Wet tail?

[Varx]

Took out my lady mu today and noticed her fur around her tail was dirty and scraggy, not too much but enough for me to be concerned
She's a little over 2 and it's very difficult to check her for things like lethargy In this heat cus shes spent the last couple of weeks starfishing around her cage (though when I took her out earlier she was wadding around as usual). Also she doesn't appear to be smellier than usual

I'll try to take her to the vets tomorrow but I'm a bit concerned about how she'll respond to treatment just cus she's such an old lady now. Also if it is wet tail how long will she have roughly if she doesn't respond to treatment?

Also is it possible she could just be grubby?

[cypher]

Wet tail would be unusual in an older ham, it's not possible to guess what might be wrong but she could still respond well to treatment, many older hams do.
Even if she was just dirty around that area there must be a reason why she isn't grooming as usual, if she hasn't been out much & is sleeping in an area where she pees & poos that could happen but it still suggests something is wrong.

[Pebbles82]

It sounds more likely to be something related to old age. It's always difficult with an old hamster to know whether to just leave them in peace or take them to the vets, which is stressful.

If she is struggling with age related things they can get to the point where they don't groom well but that is usually when they're unwell and lethargic and possibly near the end I think. Sometimes they can get a bit of diarrhoea for a reason other than wet tail, but diarrhoea is always concerning. Maybe the heat has something to do with it? Do you have a good vet nearby?

[Varx]

Thank you for your replies! I decided not to take her to the vets yet since she seems to be otherwise completely fine and I don't want to stress her (she's naturally a nervous ham).
I've been cleaning her cage every few days but she does seem to be sleeping where she pees as it's the coolest part of her cage. I'll keep an eye on her and see how she goes. In the mean time do you have any tips to keep her cool? I've been giving her frozen blueberries

[BethandLil]

No expert, but too many blueberries could be contributing to the runny bum??

[Drago]

I'd just keep her comfortable and hydrated. It's important you check to ensure she is as diarrhea will dehydrate a hamster quickly. Other than that, just keep and eye on her and make sure you phone your vet

BethandLil, Its unlikely the blueberries would cause a runny bottom. It's more likely to be some sort of old age type thing

[cypher]

There are plenty of tips on keeping your ham cool here.

Keeping your hamster cool

[Pebbles82]

It might be an idea just to spot clean and not clean her out too much - clean outs can really stress them. Also would cut blueberries (and any fruit) for now and just give her normal hamster mix - ie dried food. You can get dried coconut flakes in bags (or fresh coconut if you have any), as a treat. Both my hammies have loved coconut and it is supposed to do something to help stop diarrhoea (a bowel tonic or something) in humans so may well do so in hams.

Has she improved at all? You could maybe try putting a litter tray where she pees, so she can't actually sleep in the pee, but near it, which might help. Also that cuts down on the need to clean as you just empty the litter tray every 5 days or so. Any kind of dish with Chinchilla bathing sand in would do (put a little bit of her pee'd on substrate on top so she knows it's still her pee place). And just keep putting out lots of strips of torn up plain white toilet paper so she can make a cosy nest, if you need to spot clean her nest if she pees in it. Ideally it's best to leave the nest if it's not wet.