Blood in urine

[wingading89]

Hi guys.

Wanted to seek some advice regarding my 11 month old syrian hamster.
Last week I noticed blood in his urine (quite heavily bloodstained) on the Monday night. I took him to the vets on the Tuesday where he was given an injection and an oral solution (baytril at a dose of 0.12ml) to take for 7 days.
Although there seemed to be some initial improvement (2-3 days of no blood/light staining), this evening it seems to be slightly heavier again.
He's absolutely fine in himself, active, eating, drinking and sleeping normally. Happily takes the oral solution (more or less), so I'm not overly concerned.
I'm just wondering what to do if it hasn't cleared up after the 7 days treatment. I will return him to the vets, on my credit card albeit, but I was wondering if anyone had any tips or advice for what appears to be a UTI infection.

Thanks

[cypher]

UTI's don't always clear up with a single treatment so you may need to go back to the vet if it hasn't cleared up completely when you finish the course. A stubborn infection can sometimes take up to 2 or 3 courses of meds but hopefully it won't need quite that much.
About the only other thing you can try is to give a little cranberry juice, if you can find some that's not full of sugar & if your ham will take it.

[racinghamster]

I echo what cypher said regarding taking longer than seven days to clear. Hamsters and other small animals have fast metabolism so they usually require a few weeks on Baytril, or at least until symptoms are gone completely. I would wait until five/six days have passed, contact the vet by phone and give them an update on him and if the blood is still showing but a bit less, the vet will probably give you another course of the Baytril orally, or they may feel another shot is needed to boost treatment. Either way, don`t stop treatment and then start it again. This will only cause the infection to persist. Weaker bacteria are killed off first, but it`s the stronger bacteria that take a bit longer to kill off.

It`s never nice seeing blood in the urine. But you done the right thing by seeing your vet. Cranberry extract (not juice) is said to be good at preventing bacteria from ticking to the bladder wall, but you would need to ask your vet about dosing this to a hamster as it`s usually bought in health food shops. Cranberries themselves have a bitter taste, so I wouldn`t think a hamster would even eat the berries. The extract may also flavour the drinking water and stop the hamster from drinking, which you definitely don`t want when he has a UTI. x

[cypher]

I didn't mean to put cranberry juice in the drinking water, sorry not to have made that clearer!
Best to just offer it in a small saucer, worth a try as I know a few people on here have had success with giving it to hams.

[wingading89]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll attempt to find some sugar free cranberry juice today and see what he makes of it, and book him another vet appointment for Wednesday if it's not looking better tomorrow.

Will keep you posted.