Very sick hamster, please help

[Birdsarenotreal]

Hi all,

My 6 month old Syrian hamster, Marshmallow, is sick. I noticed a little bit less activity from him late last week but didn’t think much of it until it had been a couple of days because he’s always been fairly lazy (rarely uses his wheel). He also hadn’t eaten the food and treats I left around his enclosure. Yesterday I checked up on him because of the inactivity and saw he had bad diarrhea. It was so bad that I had to trim his incredibly fluffy fur. He did not have this until Saturday. It was just sort of a constant leak and he was clearly dehydrated. I started giving him syringe feeding him some electrolytes and offering baby food. He refused the baby food until this morning, however he is refusing it again now. He still has not eaten any normal food or drank any water. He had more energy yesterday but today he is just falling asleep when I have him out and very wobbly. He’s falling asleep just out in the open. He is obviously feeling very sick. I plan to call the vet tomorrow unless he magically turns around. I’d have called yesterday but all exotic vets around were closed and there’s no emergency exotic vet around here. I am a university student taking a crazy course load right now but I will try to get him in as soon as I can. Any advice or ideas to what it could be??? He got new food but it’s the same stuff I’ve always used. I keep a number of other animals (reptiles and amphibians included) I wonder if salmonella is a risk? I sometimes need to feed everybody pretty fast and don’t wash in between animals as none are particularly new. Is there anything else that I can do for him in the meantime? He’s my and my boyfriends baby. He’s a perfect hamster who is very friendly, never bitten anybody, and reminds me of my first childhood hamster a lot.

[hotglue01]

Hi there,

Just checking in on this. How is your hammy?

[bella33]

I'm so sorry to hear that. How is he doing?

To me, it sounds like he has wet tail. Try to keep him stress-free and minimize noise, make sure bedding in his nest area isn't damp and clean and warm. Make sure his bottom is clean and wipe it if it's dirty. I hope the little guy gets better! Please keep us updated.

[hankwren77]

I'm so sorry to hear that. How is he doing?

To me, it sounds like he has wet tail. Try to keep him stress-free and minimize noise, make sure bedding in his nest area isn't damp and clean and warm. Make sure his bottom is clean and wipe it if it's dirty. I hope the little guy gets better! Please keep us updated.

Wet tail can go downhill frighteningly fast, especially in young Syrians. Poor little Marshmallow, really hoping he's pulled through.

[Birdsarenotreal]

I'm so sorry to hear that. How is he doing?

To me, it sounds like he has wet tail. Try to keep him stress-free and minimize noise, make sure bedding in his nest area isn't damp and clean and warm. Make sure his bottom is clean and wipe it if it's dirty. I hope the little guy gets better! Please keep us updated.

Wet tail can go downhill frighteningly fast, especially in young Syrians. Poor little Marshmallow, really hoping he's pulled through.

Hi there, unfortunately no he didn’t. It was hamster polyomavirus (viral cancer of Syrian hamsters) that caused him to get lymphoma of his liver. The vet (very trusted with exotics, they saved my axolotls life and have treated several hamsters of mine) recommended euthanasia. She said I could try to keep him on supportive care for a few days but being someone who suffers from chronic illness and chronic pain I wasn’t willing to let him suffer any more than he already had. He was peacefully put to sleep that day. Shocking considering I thought it was just an infection and very sad.