Blood in urine?

[cypher]

I really don't think it's anything you're doing or anything in his environment causing this Penn, it may be that the antibiotics didn't completely clear the infection first time around, or that he is particularly prone to this problem & may need more meds, UTI's can often need more than one course of antibiotics & there's still the possibility that it is stones rather than an infection.
I hope you can get help with your vet fees or arrange something with the vet so he can be seen soon, any blood loss is quite a concern with such a small animal.

[Penn]

Okay so! I managed to get little Jarvis an appointment today and we took him down, I saw a different vet than usual but he was lovely. He immediately started checking Jarvis over and when he started feeling Jarvis' abdomen, well, Jarvis promptly leaked bloody urine everywhere. I wasn't expecting it at all so it was a complete shock, to see the evidence in his cage and after he's urinated is one thing, but for the vet feeling him to cause that much red fluid to come out was... frankly very worrying. He initially said he thought he felt a tumor but a few minutes later said in hindsight it may have just been Jarvis' bladder that he felt and it's likely quite swollen considering whatever's going on.

He's given me more baytril and metacam. He's told me to put the baytril in Jarvis' water if Jarvis won't take it from the syringe, which he won't but I am going to try putting some in Porridge of a morning if he goes off his water for any reason. I'm just glad he likes the metacam enough to take it off the syringe.

I'm worried because he doesn't seem to have urinated properly since we brought him back and it's been a good few hours now, (He did try to go, but nothing came out from what I saw) I'm hoping the incident in the vets hasn't made things worse.

As to the vet fees, well a friend offered to help me out until I get paid which is great so that is covered, thankfully, I have lovely friends.

It makes me sad when vets say things like "Well if he's still eating/drinking/being a hamster then I wouldn't worry too much." It's impossible not to worry! Knowing what I know about their behaviours an how good they are at hiding their illnesses makes worry my default state when anything goes wrong.

If anyone thinks of anything else I can try to do to help Jarvis alongside the medications please let me know, he and I have been through a lot and I'd love for him to go peacefully if possible, not as a result of a situation where I probably could have done more.

Thank you all for commenting and being supportive. <3

[cypher]

Good to hear you managed to get him to the vet.
I think giving the meds on some porridge is a good idea, it's easier & more accurate than putting them in water.
Has he begun to pee again now?
I don't think there is a lot more you can do now, give the meds time to work, the metacam should make him feel more comfortable while the baytril gets to work, it will probably take a while before you see much of an improvement but I do hope he shows signs of recovery soon.

[racinghamster]

Sounds as though there are two possibilities going on. A tumour ( won`t be good news) or a very bad UTI, which the Baytril should help. Keep it going for as long as you can especially if the urine starts to clear of blood. Take nothing for granted. Keep him hydrated and monitor his peeing. If you see him emerge and go to a corner to pee, stand back and just watch him. See if he does pee or is straining. Check for signs of any spots of urine. If you are concerned that he can`t pass urine at all, this is an emergency situation, so keep a close eye on him. Hopefully he will pee okay soon.

Baytril can be dosed on many tasty things. Sometimes you just have to dose it in water where they won`t taste it. But dosing it on a softened piece of rich ea biscuit (only a 5mm piece of biscuit and allow the baytril do so in) and hand feed it, or try chocolate baby food or something that will help to mark the taste.

[Thin Lizzy]

So glad you took Jarvis to the vet, I really hope the baytril & metacam help him. I too hate it when the vet says 'try not too worry', personally it makes me worry more.
Fingers crossed it's a bad uti infection. You could mash some veggies with some baytril or baby food. Antibiotics can be quite rough on their digestive system, you may have to mash up his hamster food mix and add some water so it's easier to eat.

[Penn]

A quick update for you lovely folks.

Jarvis is still hamstering along! I'm still worried that he's not passing enough urine but I did see him urinate a small amount once. He didn't appear to be straining and he didn't squeak in alarm so I'm hoping he is just urinating in his nest (Which is a very common thing for him, because he's so lazy! Then again it seems to be pretty common for all my hams... Guys why do you insist on peeing in wood houses and all over your food stash. Whhyyyy.)

I am back in work tomorrow (I work 3 days a week) so I'm worried about leaving him on his own but it's unavoidable. I did try mixing the baytril in with some porridge but he wouldn't touch it - literally turned his nose away from even the porridge that didn't have baytril in. So I will invest in some more baby food jars if I try mashing his food and it doesn't work.

Thank you for all the support everyone! I will keep you posted!

[Penn]

Jarvis seems to be passing a little more urine today, praise the baytril! He is however very reluctant to come out of his cage and has made a tiny mess on both me and my mattress but I'm not going to complain. Some pee is better than no pee! I did notice that he appeared pained the last time he went. I'm not sure if all Syrian Hams are the same but Jarvis will go very still when he urinates, and at the moment he goes still for a longer time but urinates very little. I hope it's just a process of the recovery.

Mashing his nuggets a little (and sneaking in some metacam and baytril) seems to be working as he came out as soon as he smelt it to investigate.

My concern now is that all the chaos going on down around his bladder may have caused a penile plug, so that's something else I'm keeping an eye out for and I've got cotton buds, warm water and olive oil at the ready.

[squeakylittlepaws]

I had success administering baytril and metacam to a very aggressive hamster doing the following

A teaspoon of petite filous - strawberry mixed with correct dose of metacam and correct dose of baytril swirled around and then sucked up into the syringe and administered.

The yoghurt and metacam really helped disguise the awful baytril and my hammie really enjoyed sucking it out the syringe. I put it through the bars. To make for a stress and fuss free treat xx

[Thin Lizzy]

Sounds like Jarvis is making slow progress, keep at it you're doing a really great job taking care of him.