Honey had a funny episode - any ideas?

[Honey Pot]

Evening all,

Honey had a funny turn this afternoon, and I've no idea what it was, what caused it, or if it'll happen again.

To set the scene, Honey is approx 2 years old. We rescued her from Gumtree in the summer, so unsure exactly what age. I clean her living area out every 4-5 days, but the downstairs play / digging area just once every 3-4 weeks. I last cleaned her out on Tuesday, but yesterday evening I noticed something wasn't smelling too good, and popped cleaning her out on the list to do today.

Last night, I recall she drank alot. I only think of it now, as I asked my husband to double check the water was coming out ok as Honey had been on at the bottle for so long.

Around 3.30pm, my little boy came running to find me, to tell me something was wrong. I found Honey stood outside her wooden house (sleep area) shaking like a leaf. Her ears were flat, and she was hunched up as if in pain. I immediately thought 'wet tail', feared the worse, so popped her in her play box (an underbed plastic thingy) and called the vets. I got an appointment for 5pm, so we were just trying to keep her warm and comfortable. She felt cold, couldn't keep her balance, and had a soggy tail. I explained to my little boy that she was clearly very poorly, and that the vet would probably help her gently go to sleep and not wake up.

Come 4.45pm, I'm dashing around trying to sort the bunnies, round up the dogs and get my little girl out of the Halloween dress ready to go, and hey presto.....Honey is back to her normal self.

I called the vet, and although they offered to see her anyway, I honestly couldn't see anything at all wrong with her, and thought the stress of actually taking her could do more harm then good. Her tail was dry, her ears were back up, balance perfect, and she was just playing and having a great old time.

So, now I'm just confused. She's eating fine, eyes bright, and looks totally happy. I've cleaned out her sleeping area, which was very pongy, but as stools look fine I'm wondering if it could be a water infection? I did think she could have Cushings when I first got her, as her hair was thinning, but a decent diet seems to have improved that.

Any thoughts please?

[racinghamster]

Hi Honey Pot. Honey is a good age now and the acute episode she had could well be related to that. It`s good that your only spot cleaning areas of her cage now and not stressing her by doing full cage cleans. I also wouldn`t recommend using any disinfectant sprays or scented cleaning products just hot water and kitchen towels to wipe down areas of her cage, especially areas that smell strong if she`s peed in there. Just helps reduce any stress. These products really only need using if wet tail is diagnosed as it`s contagious.

Keep a close eye on her and make sure she`s kept in a quiet area away from direct noise or dogs barking. She may also sleep more due to the weather getting colder but that`s not unusual. Keep her diet varied and make sure she`s getting very small pieces of raw veg like broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, garden peas, sweet corn, a wee piece of fresh apple etc... the veg can be frozen but thawed in cold water before giving it.

How is she coping generally since this episode? x

[cypher]

Hi Honey Pot, Honey's symptoms do seem a little confusing & it's hard to know what the problem is, as RH she is a good age now which will make her more prone to various different problems but the sudden excessive drinking & other symptoms did make me wonder if she may possible have kidney/bladder stones, if it was a UTI she wouldn't recover spontaneously like she did so I doubt that's the problem.I'd keep a close eye on her drinking & check she continues to pee ok, it may just have been a transient thing or it could be something that will recur so all you can do is watch her closely really.

[Honey Pot]

Thank you both. She's pretty much ok today, although she didn't use her wheel very much last night, and has been busy bringing substrate up from downstairs to bulk out her nest. Eating and drinking fine though, so we're just making sure she's comfortable and keeping an eye on her. I too suspect this is an age thing, but still really shocked she's made this recovery from what I was sure was the end yesterday!

[racinghamster]

She gave you enough concern to think something internal is changing so it may be an on going concern but hopefully it was a one off. They do need more care as they age sometimes by adding more to the diet and making sure they have everything to hand easily and don`t have to work too hard to reach anything and appreciate less disruption. Some hamsters stop using their wheel as often while some won`t. Some will become far more inclined to stay in the nest especially in colder weather. But they need to be eating/drinking/seem bright (when fully awake), mobile without hunching or seem slow or are losing weight/feeling cold even when held. Just obvious, visual indicators really. x