Need ALOT of Help

[jolenels]

Tonight my husband was out for a walk and he found a hamster running around outside, very cold, very thin, raggedy looking at best. He assumed it was someone's pet so he went door knocking.....and found the 'owners'. I guess someone had told them the hamster had bubble butt and was going to die...so they ditched it outside to starve to death, freeze, or be eaten. They were lucky I wasn't the one talking to them! So he brought it home. We rigged up a temporary cage with an old terrarium we had, the previous owners had surrendered half a bag of food when confronted. We made a few hiding places and gave her food and water. I've done some googling and some of her symptoms say wet tail but others don't. We cannot afford to take her to a vet, as sad as it is, and we looked at surrendering her to the SPCA but they told us they were currently unable to take on another rodent. Basically we took her in to either do what we could, or to allow her to pass in a warm place with food, water and love. My four year old daughter spent an hour singing to her tonight! My question is, if it's wet tail and I buy the drops asap in the morning, is it preventable? And how can I encourage rapid weight gain? She's like a sack of bones . As well, if it is wet tail and it can't be stopped....what life span are we talking? We already prepared our daughter for the fact she may not live. I would appreciate any and all input!

[souffle]

Hi and welcome - well done for taking this wee one in. I'm not sure what bubble butt is - not something I've come across but it could just be that she has been eating unsuitable things outside which has upset her tummy. I would suggest you keep her on the plain dry diet and see how she fares. Probably don't worry about her weight just yet till you get her tummy stable.
I can't really see what is wrong in the pic but she does look a bit messy round the tail. Another problem that does affect females is a womb infection and sadly this is very serious. You can get some remission with antibiotics but usually an op is needed to sort this out and she looks a bit frail for that just now. The weight loss and discharge is a symptom of this. Lets see how the care and diet works for now.
The SPCA vet may see her and treat if you agree to keep her with you so you could ask?
keep as posted as to how she does

[jolenels]

I actually just discovered that she has no top teeth! Not sure on the bottom as she doesn't like her face touched. I softened up some apple and gave it to her and she ate a small bit. I thought she was eating the seeds before but she is just nibbling then tossing when she cant get through

[Teddy001]

How about baby food? I've heard sick hams are fed baby food.. It's soft so she can eat it.. Poor ham. Best wishes for her- and you are so nice to rescue her.

[souffle]

she will still have her back teeth. Can you grind up her mix fine with something like a coffee grinder or a mortar & pestle. Also soak the mix in boiling water till it softens then cool it. babyfood is good too but her main diet still needs to be the soaked mix as babyfood is refined. Other good soft foods are cooked pasta and rice, cooked chicken, scrambled egg, tofu, fine chopped veg. Not all at once - introduce slowly. Get the mix soaking and cooling now won't you x

[jolenels]

I don't have anything to grind the food up with at the moment. I would need to get something this weekend. I will make her some more apple in the morning, it's not fantastic but it will do for now. And I have a pal who has some organic baby food that I can have to try out for a few days.

[jolenels]

She's also twitching a lot when she is trying to fall asleep, then is still once she is asleep. Is that normal? All my child hood hamsters were in much better shape to start with and never got to this point . She's so cuddly that it makes me even angrier that they put her outside to die.

[Teddy001]

Soufflé, is there liquid vitamin drops for hamsters, that can be mixed in with their water? Just a thought- grounded up ham mix, and socked in hot water, brilliant!!

[Teddy001]

Jol- I use a hammer to crush and break up large hard bits of hams food- perhaps try a hammer until you can get a grinder-. Just put the food in a clean cloth, fold the cloth in half so food is inside of cloth- cover the food with other half of cloth, and crush the food with the hammer- you can also put the food in a zip lock plastic bag, then cover with cloth, and crush with a hammer.

[jolenels]

I'll try that in the morning it's 3 in the morning here, I'm up keeping vigil through Sochi's first night and my household is sleeping so banging away with a hammer may wake the house