Should a sick senior ham go to the vet?

[lloraine]

I am still weighing the options of what's best to do for my little ham

Here is information about my hamster -
Age: about 20 months old
Gender: female
Species: syrian hamster

These are the details of my hamster's ailment -
When did it start: the beginning of this week, so maybe 4 days ago

Description of Ailment:
Ham lives in a very large bin cage and had been sleeping longer lately. I figured it was due to old age. One evening I woke her up because I was worried she hasn't been up for too long. One of her eyes were shut and was very lethargic. She wasn't sleeping in her usual corner, but after waking up she stumbled across her cage to her nest. Her front paws seemed very weak, like she was unable to support her weight. She was very wobbly and unbalanced. Ham also had a very unpleasant smell but no signs of diarrhea on her bum. I thought perhaps she hid her broccoli but it was nowhere to be found. I cleaned her sticky eye with a saline solution, but was still worried about her movement so I moved her to a smaller bin cage for observation.

She naturally has tons of energy, even in her old age and seemed to be back to normal the next day. I kept her there for another day just for safe measure. Again, she woke up with sticky eye on the same eye so I swabbed it with saline solution and cotton pads. Because of this I prolonged her stay in the smaller bin.

The day before yesterday she slept almost the whole day. I stay up quite late watching a show and she didn't even get up in the early hours of the morning.

Come yesterday, she seemed just fine but I was still worried and did a lot of research on diets for older hamsters and bought her baby food (yam and turkey) and baby rice cereal with probiotics. I had to run errands out of the house most of the day so when I returned in the evening I was really alarmed to see her on her back in her nest, eyes shut, tilting side to side, unable to get up. I took her out of her cage and wrapped her in a paper towel. She smelled unpleasant again and was very weak. Her body wouldn't stop bobbing (that's the best word i could find to describe her movement). she was also breathing heavily and her eyes weren't fully open. I was able to give her water from an eye dropper and she drank it well. She seemed quite dehydrated from how eagerly she drank the water. I also fed her some baby rice porridge with the baby food and plain yogurt. she also seemed interested in her solid foods.

After returning her to her bin, she wouldn't stop pacing around her cage. she would walk on the sides from corner to corner, stopping briefly to sniff it. she did this for over an hour. As time progressed, she looked like she gained more energy but would still walk around to each corner with her back hunched and hind legs apart. Her front legs seemed to be weak and she'd fall forward or to her side from time to time.

Today she seemed weaker than last night but she still paced around the cage. Now her tail and bum area is matted. She's more lethargic and is breathing hard. She was up for a bit of time this afternoon and I've been making sure she is hydrated although I do think I should go out and buy pedialyte. I noticed when I first woke her up this afternoon that she was sleeping with her dry food stored in one of her pouches. She never slept with a pouch of food. I tried removing them by massaging the pouch toward her mouth but it wouldn't come out and she just seemed so weak I didn't want to stress her out. I made about a table spoon portion of baby rice cereal with grated apple and yoghurt. She ate almost all of it. She is sleeping in a corner at the moment in a ball face down and breathing quite hard and rapidly.

Here's a video of how I found her last night:
https://youtu.be/euVxT6z0Cjk
hammy pacing last night:
https://youtu.be/yA3EQJ1ztyM

I am so distressed and don't know what else I can do. I thought she suffered a stroke but now I'm almost positive it's wet tail.
I've been doing so much research and treatment all points out to going to the vet.

Hamham was not originally mine. My sister bought her randomly back in July 2014. I noticed that she wasn't taking care of her well, so I proposed to her that I would take care of her as long as she provided for what Ham needs financially. I'm a recent college grad and am penniless. I keep persisting that she take her to the vet, but she won't spend the money for it, and my parents don't find it sensible to pay for vet bills when I can "buy a thousand more hamsters" with the amount I'll end up paying. I am absolutely devastated. I spent all afternoon calling over 10 vet hospitals to see if they treat hamsters. A majority of them don't treat hamsters and the ones that did close early on wednesdays. There's an emergency hospital open 24 hours, but the bill alone would be $105 and my sister would never oblige to paying that amount. The next vet would cost $65 which is more reasonable but I won't be able to take her till tomorrow. Hopefully I can convince my sister to provide for her bill. I would never condone buying a pet, big or small if you're not willing to pay for what she needs. I'm very disappointed and distressed about this whole situation.

If anyone knows of a vet in the Chicago area with reasonable prices, kindly let me know

Any specific physical changes:
matted fur in the rectal area
unpleasant smell from the diarrhea
weak

I've read that hamsters with wet tail don't have appetites and their ears are down, but my ham does have an appetite and her ears are mostly up

some new videos on how she's doing. she seems to have an appetite and actually seems to be interested in gathering nesting material for her bed. regardless, she still seems very weak.
https://youtu.be/2Ed9efcJHj4
https://youtu.be/vJrTst9zuW4
https://youtu.be/cEfswluYiCw

[souffle]

I don;t think it is wet tail. It looks like a female problem which is called pyometra or a womb infection but you would need a vet to diagnose this for sure. The discharge and smell is typical of pyo and she looks a bit swollen up. This is the pus in the womb. It can affect females of any age.
The only cure for this is a spay which would be pretty costly in the USA I imagine and she already sadly looks like ill and may not survive a spay but again you would need a vet.
Often they will prescribe antibiotics which can give a little remission but it always returns. Don't let them make you think it is a cure because it is not as it returns with a vengence. It tends to be a long and lingering suffering for them and my choice, should they not be suitable for a spay would be to give rest before they become really ill.
She's not that old really at 20 months however with no op if this is a pyo she will go downhill quickly and it may already be too late or she may not be suitable anyway if you cannot find a vet.
I do hope you can have her seen though and get some guidance on a way forward.

[Rsclio197]

Oh dear my girl Suzi showed similar sign's to this for a week before excessive blood starting seeping from her bottom, I'm sorry to say she didn't make it. She became so dehydrated through the blood loss and was so weak, she wanted to eat but could hardly make it to her bowl which was right next to her and her food was dropping from her mouth. I had her to the vets 3 times in 6 days to get a fluid injection to replace the lost fluids and anti biotic''s. Sadly she got worse and I feel I prolonged the pain. If I could go back in time I would've had her euthanised. She passed away through dehydration in the end because the blood loss was immense.

I hope she recover's but as soon as there's no sign of recovery after treatment (like souffle said it's NOT a cure) I'd do what's best for your hamster.

It's your choice but I hope you don't make the same mistake I made.

Hamham is beautiful girl by the way Lloraine.

Suzi passed at roughly 31 months old. She lived a long and fantastic life and I'm sure your baby girl has too. Pyometra is a real problem with female hamsters around that age.


Hope your OK Lloraine In these stressful times.

Your doing a great job and it's great to see how much you care for your girl.

Good effort.

[lloraine]

Originally Posted by souffle

I don;t think it is wet tail. It looks like a female problem which is called pyometra or a womb infection but you would need a vet to diagnose this for sure. The discharge and smell is typical of pyo and she looks a bit swollen up. This is the pus in the womb. It can affect females of any age.
The only cure for this is a spay which would be pretty costly in the USA I imagine and she already sadly looks like ill and may not survive a spay but again you would need a vet.
Often they will prescribe antibiotics which can give a little remission but it always returns. Don't let them make you think it is a cure because it is not as it returns with a vengence. It tends to be a long and lingering suffering for them and my choice, should they not be suitable for a spay would be to give rest before they become really ill.
She's not that old really at 20 months however with no op if this is a pyo she will go downhill quickly and it may already be too late or she may not be suitable anyway if you cannot find a vet.
I do hope you can have her seen though and get some guidance on a way forward.

Originally Posted by Rsclio197

Oh dear my girl Suzi showed similar sign's to this for a week before excessive blood starting seeping from her bottom, I'm sorry to say she didn't make it. She became so dehydrated through the blood loss and was so weak, she wanted to eat but could hardly make it to her bowl which was right next to her and her food was dropping from her mouth. I had her to the vets 3 times in 6 days to get a fluid injection to replace the lost fluids and anti biotic''s. Sadly she got worse and I feel I prolonged the pain. If I could go back in time I would've had her euthanised. She passed away through dehydration in the end because the blood loss was immense.

I hope she recover's but as soon as there's no sign of recovery after treatment (like souffle said it's NOT a cure) I'd do what's best for your hamster.

It's your choice but I hope you don't make the same mistake I made.

Hamham is beautiful girl by the way Lloraine.

Suzi passed at roughly 31 months old. She lived a long and fantastic life and I'm sure your baby girl has too. Pyometra is a real problem with female hamsters around that age.


Hope your OK Lloraine In these stressful times.

Your doing a great job and it's great to see how much you care for your girl.

Good effort.

Thank you for all your input! I had her checked up by the vet earlier today and I've been told she's very healthy. The vet palpated her abdomen, checked her genitals, teeth, heart, and weight (she's 12 grams). She also had her walk around the table to observe here. I put samples of her stool in a ziplock bag to show her.

According to this vet, Ham may have injured both her hind legs while playing which is why she lacks balance and seems to drag her her lower half. Her hind legs may be dislocated at the hip. I was told that she will recover on her own and I could administer drops to relieve pain, but she believes Ham isn't showing any signs of pain. She found no abnormal swelling and her stool samples look normal. I did tell her everything mentioned in my original post, including the matted fur and white pus. After examining her bum she said it wasn't wet tail nor was there pus being secreted.

I noticed that ham has made some progress in the past day. She is more attentive to her nest and takes time to fix it, and I have noticed that she is starting to groom herself. The fur around her bum which was quite dirty is now pretty clean and so is the look of her fur. She still seems weak, but I make sure she has soft and dry food as well as water. I do hope the vet's diagnosis is correct; she seemed pretty positive. Ham will be staying in her smaller bin while she heals up. Her estimated healing time is 10 days.

After reading so many comments about hamsters dying around ham's age, I started to believe she didn't have more time left, but I am encouraged and I hope she lives just as long as 31 months!