Is there a point with wet tail where it's too late to recover?

[MiniJunkie]

Hi folks,

Bit of an odd situation with our Syrian hamster, Peach. Well, not "odd", but we're not sure what to think at this point.

She's about a year and 6 months old, has always been pretty active. Last Friday we noticed she had stopped her nightly running on her wheel and was staying in her house. We checked her out and it looked to me like she had wet tail. We took her to the vet, who confirmed it and gave us some antibiotics.

So now for over a week she's been taking the antibiotics, along with a bit of diluted pedialite and daily drinks of water (we hold her to drink with her bottle). She doesn't seem to be eating much, and doesn't seem to have any hard stools.

She will take food from her bowl in her cheeks, but we think she buries most of it under her house and doesn't eat it.

She walks with the familiar hunch of wet tail, and still smells.

I just finished disinfecting her cage and giving fresh bedding etc. Her eyes open wide and she seems active and alert *when* we wake her up etc. But other than that she stays in her cage.

She has a dark spot near where I assume the anus is, it's hard to tell what's what back there TBH with the bit of mess, fur and the discoloration.

So even though she seems like she's "ok", she isn't improving. I have read that the bacteria can destroy her intestines. So are we simply prolonging the inevitable at this point and she *can't* recover? Is there a way to tell if it has gone that far other than everything I'm already describing here?

[Cinnamon Bear]

Can you take him back to the vet in the morning, if he survives the night hopefully? He can go downhill quickly if his body isn't responding to the anti-biotics

[MiniJunkie]

Originally Posted by Cinnamon Bear

Can you take him back to the vet in the morning, if he survives the night hopefully? He can go downhill quickly if his body isn't responding to the anti-biotics

I have a feeling they will want to put her down. They weren't super optimistic the first time they saw her over a week ago....

[Pebbles82]

Really sorry to hear she has had wet tail and is having problems. Was the vet certain it was wet tail and not just diarrhoea? From what I understand about wet tail they go downhill pretty fast (like in a day or two) and don't always recover even with antibiotics.

What does she smell of? It sounds positive that she is pouching and hoarding food, as that sounds like fairly healthy behaviour. Are you giving her any veggies? Just thinking that might aggravate or prolong a bout of diarrhoea.

If she seems active and alert that sounds good too. Staying in her cage could just be something she feels like doing right now.

I'd be tempted to just give it some time if she seems well in herself. Maybe clean up her back end a bit with a warm cloth and see if it stays clean.

Do you weigh her weekly and has she lost any weight since seeing the vet? I think if she is not losing weight she is probably eating.

Sometimes we look for things when we're worried about something. Our hamster often sits hunched when he's out of the cage and does a funny kind of hunched walk but it only seems to be on carpet lol!

What food is she having at the moment? It might be an instinct she has not to eat much if her tummy is still upset - like with humans having liquids only for a day or two until diarrhoea stops. It does seem strange to think she could get wet tail after you've had her so long. It's something you usually hear about with a new hamster who has contracted it in a pet shop or something. I think stress can bring it on as well, but not sure about that.

From everything you say I would just give it some time. It's a tricky one - going back to the vet could be a good idea, although vet trips can cause stress as well - you don't have to agree to have her pts if you went back for an opinion. But if she seems well and is pouching and hoarding food and doesn't seem in any distress, I would see how she goes.

Someone else may know more about diet and supplements that might help (I'm wondering about pro biotics).

Is your vet experienced in hamsters - eg an exotic vet - or a general vet? I think even some vets can describe all diarrhoea as wet tail. The fact that her eyes are bright sounds very positive to me.

[MiniJunkie]

Thanks for the reply! The vet said wet tail but hard to say if he was certain or not. That's the thing I find weird - that she isn't going downhill/dying, but also not really getting better.

She smells like...well...gross poo smell of some sort (in her bum area). We aren't giving veggies, just dry food. We tried switching to a new kind when she wasn't eating, and that's when she went bonkers pouching like half the bowl lol. Guess she liked the smell of it.

I don't weigh her but she does feel bony to use like she has lost weight for sure.

Yeah she does seem old to get wet tail but admittedly I think we recently went a little too long without a cage cleaning, and that might have caused it. Obviously won't let that happen again if she pulls through.

It's just a general vet so they might be misdiagnosing. Maybe we'll leave her try and get better a bit longer.

[Pebbles82]

Maybe you could weigh her - that might give an indication of how serious her condition is. If you can find a suitable bowl (maybe a disposable ice cream carton if she smells of poo!) and zero it on the scales then pop her in the carton. I tend to do it on the floor (hard floor, not carpet or the scales can read wrong) so they can't hurt themselves if they jump out.

Changing food can also upset their stomachs. Any change of diet is best done gradually by mixing the new food in with the old for a while then increasing the new and decreasing the old, over a couple of weeks maybe.

Anyway as you've already changed it that probably isn't it - although might have set it off again possibly. I think it's unlikely not having a cage clean would cause it, they are quite clean little things.

Do you have much substrate in her cage? Having it deeper can actually help keep it clean as the base of the cage stays dry.

It's good news that she liked the new food. Have you finished the antibiotics now? Maybe she needs them a bit longer.

[MiniJunkie]

I think we're going to keep giving it to her a few more days, even though technically today was the last day she was supposed to take it.

Yeah it's true about them being clean, but we had let it go pretty bad. I feel guilty as her illness basically happened right after that.

Will probably try to weigh her. Also yeah I have been putting in extra substrate for her to create quite a burrow and rest.

[Nancy's Hamsters]

This is just a Guess but I would suggest going to like Krogers and picking up some probiotic capsules and crushing them up and actually slowly force feeding the probiotics directly into her mouth then follow that with a few small drops of Pedialyte to not only give her lost electrolytes, but also help wash down the probiotic powder in her mouth. Many chain stores in the USA have been having a rash of wet tail like symptoms that Vets are calling Hamster Crud. They had a similar problem occur with Show dogs which was not Parvo as it attacked mostly adult dogs fully Vaccinated for Parvo. Dubbed Canine Show Crud cause it first appeared in show dogs who showed on the west coast and quickly spread via dogs being shipped to shows throughout the USA. Dog crud is a Virus which attacks and destroys the fila in the intestines. It causes the dog to have severe Diarrhea, which causes quick dehydration and the inability for the dog to break down it's food so the body moves the food through the digestive tract very quickly causing Life threatening dehydration.

This Hamster crud was so bad in Syrians where I'm at that not one pet store around for miles had any small animals for months. If she is holding her own (as in not getting worse) I would try the probiotics as Antibiotics know no difference between the Good and helpful gut bacteria to the nasty gut bacteria so kills off both. Because of this be sure to wait at least two hours between her Antibiotics and the Probiotics.


It's at least worth a try. Please keep us posted and all I can say is unless she shows you she has gave up on life to keep working on her as I have had very ill hamsters who many said wouldn't make it, end up completely recovered when I had Salmonella go through my hamstery 4 years ago. I didn't quit on them, and they didn't quit wanting to live and all but two very young hamster pups survived.

Obviously if she has gave up on life it would be more humane to help her to be at peace at Rainbow Bridge.

[Pebbles82]

Excellent advice there from Nancy Keeping my fingers crossed for your little one. I don't know how bad the cage got, but it probably would have caused stress for the hamster a bit - possibly infection - but it does sound like it probably isn't wet tail or she'd be gone by now probably. She just needs your love and tlc now and giving the antibiotics and food and water as normal. Scatter feeding some of her hamster mix might perk her up as well. Put half the usual amount in the bowl and scatter the other half on the substrate - they love foraging for it.

I can tell you really care about her and are doing your best and it's good you came on here for advice and support.

[MiniJunkie]

Unfortunately I don't think she's going to recover. She still won't eat and only drinks when held with a bottle....tonight she's quite shaky, seems confused, not staying in her house but hunkering down in various corners, and has half closed eyes. To be honest I think she's suffering at this point, so we will take her to the vet to be put down (as a mercy) in the morning if she lasts the night. We tried, but whatever she got sick with seems to have been too much to overcome. Thanks for the advice though.