat his antibiotics (baytril).

I can't get a vets appointment for tomorrow even if I do take off university, and on Tuesday I am to attend a funeral (again) down home, so going then is also going to be impossible.

Should I leave it, remove all wet foods and keep him hydrated etc - just hoping it's a bit of a tummy upset? I am at a loss here - after everything we've done, all the success, and now this. My fiance is convinced it's all the wet food he was getting (it was a lot) and that we can treat it with Baytril, dry diet, clean out of cage and keeping him warm.

cypher · 10-04-2015, 11:24 PM

I would definitely try reducing or cutting out the wet foods for a little while, if I remember rightly he's been on meds & you were giving yogurt so I'd replace that with probiotic powder, see if that helps & gives his digestion a chance to settle down.
Try adding a few oat flakes to his mix too.

Nyxietrixx · 10-05-2015, 12:51 AM

We have since cut out all wet foods and my fiance is picking up brown bread on the way home so we can give him a tiny bit to aid his tummy. Yogurt has also been stopped. He seemed to be walking strange this morning, as if his back legs were further apart, I am assuming this could be down to him having his back end fur covered in poo. We managed to wipe away a small bit of it using a cotton bud - then he bit me and we had to go off to our respected professions.

Would Tesco own brand bran flakes be any good to him? We bought them for baking but haven't yet opened them.

He is drinking - under my watch as I am holding the bottle to him - and nibbling at his dry food.

cypher · 10-05-2015, 01:25 AM

I definitely wouldn't give him bran flakes, not while he has this going on it could well make it worse, they do need lots of fibre but should get plenty from their normal mix, oats are a good source of fibre that can help balance things out without any aggravation in the gut.
I would really recommend some probiotics after what he's been through, yogurt doesn't really help much & the lactose could have been making him worse.
I'm not sure what the idea is with bread tbh, I know it's been mentioned elsewhere but I fail to see how it would really help.
If you or anyone you know grows strawberries that haven't been sprayed with anything then a little bit of the leaf is a good treatment too!

Nyxietrixx · 10-05-2015, 02:01 AM

Currently using lactose free yogurt - or was rather. Could the tesco probiptic powder do any good? I can get it on the way home, however locall pets at home will be closed before I get out of class.

The bread is said to bind the poo and help diarrhoea bug I can easily tell fiance not to buy some.

I'm hoping that the now watery food free diet will help. He is not completely on dry food.

As for oats - as in unsweetened porridge oats? And if so do we just feed them normally to him?

cypher · 10-05-2015, 02:03 AM

I honestly don't know about using human probiotics (I assume that's what the tesco one is) rather than ones designed for small animals.
Just plain porridge oats yes, either as they come sprinkled in with his mix or offered by hand or you could make him a little porridge as lots of hams enjoy that.

Nyxietrixx · 10-05-2015, 02:04 AM

Oh porridge oats sounds good! Will do that. Seems the easiest thing now. Going to clean him out tonight too to help with the smell.

Nyxietrixx · 10-05-2015, 02:08 AM

Local pets @ home has probiptic C - open to 8pm. Going to nip in and get it.

racinghamster · 10-05-2015, 03:43 AM

I would suspect that his consumption of lots of veg/fruit and yoghurt combined have upset his gut somewhat, so remove all of these for a week and just feed his hamster mix and add a small teaspoonful of porridge oats. These will provide fibre without having to be cooked or wetted. Dry flaked oats are fine. Stick to basics now for a few days and check his poo and keep his bedding clean.

If he`s on antibiotics, these will kill good as well as bad bacteria and pro-biotics are normally given after the course of treatment is finished because the bacteria in those products will also be affected by the antibiotics, so it`s a bit pointless.

My Russian dwarf gets his raw veg and apple daily, but he only gets small pieces rotated and not a full dish of various greens. I fear this could cause him issues so I`m careful of the sizes and the amount he gets. I space it out during the day and he only gets a small piece of apple in the morning (fingernail size) and the same sizes with cauliflower/broccoli, sweet corn or anything else.

Really hope your wee man recovers okay and it isn`t wet tail. Rest and dry food should put things right. x

Nyxietrixx · 10-05-2015, 03:47 AM

I honestly think it is just the veg and fruit but I'm just cautious. Porridge oats and probiotics (not yogurt) will be started tonight.

We might also stop the antibiotics as he's been on them for two weeks and his symptoms (sneezing) have dried up.

Buying pets @ home probiotic and tesco own brand oats tonight.

The vet, I feel, would be unhelpful as they might only prescribe more antibiotics (Baytril has been known to help with the treatment of wet tail, and we are already using it). Also we are in the middle of changing vets because we have heard several reports of the Pets @ Home crowd being incompetent. I'm making the decision to opt out of taking him to the vet unless he is not better by Thursday, in which case I will be making an appointment for Friday or Saturday morning.