an account of wet tail
i see a lot of posts around here... and on boards, saying "help my hamster has wet tail" and the response is "go to the vet and get antibiotics" but i dont see very much of anybody saying what happens after that. so i will try to keep you updated on my situation.
i noticed that fatty was sick wednesday night. im not sure if thats when it started, we were in the process of moving and most of you probably know how busy you can get. so i noticed it on 6/15. the only reason i could tell is that there were feces where he usually sleeps and he was laying in them. he was acting fine.
thursday (6/16) i researched wet tail and decided maybe i could buy something over the counter. i also completely cleaned out his cage. after i put him back in his cage he got a drink and took food up to his little loft in his crittertrail which is where he spends most of his time. still acting fairly normal and still with a messy butt. i went out and bought dri-tail from a family owned pet store, and the woman that owns it also told me to put oatmeal in his food. gave him a dose of the dri-tail, he took it fine. i also put some of the oat meal in his food.
this morning (6/17) fatty looked worse. it doesnt seem like he touched the food in his dish but he did still have a stash up with him in the loft. its hard to tell if he is eating or drinking "normally." also his back is now slightly matted with what i can only figure is feces. but i still see him trying to clean himself. the dri-tail isnt going to work. we made a vet appointment for 1:15. we make it there. fatty isnt happy about all of this... the nurse took him to weigh him and he bit her. he ran around in the little carrier we had him in and kicked carefresh around for awhile and finally settled down. he hates that carrier. the vet came in and looked at him. he told me that he would give me anibiotics to give fatty and special shampoo for his fur. the receptionist explained it to us a bit better. we got a syringe full of baytril, she told us to give him a drop of that in his mouth twice a day for 7 - 10 days. we also got a little bit of the shampoo that they poured in a smaller bottle so that i didnt have to buy a full sized bottle. the shampoo is called ketochlor. she also gave us a seperate syringe to give him some yogurt after the medicine to help his stomache because they antibiotics are strong and it would help something with his stomache. she said that as long as hes eating the yogurt that not to worry too much about him eating his regular food until hes better. then she told us it was about a 50/50 chance of him surviving.
i came home and cleaned his sleeping area before putting him back in the cage. then we left to get yogurt. we came back and i gave him a drop of the baytril which he kind of... got it in his mouth and it looked like he sneezed it everywhere.. like it tasted bad, but i hope he got some. as soon as a put the yogurt by him, he grabbed it and ate everything that was in the syringe.
i have hope for him because it seems like hes still trying. like he hasnt given up... yet. :(
ill keep everyone posted on the progress, and hopefully this will help someone in the future.
vet charges.
examination - 10.00
baytril - 15.00
ketochlor shampoo - 2.00
any questions/suggestions? im trying to be as detailed as possible... also... any suggestions on the whole bathing thing? she just said to make sure we keep him really really warm the whole time.
i noticed that fatty was sick wednesday night. im not sure if thats when it started, we were in the process of moving and most of you probably know how busy you can get. so i noticed it on 6/15. the only reason i could tell is that there were feces where he usually sleeps and he was laying in them. he was acting fine.
thursday (6/16) i researched wet tail and decided maybe i could buy something over the counter. i also completely cleaned out his cage. after i put him back in his cage he got a drink and took food up to his little loft in his crittertrail which is where he spends most of his time. still acting fairly normal and still with a messy butt. i went out and bought dri-tail from a family owned pet store, and the woman that owns it also told me to put oatmeal in his food. gave him a dose of the dri-tail, he took it fine. i also put some of the oat meal in his food.
this morning (6/17) fatty looked worse. it doesnt seem like he touched the food in his dish but he did still have a stash up with him in the loft. its hard to tell if he is eating or drinking "normally." also his back is now slightly matted with what i can only figure is feces. but i still see him trying to clean himself. the dri-tail isnt going to work. we made a vet appointment for 1:15. we make it there. fatty isnt happy about all of this... the nurse took him to weigh him and he bit her. he ran around in the little carrier we had him in and kicked carefresh around for awhile and finally settled down. he hates that carrier. the vet came in and looked at him. he told me that he would give me anibiotics to give fatty and special shampoo for his fur. the receptionist explained it to us a bit better. we got a syringe full of baytril, she told us to give him a drop of that in his mouth twice a day for 7 - 10 days. we also got a little bit of the shampoo that they poured in a smaller bottle so that i didnt have to buy a full sized bottle. the shampoo is called ketochlor. she also gave us a seperate syringe to give him some yogurt after the medicine to help his stomache because they antibiotics are strong and it would help something with his stomache. she said that as long as hes eating the yogurt that not to worry too much about him eating his regular food until hes better. then she told us it was about a 50/50 chance of him surviving.
i came home and cleaned his sleeping area before putting him back in the cage. then we left to get yogurt. we came back and i gave him a drop of the baytril which he kind of... got it in his mouth and it looked like he sneezed it everywhere.. like it tasted bad, but i hope he got some. as soon as a put the yogurt by him, he grabbed it and ate everything that was in the syringe.
i have hope for him because it seems like hes still trying. like he hasnt given up... yet. :(
ill keep everyone posted on the progress, and hopefully this will help someone in the future.
vet charges.
examination - 10.00
baytril - 15.00
ketochlor shampoo - 2.00
any questions/suggestions? im trying to be as detailed as possible... also... any suggestions on the whole bathing thing? she just said to make sure we keep him really really warm the whole time.